It was 33 degrees in Central Fla. last night. At about 9pm I sent my 13 year old son out in the backyard with some fire steel and told him to start a fire. He looked at me like I was crazy and came up with all kinds of excuses why he shouldn't have to do it. I told him that this was a drill and he needed to practice making fire under less than ideal circumstances. He told my wife who also thought it was a bad idea.
Nevertheless, I insisted that he try.

He grumbled and went out with a flashlight. I repressed the urge to go out and talk him through it. After about 20 minutes he came back in with a huge smile on his face and a fire going in the fire pit. He said the hardest part was finding the correct tinder. He tried a few things but realized that his tender was too big. After a little trial and error he ended us using some hay from the rabbit cages and some crushed up old palm fronds. After he got his first little flame he realized that he hadn't gathered enough larger tender to get a good fire burning, his flame went out and he had to start all over again. He finally got it right and got a good fire going. We ended up sitting around his fire and talking about our next camping trip.

I was proud of the fact that he did it in the dark and in the cold. Granted, 33 degrees is not cold for a lot of you, but it's pretty cold for us Florida Crackers.

I plan on devising some other drills to put him through to build up his skills. It's one thing to read a book or watch a video on how to start a fire, it's a whole other thing to actually put yourself to the test.

Don't underestimate the value of practice.

Nothing beats that feeling of accomplishment a youngster feels after an exercise like you gave your son.

You done good Daddy...

That makes me think that I should try at least once to start a fire with my fire stick thing. I guess I assumed it would just be easy. I guess maybe not if it's cold or there are zombies on the other side of the fence.

Love it! I remember my first time making a fire out of two stones. All it took was to see the spark the first time with the two rocks and I was hooked on starting fires in the back yard for like a week until my parents caught me haha.

Originally posted by randomthoughts12
Love it! I remember my first time making a fire out of two stones. All it took was to see the spark the first time with the two rocks and I was hooked on starting fires in the back yard for like a week until my parents caught me haha.

This is giving away my age for sure....remember, if you can...those tiny magnifying glasses they used to put as toys in Cracker Jacks...well, I had one of those.

I spent countless hours sitting in the back yard, starting tiny little fires with a dried leaf and Mr Sun. Those were the days.

I have 2 lab quality magnifying lenses included in my survival supplies....

for you dad , not many will teach the kids basic skills, now teach him how to catch food for that fire , snares and traps, rabbits and such no need to go to the extreme cook what you catch.

Took me forever, not to mention cracked knuckles and more than my share of angry moments, to get my first fire from bow-drill...

Worked through more then a few anger-management sessions with teens on my caseload, through the same means. Fantastic teaching moments! Lol...

Well done, to your son. It's an accomplishment, he should feel great about sticking it out.

My son only had experience making fires with cotton balls, drier lint and char cloth. Up to this point he had never tried to make a fire with materials he might have to find in nature. I think the same thing goes for a lot of the people who only have skills based on youtube videos. Starting a fire with a battery and steel wool is cool, fun and good to know but not likely to be of much use when your in a situation when you really need to build a fire.

I think the next skill will be making cordage and some basic navigation skills. I'm sure I will learn a few things too.