Outdoor Life Prepare for Anything Survival Manual (63 page)

The basic rule of firemaking is this: You need to create friction—and you need something easy to ignite. This method uses what you may have at hand (rotten wood) to provide both necessities.

GET WOOD
You’ll need to find two pieces of dead, dry wood that is soft but not rotten. Cedar, yucca, basswood, aspen, and many other softwood species can work. You’ll need a large piece to lay on the ground and a smaller piece to use as the “plow” to move back and forth.

MAKE A GROOVE
Lay the bigger piece on its side on the ground. You can pre-chisel a groove if you have the tools (1). Also carve or sand a chisel-shaped point on the plow stick. Rub this aggressively, in short strokes, on the side of the bigger wood piece (2). This should begin to groove into the bigger piece and start to smoke.

GET IGNITED
Once a groove is formed, rub the plow stick even harder, back and forth, to create chocolate brown dust in the groove you have burned (3). If the dust pile still smokes after you have stopped plowing, then you have an ember. Scoop the ember out of the groove, place it in tinder, and blow it into flame (4).

That stuff you use for summer cookouts is basically a form of coal; it’s wood that’s had the moisture and various other impurities slowly burned out of it. With a little work, you can make your own, and you’ll have something that’s more compact, lasts longer, and provides more heat than plain old firewood.

STEP 1
Prepare the drums: Cut an opening at the bottom of the 80-gallon (300-liter) drum large enough to fit pieces of firewood inside, about 10 inches (25 cm) high by 18 inches (45 cm) wide. Then punch several holes into the bottom of the 30-gallon (110-liter) drum.

STEP 2
Place the bricks inside the bottom of the large drum, stacking two on either side of the opening. Put the smaller drum on top of the bricks, and fill with the wood you want to make into charcoal (roughly fist-size pieces). Put the lids on both barrels, leaving both of them slightly opened for air flow.

STEP 3
Light a fire inside the bottom opening of the larger barrel, beneath the smaller barrel within. Continue to feed wood to the fire, letting it burn for about 3–4 hours.

STEP 4
Remove the larger drum’s lid, completely seal the smaller drum’s lid, and replace the larger lid, again leaving it slightly opened. Continue to let the fire burn for another 4–5 hours.

STEP 5
Once the fire is burned out, let the drums cool, and carefully remove the lids to take the charcoal out of the smaller drum. The wood will have reduced in size by about half and should be hard, black, and brittle.

Keep your load of charcoal somewhere dry, and use it for your cooking, blacksmithing (see item 310), or possibly black powder (see item 309).

Gunpowder, or black powder, has been around for centuries, and while modern firearms use newer propellants, it still sees use in some older-style guns, fireworks, model rockets, and more. This fiery stuff is made from three ingredients: charcoal—not commercial briquettes, but the stuff made from wood only (you can even make your own, as shown on the opposite page); sulfur, which can be bought from chemistry suppliers or garden stores (it’s usually used to fertilize roses and kill soil mites); and potassium nitrate or saltpeter, which can be bought from the same places (it’s often sold as a type of tree stump remover).

These ingredients are separately ground down to a fine powder—sulfur is often sold powdered, but saltpeter is usually granular, and lump charcoal definitely needs to be ground down. Small amounts can be ground in a mortar and pestle or in a blender. Larger amounts are ground using a special mill or other technique. Whether small- or large-scale, never use tools that generate sparks or heat, to avoid igniting any of the ingredients.

The typical ratio, by weight, is 75 percent saltpeter, 15 percent charcoal, and 10 percent sulfur. The finer the ingredients are ground, the faster they will burn (black powder for guns is made from the finest consistency). An optional process, called “corning,” involves adding water to the components to make a claylike substance, then pressing the dried mixture through a series of fine sieves; the powder will burn even more efficiently when processed this way.

When the power goes off and the barbarian hordes of Cincinnati arise, learning to become a blacksmith might just come in handy, whether you’re making tools and utensils or forging weapons to fight zombies. With these instructions and some parts, you can put together your own coal-fed blacksmith’s forge.

STEP 1
Drill holes in the bottom of the grill and bolt on the floor flange. Drill or cut a hole to match the opening of the floor flange, too.

STEP 2
Thoroughly coat the inside of the grill’s dish with fireplace cement, leaving the floor flange hole uncovered. Let it dry and set.

STEP 3
Thread the iron pipes and tee connector together, then screw into the floor flange.

STEP 4
Attach the rubber coupler hose to the base of the tee and secure with metal hose clamps. Attach the bellows to supply air to your forge. (As an alternative option to the bellows, you can use the nozzle of a hair dryer.)

STEP 5
Screw the pipe cap onto the bottom of the tee to seal off the assembly. This will keep air directed upward into the forge and trap ash. (You can also place the pipe’s end in a water-filled bucket if your forge doesn’t use the ashes.) Fill the forge with charcoal, fire it up, grab your tools and anvil, and get hammering!