How to Make an All Natural Fire Starter

Camping is a fun and exciting activity to do with friends family or loved ones. There are lots of great activities to do while camping, a classic is sitting around a camp fire, eating marshmallows or cooking hot dogs on a stick. What a great activity, right? but what about the lighter fluid used to start that fire? healthy right? why not use a nice, healthy, all natural fire starter that's easy to do, and helps start a fire with only match!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Matches
• Sharp knife

1. Find Birch bark - birch bark has natural oils in it that make it water proof and a nice natural fire starter! You can soak birch bark in a can of water all day and it will light with the first match every time! What better all natural fire starter to use than birch bark! This natural fire starter can be found on white birch trees, but should not be taken right off of the tree, this can damage the tree and should be avoided. look around the base of birch trees, as the bark naturally peals off on its own over time and can be collected on the ground after it falls off! No matter how long it has been sitting, birch bark will light right off the bat, so no worries about its age!

2. Create a fuzzy stick - a fuzzy stick is a dry stick no bigger than your thumb and no smaller than you pinkie. Take the stick and cut strips into it along it at least 2 inches long, but don't cut them all the way off, leave one end connected. bend them out gently so they stick out at least 56 degrees from the original stick! this creates a larger burn area and helps the stick catch on fire. Cut the strips, only two every 2 to 3 inches along the length of the stick to keep it from breaking.

3. Take a dry stick and create wood chips by whittling it down. These wood chips will light easy and create a very large base to light from! If you shred some birch bark and mix it with the wood chips, all it will take is one match and you can have a nice fire in minutes!