Good LORD Mr. Canterbury... How many super-informative tips have you crammed into your lifetime of being an outdoorsman and helping people?!?!? I honestly learn a new SOLID tip EVERY TIME I watch one of your videos... You're truly a masterful educator!
You are so right about it being impossible to not mess with a fire. I have been camping with the Boy Scouts for many years now and I have never had a fire get neglected for lack of attention. Whether a new Scout on his first camp out ever or a veteran Eagle Scout, everyone just has to "fix" the fire (myself included). Great video, as always. Merry Christmas.
Hello Dave, I ran across a video (Blind Horse Knife shop tour) and I went and watched many of your videos yesterday. WOW, it is great to see this information in a NO BS format. Great job and I'm passing the word to my like minded friends. Being a retired Marine myself, I'm always learning. Semper FI from Missouri Hap Smith Jr. 2112 U.S.Marine Corps (retired)
When I go camping I always build a self feeding fire (or upside down fire) and I can tell you, the absolute key is packing the logs tightly together and not loosely apart. If there are gaps in between the logs, then what happens is the embers from the very top of the fire drop to the bottom, and then before you know it your entire thing just goes up in flames. I've never used square cuts of wood like in this video, but always rounded, straight and even cuts. Also, make sure you don't have any upper layers hanging over that will drop down. It needs to look just like a pyramid. In fact, if you have any gaps in between your logs, I'd recommend using a little dry dirt to fill them in so no embers can get through and prematurely burn your bottom layers. You want it to burn down slowly. That's mainly how it feeds itself. As for the ramp, I've never tried that. Cool idea.
Dave and team. I'm a stuck in the city guy that has a real hankering to get in the woods. It's been a long time. I write today too thank you for giving me a taste of "smoothin it'" through the videos. Merry Christmas and happy new year to you all. Thanks for what you do.
Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year Dave, to you and your family from all my family here in Hornsea, East Yorkshire in the UK. We have all learnt so much from you. I cannot thank you enough for the hours and hours of videos we have watched, where you so generously share you knowledge. Have a great holiday.
Thanks again so much for explaining this fire lay, Dave. Hope we get to see it in action again in the future. Merry Christmas and God bless you and yours.
Nice one Dave. I appreciate the inverse square law as a photo-lighting guy...good to think of how it applies to heat as well.. Good instruction here...thx!
Man I learned so much valuable information from this video thank you so much part 1 was amazing to I got turned on to you through corporals corner and I am so glad I did you and him are the only ones I watch and I try to apply what I have learned I am learning Leaps and Bounds you guys make it simple thank you so much
Hey Dave If you set the feeders up on 3 sides with larger logs used with the back feeder and slightly smaller ones used on the 2 side leaving the the front open (which faces you) and the top and allowing sufficient airflow through the front but restricting on the sides your fire will burn hotter and slower, because it will have a wood gas effect it would also feed from 3 directions, not only that by trapping the heat in a 3 sided "cabin" like that it would exponentially dry your wood out faster and serves as a wind break for the fire forcing the heat forward through the only available opening for it to escape...just something that has worked for me thought I would share Merry Christmas
Happy Xmas Dave, watched your channel since 2010. Many thanks for the educational gold. Good will to you and your family, may you get much more dirt time in the new year.
Merry Christmas Brother Dave. And thanks for all you've done to share this wisdom. I've been trying to come up with a good idea for a self feeding fire for many years. You're right! It is hard to do one that doesn't require attention. But while watching this video of yours. I thought of how we could use a 'dead fall type construction perhaps'? But instead of an animal tripping it, it would be the slow burn of the fire tripping it. I can see a platform of medium logs as the dead-fall and perhaps a large figure 4 construction in the base of the fire. Once the fire ate through the trigger or main beam? Bingo! The wood supply platform would come down with the new wood to burn then. Hmmm!
Good video Dave :-) I've used that set-up a few times myself, always found it a help to split the whole wood a bit ( but not all the way down ) You had a good angle on the leaning wood , and I've found that when using wet wood , as the fire grows, it'll help to dry it out as well. If you have it available, a mix of pine & oak works right well. Ok, got to let Santa in, so Merry Christmas to You and yours.
Dave a technique from up here in N-MN I carry a couple prices of aluminum as a reflective surface behind fire, vastly improves the heat, can also cover with aluminum foil Very easy to carry in pack, also have Mylar reflector in the shelter, requires much less wood/fuel Should show more on how to optimize
Merry Christmas Dave! Excellent video. Its been a long while since you first referred this fire lay, I am happy to finally see the videos. OBTW: If you press the logs together, it will tend to tame overly dry firewood like what you get at camp stores.
I've done this fire lay b4 and having the fire a little wider helps burn the logs that roll in more complete and helps the logs from just burning in the middle and the ends burn more and don't keep the logs from rolling in its not perfect but it helps just my opinion we all know bout opinions lol thanks for the vids great work keep it up
With all the damp wood, I think I would have had a second "birds nest" ready to put on top of the first once it started to burn down. That would help build up an even bigger bed of coals. Likewise, I would have filled some of the gaps with fine material to help the flame transfer from one log to the next. Also, I might even introduce some smaller batoned hardwood pieces under the top layer; they would dry out faster and burn faster (due to small size), producing nice red-hot cherries in the coal bed. There's a method named after some European country (maybe Norway?) where they take two large logs laid on top of each other, with smaller logs and tinder between them. That tinder is lit along the length of the logs and it slowly burns both up and down, providing a long slow fire that supposedly lasts all night. I've never tried it myself but hope to sometime soon.
I think bigger logs would demonstrate this better like you say they would, I figure the surface area and down weight might help to auto change as it were
Got me thinking now. LOL You could actually create a second fire lay on the deadfall platform just in case the fire got too small to create enough heat for just the new small logs that fall when the figure four burned through. That way, even if the fire was small, you would have a new fire-lay and logs fall on top the 'spent' fire you first built.
Dave I have a question that might sound crazy but instead of a flint and steel could a person carry a flame striker with extra flints to get char cloth to light it does not weigh any more and will get thousands of strikes from just one flint head please let me know if this will even be feasible to consider thanks
Inverse Squares ? ... I guess THAT is the beauty of a Super-Shelter (and variants) ... ... Having that clear membrane to trap all the infra-red, from the fire AND your body ... I am just guessing THAT makes a big difference. ... And ... Hydration and carbs are very helpful. ... I got caught out on a low carb diet and also lost my sleep system once ... It was a very rough night,
Personally, I think Dave should plan on doing a Christmas Show next year. "Dave Canterbury's Christmas in the Woods". You can have how our forefathers would made camp during Christmas, the foods they would have served and how they would have celebrated. If it's good enough, maybe a network will pick it up. Just sayin' .....
So your telling me Dave that the further you get away from a fire the less heat you feel? My mind is blown! Only joking my friend I hope you have yourself a good Christmas :)
hey man, i want to build a little chimney for my fire place outside, but i dont have any metal and stuff to do it with. have you any suggestions of some sort? sorry for my bad engilsh
… (chuckle)…. nice, but I'm thinkin' an improvised Swedish Torch or Stump-Stove might be a lot less "fiddly". I've done numerous Stump-Stoves with nothin' but a decent axe & a basic saw to make sure my centre-splits don't go all the way through the height of the stump; but a guy needs a little cheap re-bar wire to bind the stove back together after splitting out. They burn "clean" & for ages if the stump is fair-sized.
Defining the maximum safe amount of heat from a fire to be at three feet would be a good rule of thumb. Other fires, other distances, but the inverse square relationship ALWAYS holds from whatever the "closest distance" is defined to be.
This honestly doesn't seem worth the effort. If you have to keep fiddling with it to get it to work/feed correctly, its just as easy to add fuel as needed. If the wood had been dry, I suspect the bottom log would burn faster, igniting all the logs on top of it along with the uprights. Cool concept, but I doubt it works as advertised.
Good LORD Mr. Canterbury... How many super-informative tips have you crammed into your lifetime of being an outdoorsman and helping people?!?!?
I honestly learn a new SOLID tip EVERY TIME I watch one of your videos... You're truly a masterful educator!
You are so right about it being impossible to not mess with a fire. I have been camping with the Boy Scouts for many years now and I have never had a fire get neglected for lack of attention. Whether a new Scout on his first camp out ever or a veteran Eagle Scout, everyone just has to "fix" the fire (myself included).
Great video, as always. Merry Christmas.
Messing with the campfire was the original channel surfing.
Hello Dave,
I ran across a video (Blind Horse Knife shop tour) and I went and watched many of your videos yesterday. WOW, it is great to see this information in a NO BS format. Great job and I'm passing the word to my like minded friends. Being a retired Marine myself, I'm always learning.
Semper FI
from Missouri
Hap Smith Jr. 2112
U.S.Marine Corps (retired)
When I go camping I always build a self feeding fire (or upside down fire) and I can tell you, the absolute key is packing the logs tightly together and not loosely apart. If there are gaps in between the logs, then what happens is the embers from the very top of the fire drop to the bottom, and then before you know it your entire thing just goes up in flames. I've never used square cuts of wood like in this video, but always rounded, straight and even cuts. Also, make sure you don't have any upper layers hanging over that will drop down. It needs to look just like a pyramid. In fact, if you have any gaps in between your logs, I'd recommend using a little dry dirt to fill them in so no embers can get through and prematurely burn your bottom layers. You want it to burn down slowly. That's mainly how it feeds itself. As for the ramp, I've never tried that. Cool idea.
Dave and team. I'm a stuck in the city guy that has a real hankering to get in the woods. It's been a long time. I write today too thank you for giving me a taste of "smoothin it'" through the videos. Merry Christmas and happy new year to you all. Thanks for what you do.
Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year Dave, to you and your family from all my family here in Hornsea, East Yorkshire in the UK. We have all learnt so much from you. I cannot thank you enough for the hours and hours of videos we have watched, where you so generously share you knowledge. Have a great holiday.
Cool Dave...I think I will try this! Merry Christmas to you and Iris and the family and be blessed! Take Care
This guy has good videos. They are short and informative without too much attention on himself. I like them.
Merry Christmas to you and your family. Thanks for the great videos and the insparation to get back to enjoying the outdoors.
Merry Christmas! Have a Blessed year to come! Thanks for all you do for the survival community!
Merry Christmas Dave to you and yours, thank you for everything that you do!!!
Thanks again so much for explaining this fire lay, Dave. Hope we get to see it in action again in the future.
Merry Christmas and God bless you and yours.
merry christmas Dave ,Mrs. Iris and family .. also to all in the pathfinder family
Great Video Dave, may you and your family have a very Merry Christmas. Keep the videos coming, I have learned so much from them.
Nice one Dave. I appreciate the inverse square law as a photo-lighting guy...good to think of how it applies to heat as well.. Good instruction here...thx!
Thanks, Dave. Merry Christmas!
Thanks Dave for all you do for us ....merry Christmas to you and your family
Man I learned so much valuable information from this video thank you so much part 1 was amazing to I got turned on to you through corporals corner and I am so glad I did you and him are the only ones I watch and I try to apply what I have learned I am learning Leaps and Bounds you guys make it simple thank you so much
Cool. Thx for the info Dave, Merry Christmas to you and all your family and staff.
Dave and family
Have a blessed Christmas and thank you for your knowledge and sharing all that you do...Chip M.
Great video Dave!! Thanks for sharing!!
Hey Dave If you set the feeders up on 3 sides with larger logs used with the back feeder and slightly smaller ones used on the 2 side leaving the the front open (which faces you) and the top and allowing sufficient airflow through the front but restricting on the sides your fire will burn hotter and slower, because it will have a wood gas effect it would also feed from 3 directions, not only that by trapping the heat in a 3 sided "cabin" like that it would exponentially dry your wood out faster and serves as a wind break for the fire forcing the heat forward through the only available opening for it to escape...just something that has worked for me thought I would share Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas Dave, Iris, and Family.
You read my mind Dave...pretty cool..thank you...definitely a cool idea
Just when I think you've run out of ideas you share another good tip. And your right, a man can't leave a fire alone. That was funny.
Excellent
Merry Christmas Dave and team wildernessoutfitters
Merry Christmas Dave..
And thanks for all the great videos.
That looks great Dave. You have a lot of awesome info. Merry Christmas.
Happy Xmas Dave, watched your channel since 2010. Many thanks for the educational gold. Good will to you and your family, may you get much more dirt time in the new year.
Thanks for another good video dave
Merry Christmas Brother Dave. And thanks for all you've done to share this wisdom. I've been trying to come up with a good idea for a self feeding fire for many years. You're right! It is hard to do one that doesn't require attention. But while watching this video of yours. I thought of how we could use a 'dead fall type construction perhaps'? But instead of an animal tripping it, it would be the slow burn of the fire tripping it. I can see a platform of medium logs as the dead-fall and perhaps a large figure 4 construction in the base of the fire. Once the fire ate through the trigger or main beam? Bingo! The wood supply platform would come down with the new wood to burn then. Hmmm!
Dave I wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year you and your family God Bless
Good video Dave :-) I've used that set-up a few times myself, always found it a help to split the whole wood a bit ( but not all the way down ) You had a good angle on the leaning wood , and I've found that when using wet wood , as the fire grows, it'll help to dry it out as well. If you have it available, a mix of pine & oak works right well. Ok, got to let Santa in, so Merry Christmas to You and yours.
Ooops ... Yeah ... Merry Christmas to you and yours, Dave.
Thanks for another year of great vids and info. Merry xmas!
Merry Christmas Dave and loved this fire lay
Big Fan of your Vids,learnt a lot over the years,wanna say thank you.I wish you and yours a very merry Xmas and a prosperous new year. ATB Falko
Thank you for the tips!
Merry Christmas to all!!
Clever fire design.
Dave a technique from up here in N-MN I carry a couple prices of aluminum as a reflective surface behind fire, vastly improves the heat, can also cover with aluminum foil Very easy to carry in pack, also have Mylar reflector in the shelter, requires much less wood/fuel Should show more on how to optimize
Just did 2 videos on the Super shelter within the last 2 weeks
Merry Christmas Dave! Excellent video. Its been a long while since you first referred this fire lay, I am happy to finally see the videos. OBTW: If you press the logs together, it will tend to tame overly dry firewood like what you get at camp stores.
Merry Christmas Dave and Happy New Years
I've done this fire lay b4 and having the fire a little wider helps burn the logs that roll in more complete and helps the logs from just burning in the middle and the ends burn more and don't keep the logs from rolling in its not perfect but it helps just my opinion we all know bout opinions lol thanks for the vids great work keep it up
Have a very merry Christmas Dave!
Hey merry chist in a mass my friend good stuff keep on coming . To you your wifes, family , affiliates and friends.....
Great video! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Dave!
Thanks for the vid and Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas Dave
With all the damp wood, I think I would have had a second "birds nest" ready to put on top of the first once it started to burn down. That would help build up an even bigger bed of coals. Likewise, I would have filled some of the gaps with fine material to help the flame transfer from one log to the next. Also, I might even introduce some smaller batoned hardwood pieces under the top layer; they would dry out faster and burn faster (due to small size), producing nice red-hot cherries in the coal bed.
There's a method named after some European country (maybe Norway?) where they take two large logs laid on top of each other, with smaller logs and tinder between them. That tinder is lit along the length of the logs and it slowly burns both up and down, providing a long slow fire that supposedly lasts all night. I've never tried it myself but hope to sometime soon.
I think bigger logs would demonstrate this better like you say they would, I figure the surface area and down weight might help to auto change as it were
Great video, I will have to try this too ;)-
Hey Dave Merry Christmas!
Got me thinking now. LOL You could actually create a second fire lay on the deadfall platform just in case the fire got too small to create enough heat for just the new small logs that fall when the figure four burned through. That way, even if the fire was small, you would have a new fire-lay and logs fall on top the 'spent' fire you first built.
Dave I have a question that might sound crazy but instead of a flint and steel could a person carry a flame striker with extra flints to get char cloth to light it does not weigh any more and will get thousands of strikes from just one flint head please let me know if this will even be feasible to consider thanks
Just an idea to make the fire feed better, have your feed stack rest on top of your bottom layer.
Great video but how do you light a fire in wet,dam conditions
MERRY CHRISTMAS DAVE
Inverse Squares ? ... I guess THAT is the beauty of a Super-Shelter (and variants) ...
... Having that clear membrane to trap all the infra-red, from the fire AND your body ... I am just guessing THAT makes a big difference. ... And ... Hydration and carbs are very helpful. ... I got caught out on a low carb diet and also lost my sleep system once ... It was a very rough night,
Merry Christmas to you & yours brother
Dave, can I get a hat like yours in this video and where? thx.
Dave, tell Everyone we said Merry Christmas
Personally, I think Dave should plan on doing a Christmas Show next year. "Dave Canterbury's Christmas in the Woods". You can have how our forefathers would made camp during Christmas, the foods they would have served and how they would have celebrated. If it's good enough, maybe a network will pick it up. Just sayin' .....
So your telling me Dave that the further you get away from a fire the less heat you feel? My mind is blown! Only joking my friend I hope you have yourself a good Christmas :)
hey man, i want to build a little chimney for my fire place outside, but i dont have any metal and stuff to do it with. have you any suggestions of some sort? sorry for my bad engilsh
Can you do a two sided self feeding fire? would it last longer or burn hotter?
This dude is the lost leboski twin who grew up country,, awesome.
Can you show how to build a tee-pee type shelter with a fire inside for long term shelter( like 1 week time). Thanks.
love the #'s Dave
Have you ever tried making a "rakovalkea"?
Hi Form Luxemburg meri Christmas an a happy new year
… (chuckle)…. nice, but I'm thinkin' an improvised Swedish Torch or Stump-Stove might be a lot less "fiddly". I've done numerous Stump-Stoves with nothin' but a decent axe & a basic saw to make sure my centre-splits don't go all the way through the height of the stump; but a guy needs a little cheap re-bar wire to bind the stove back together after splitting out. They burn "clean" & for ages if the stump is fair-sized.
how do you tell if an animal has ray-bees ??? I hunt a lot of small game and don't want to eat the wrong thing
Ohio wet, it was. Any fire is a good fire in those conditions.
thanks much
Good burn time from that small amount of self feeding logs, enough for a good sleep.
I could live the rest of my life out in the sticks, if i had the chance.
Inverse square law would dictate that you are not getting 100%, you're getting a comfortable amount but 100% would well, catch you on fire
It is based on 100% of heat felt at comfortable distance in the case of shelter generally 3 feet-
That'd do it
Defining the maximum safe amount of heat from a fire to be at three feet would be a good rule of thumb. Other fires, other distances, but the inverse square relationship ALWAYS holds from whatever the "closest distance" is defined to be.
This honestly doesn't seem worth the effort. If you have to keep fiddling with it to get it to work/feed correctly, its just as easy to add fuel as needed. If the wood had been dry, I suspect the bottom log would burn faster, igniting all the logs on top of it along with the uprights. Cool concept, but I doubt it works as advertised.
Cowabunga.!