# Does cold weather make starting a campfire harder? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285 "2015-02-21T20:21:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/21 "2015-02-22T19:53:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Lumpy** : > > I’ve always heard it the other way around: ground stuff will always be damp. The ideal wood for a fire is neither on the ground nor attached to a tree. It’s the dead branches that have broken off of the tree, but gotten snagged in other branches above the ground. You might not be able to get enough of those to last you through the night, but you can use them to build your starter fire that you use to dry the less-ideal wood before it starts. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/22 "2015-02-22T23:13:44Z")
Any petroleum based products you have with you, like chapstick, can be a big help. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/23 "2015-02-23T02:04:43Z")
I wonder what the heck Daniel Boone did in damp weather. He would have had a flint and steel, some carefully prepared tinder- but then would have had to make do with whatever he could find in the way of wood, wet or dry. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/24 "2015-02-23T03:08:49Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The fuel needs to be brought up to combustion temperature. If the wood is cold, ISTM that it would take longer to light. got it in one. Different fuels burn at different temperatures so lowering the temperature means it requires more energy to start the fuel burning. As an example, you can take kerosene at normal room temperature and matches won’t ignite it. Kerosene needs to be raised to a temperature between 100 and 150 degrees to burn. so the colder it gets the more energy needs to be added to kerosene before it reaches it’s ignition point. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/25 "2015-02-23T13:45:40Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > got it in one. Different fuels burn at different temperatures so lowering the temperature means it requires more energy to start the fuel burning. As an example, you can take kerosene at normal room temperature and matches won’t ignite it. Kerosene needs to be raised to a temperature between 100 and 150 degrees to burn. so the colder it gets the more energy needs to be added to kerosene before it reaches it’s ignition point. Ah, so at normal temperature you might have some component of the wood almost hot enough to catch, while at colder temperatures little or none of the components are hot enough. Makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/26 "2015-02-23T14:37:46Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I wonder what the heck Daniel Boone did in damp weather. He would have had a flint and steel, some carefully prepared tinder- but then would have had to make do with whatever he could find in the way of wood, wet or dry. One of the key items he would have to go with the flint and steel would be Char Cloth. I don’t use my flint and steel as often as I should because I use my [Magnesium](http://http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/us/highlander-magnesium-fire-starter-A7210029?channel_code=1350&id_colour=180&s2m_product_id=43873_180&_$ja=tsid:45886&gclid=COLXmZGk-MMCFYc7aQodKAYAYA&gclsrc=aw.ds) fire starter. Starting an fire in the early morning on a warm humid summer day is harder than starting a fire in the winter with all else equal. After Char Cloth, Birch Bark is my go to tinder, when not using the magnesium shavings. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/27 "2015-02-23T14:52:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Same way _I_ know. 😉 > > Same answer, too. You’ll get quite a blast of fairly low-temp flame that will probably blow your tinder all to hell and gone before it ignites anything, and will run out before anything bigger ignites. It would, however, be adequate to light a drier branch of still attached but dead pine needles. Alternate approach: soak the tinder with hairspray _before_ lighting it. Hairspray has a number of flammable ingredients that don’t immediately flash to vapor upon exiting the can. Lots of other flammable things are usually available too. Aerosol insect repellent is pretty good; even non-aerosol insect repellent is seriously combustible. As **outlierrn** noted, any petroleum-based item is good. Smear some chapstick on those twigs, and you’ve made a tiny candle; who cares of the twig won’t light right away, it’ll act as a wick so the chapstick can burn. Chapstick, Carmex, lipstick, motor oil (pull the dipstick and wipe it on some twigs), anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/28 "2015-02-23T14:56:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The ideal wood for a fire is neither on the ground nor attached to a tree. It’s the dead branches that have broken off of the tree, but gotten snagged in other branches above the ground. Or the whole tree is thoroughly dead. > [@Lumpy](#): > > So if you must, carry or gather enough tinder to keep a tinder fire going until you can finally dry out some kindling enough to catch. Or find some nice pitchy/resinous twigs that will burn despite being green, but then you may end up smoking yourself like a ham. > [@Gbro](#): > > Birch Bark is my go to tinder Seriously. That stuff is the business. Whenever I am handling firewood and come across a chunk of birch that has the bark curling off it, I yank it loose and throw it in a pail, which gets emptied into paper sacks when full. Every morning I use a handful to light the woodstove. It actually works better than those firelighter cubes because you end up with a big fluffy pile of well-aerated bark that you can lay the kindling in and which is a mix of papery insta-flame wisps plus thicker slower-burning pieces. Toss in a match and whoosh. No need to be super-precise and no hunting about with the match trying to find the firelighter. ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/29 "2015-02-23T15:04:45Z")
> [@Gbro](#): > > One of the key items he would have to go with the flint and steel would be Char Cloth. > I don’t use my flint and steel as often as I should because I use my [Magnesium](http://http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/us/highlander-magnesium-fire-starter-A7210029?channel_code=1350&id_colour=180&s2m_product_id=43873_180&_$ja=tsid:45886&gclid=COLXmZGk-MMCFYc7aQodKAYAYA&gclsrc=aw.ds) fire starter. > Starting an fire in the early morning on a warm humid summer day is harder than starting a fire in the winter with all else equal. > After Char Cloth, Birch Bark is my go to tinder, when not using the magnesium shavings. My link didn’t work but I came across a you tube video that tested some fire starters and there are useless fake ones on the market! Watch here, [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=magnesium%20fire%20starter&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDkQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DfrDMAOlIGaY&ei=-TvrVJn0EsSzyASjmYCQDw&usg=AFQjCNHn\_TNhP4zeNQEhqql\_KvGbrFkqhA&bvm=bv.86475890,d.aWw](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=magnesium%20fire%20starter&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDkQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DfrDMAOlIGaY&ei=-TvrVJn0EsSzyASjmYCQDw&usg=AFQjCNHn_TNhP4zeNQEhqql_KvGbrFkqhA&bvm=bv.86475890,d.aWw) ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/30 "2015-02-23T15:21:26Z")
I think in either case, cold or warm weather, what it really comes down to is moisture content of your tinder and fuel. Hot or cold weather, you need dry tinder and fuel. If you have lots of the former or a long burning aid like diesel fuel or wax, you can sometimes make it work if the moisture content of the fuel is high. I suspect the temperature deficit of the tinder in cold weather is of minor issue compared to the heat of the flame from match or lighter. I am no expert fire starter, and I have never tried to start a fire from a drill and bow, or flint and steel, and only available natural materials. A lighter is fine with me and I have no shame tearing up some paper from my pocket. Most of my camping is in the mountains here, where we have cold dry winters and somewhat wet summers. That being said I have started lots of fires in the dead of winter and it has never seemed more difficult to me that in the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/31 "2015-02-23T15:49:11Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > I think in either case, cold or warm weather, what it really comes down to is moisture content of your tinder and fuel. Status update: I saved some of the twigs and branches that refused to light earlier and let them sit for three days in a paper bag next to the heating vent. Now they light; so my “dry” tinder wasn’t. Camping challenge: 35°F and it’s been raining for five days. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/32 "2015-02-23T15:52:11Z")
Camping advice: Don’t go winter camping with girls who are likely to pack hairspray. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/33 "2015-02-23T15:59:32Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Status update: I saved some of the twigs and branches that refused to light earlier and let them sit for three days in a paper bag next to the heating vent. Now they light; so my “dry” tinder wasn’t. > > Camping challenge: 35°F and it’s been raining for five days. :eek: Add in 35-40 mph winds. Just to make it interesting. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/34 "2015-02-23T16:03:01Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Camping advice: > > Don’t go winter camping with girls who are likely to pack hairspray. 😃 Yeppers. Those are the ones who will probably bring high heels too. Those are harder to light than wet leaves. (Sorry Ladies. Just joking here.) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/35 "2015-02-23T16:08:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Don’t go winter camping with girls who are likely to pack hairspray. Aside: My mom once went on a trip where one of the other women actually packed _two_ hairdryers, in case one broke. Admittedly, this was in a cabin, not a tent, and there were electrical outlets, but… Two hairdryers? Mom’s pack was the lightest out of everyone in the group, and yet she still ended up being the one everyone else was borrowing supplies from. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/36 "2015-02-23T16:27:22Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I wonder what the heck Daniel Boone did in damp weather. He would have had a flint and steel, some carefully prepared tinder- but then would have had to make do with whatever he could find in the way of wood, wet or dry. He no doubt knew which materials would burn well, even when everything was wet. For example, my grandfather taught me that, when everything else was wet, dead and apparently rotten pine stumps can provide a material he called “fatwood”. I just looked it up, and it is an actual term: [Fatwood - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatwood) This stuff is easily found in Canadian boreal forests (dead pine stumps are everywhere) and it will burn and start fires in almost any conditions - even after everything else in the forest is soaked from a week of torrential rain. You don’t want to cook with it - it burns with a very thick, gross smoke - but you can make a fire out of it to dry out the rest of your wood. Boone would have known about this and similar substances. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/37 "2015-02-23T17:08:08Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Boone would have known about this and similar substances. I don’t see how. It’s not like he had Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/38 "2015-02-23T18:06:23Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > I think in either case, cold or warm weather, what it really comes down to is moisture content of your tinder and fuel. > > Hot or cold weather, you need dry tinder and fuel. If you have lots of the former or a long burning aid like diesel fuel or wax, you can sometimes make it work if the moisture content of the fuel is high. I suspect the temperature deficit of the tinder in cold weather is of minor issue compared to the heat of the flame from match or lighter. > > I am no expert fire starter, and I have never tried to start a fire from a drill and bow, or flint and steel, and only available natural materials. I agree, the dampness/dryness is the critical thing, way more than the temp. I have made a fire from a drill and bow, and flint and steel. But those 'flints" like they use on Survivor are pretty easy once you get the hang of them. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/39 "2015-02-23T18:29:03Z")
A few friends and survival instructors recommend using cotton balls wiped with petroleum jelly. Works like a charm, even when wet. ---
**Author:** ![Dodgecity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cab0a1/32.png) [@Dodgecity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dodgecity)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285/40 "2015-02-23T18:55:53Z")
Had a fire in the bush last Saturday , yes it’s harder to get going , besides being damp the tinder and wood was also frozen and the wind was blowing . Built a wind brake first, brought lots of paper and piled the tinder and twigs high . And keep the Bic in a warm pocket ,one flick is all it took. I always carry a 20 min. road flare in the snowmobile just in case , if you can’t get a fire going with one of them , nothings gonna burn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cold-weather-make-starting-a-campfire-harder/713285.md?page=3)