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Why? –in a world of matches? Ernest Thompson Seton answered well when a group of ‘practical business men questioned his zest for the rubbing stick fire – said he, pointing to the ground, ‘You are thinking of the fire that is lighted down there,’ and pointing to his breast continued, ‘I am thinking of the fire that is kindled in here!”
Impractical it is only to staid, prosaic oldsters who have forgotten that enchanted world of dreams called childhood!
Struggling for weeks and months, a year before the days when commercial fire-by-friction sets came wrapped up in packages, experimenting and failing with countless woods and tinders, filing my room with a perpetual incense of wood smoke that in itself was reward. I still recall that fervent, youthful day when tiny coal turned to flame!-and happily the flame it kindled has never died! Must you say it is impractical?
Bernard Sterling Mason, Woodcraft
Bernard S. Mason was a prolific writer on the subjects of woodcraft, Native American lore and handicrafts. One of my most treasured books is Woodcraft
A few of his works remain in print but there were many, many more.
Woodcraft available at Amazon
Boomerangs at Amazon
Drums, Tom Toms and Rattles at Amazon
Woodsmanship in PDF available at Google Books
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Is Bernard related to Brick?
Brick is Bernard’s third cousin once removed. Once he is removed he should be disposed of in a manner consistent with accepted practices.
In November 2011, I got four new scouts, and took them along with 3 older boys on their first camp out, a wilderness survival weekend, where we did the merit badge activities as camping events. That involved lighting fires with several primitive methods, like the fire steel sparkers, magnifying glass, bow and spindle. We made char cloth and charcoal in a pot, and slept in tarp tents one night and a bush shelter the next.
I never told them that matches would be available on the next camping trip, and on that trip I handed out the fire steel type fire starters for them to use. They think now that scouts generally start fires this way. I would say that in making fire, one or two of them now can start a fire in the same time as others can using matches. It still is all about having proper tinder, kindling and fuel. Last month I brought to the camp out a real old fashioned Flint and Steel set, challenged them, and one of the boys got a fire started with that. I think it is almost an esprit de corps thing with them, to make fire in an unusual way.
On their second camping trip several boys brought their tarps thinking they would make a tarp tent again. They all piled into an eight man tent brought by one of the older boys. I almost wish I had gotten them to think of the tarp tents as the normal way of camping. I think the passage from Mr Masons article would have applied to that as well. Some backpacking troops think of what they are doing as “real camping”. It all goes to bragging rights.