The Basic Fire Triangle |
For all fires, three things are necessary both to start them and to sustain them: Oxygen, Heat, and Fuel. Take any one of these three away and a fire will go out. It will also be impossible to start a fire without all three present. |
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The Primitive Skills Fire TriangleWith primitive fire skills, there are another three main factors which come into play: Skill, Materials, and Power. These can be envisioned as making up a triangle, as shown here: |
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Generally speaking, when one is making fire using a primitive method, these three aspects are balanced. However, if one of them is decreased, then the others must be increased. For example, suppose you are trying to make a bowdrill fire with poor wood. It is still possible to do it, but your skill and power must be increased. Or, suppose you are not feeling very energetic (strong) one day and so have less power than usual. If your materials are of higher quality and you have a higher degree of skill, you can still get a fire. Another example ... Let's say you have almost no skill, having never made fire with a bow drill previously. Well, if your materials are of good quality, and you have power, then you can still make fire. Or, if you have not much power either, but your materials are of exceptional quality, then you may still get fire. And so on. And finally, if you have any two of the elements, but are completely lacking the third, it becomes next to impossible to start a fire. For example, if you are highly skilled at a particular fire-making method, and have lots of muscle power, but you have no materials or extremely poor materials (maybe only water-soaked logs are available), then making a fire will be impossible or nearly so. Of course, there are lots of exceptions! It doesn't take much power (muscle power, that is), to make a fire using a magnifying lens. One could say that the power is in the sun. |
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Fire Triangles
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