Top down fire with birch bark?

[NH_Wood]

Hi all,

Haven't had a fire for a few days - pretty warm in southern NH. Getting colder though starting tonight. I'm interested in trying a top down fire. I always start bottom up, with birch bark for the tinder. Any thought on how birch bark would work on a top down fire, rather than the newspaper bows? Not sure why, but I don't like newspaper in the stove.

Cheers!

 

[Battenkiller]

We used birch bark on a lot of top-down fires when camping this season. It works well, but you should rip it into thin strips and tie them into loose knots. This gets the bark closer to the kindling. The closer you get to the kindling, the more guarantee that it will take off correctly. You can get several 1/2" wide strips from a 6"x6" piece of birch bark. Just plopping the whole piece on top didn't really work that well for us.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Well, fire is fire. You could also do it with pine cones, or it seems that way.

 

[Battenkiller]

Probably, but I can say first hand that SuperCedars don't work well with the top-down method, at least not for us. Maybe it's because most of the flame is at the top of the fire starter?

 

[firefighterjake]

Birch bark should work fine in place of the newspaper -- especially if it is a bit on the thick side . . . when splitting wood I tend to keep the larger pieces that fall or are torn off the splits for use in starting fires.

 

[madrone]

Probably, but I can say first hand that SuperCedars don't work well with the top-down method, at least not for us. Maybe it's because most of the flame is at the top of the fire starter?

When building a top-down fire with Supercedars, I always place it just below the top layer.

 

[vvvv]

Probably, but I can say first hand that SuperCedars don't work well with the top-down method, at least not for us. Maybe it's because most of the flame is at the top of the fire starter?

When building a top-down fire with Supercedars, I always place it just below the top layer.

i love k2 NOT RECOMMENDED! cause its a liquid & sinks when sprayed on top & the flames! + gotta spray it on a flame or boom! thereafter it will become dilluted , explosively speaking, from the presence of water

 

[Skier76]

My stove is marginal for top down. However, our firepit outside is awesome. I use birch bark all the time for the top downs in the fire pit and it works great.

 

[madrone]

i love k2 NOT RECOMMENDED! cause its a liquid & sinks when sprayed on top & the flames! + gotta spray it on a flame or boom! thereafter it will become dilluted , explosively speaking, from the presence of water

Respectfully, that's stupid.

 

[NH_Wood]

Okay - I'll let you all know it turns out. Not sure if a fire is in the works for tonight, but certainly tomorrow night. I never use large, thick pieces of bark - I peel the bark in to thinner layers - it's always a sure start. Cheers!

 

[vvvv]

i love k2 NOT RECOMMENDED! cause its a liquid & sinks when sprayed on top & the flames! + gotta spray it on a flame or boom! thereafter it will become dilluted , explosively speaking, from the presence of water

Respectfully, that's stupid.

not stupid cause it worx 4me & the science i explained minimally. still i need ask= why u think stupid applies?

 

[madrone]

Spraying an aerosol into your stove?