I am Bjørn (bear)
And my name is Busk (bush)
Combined we have:
39 years of experience in survival in the Danish nature
This is The Origin of Instincts
With Bjørn and Busk
Fire is not only about cooking what food you find
It's about both keeping warm and surviving
But it's also about keeping your morale up
The most important thing you can do, is to keep your spirit strong
If you lose courage out in a cold forest, without the opportunity to find your way home
Then you might as well throw in the towel
When starting a fire in a wet forest, it's not just straightforward
Cortex from a birch tree is very inflammable
There's no birch trees around
But we have found some dry grass
I'm picking the straws that have not been in contact with the ground
Because they haven't absorbed the moisture from the damp moss
Then you'll be able to see it's almost as dry as hay
That is also inflammable
I'll just gather quite a bunch
I've now gathered a bit of this to light the fire
To keep the fire going, we'll also be needing some twigs
Dead trees as this one, are also dry
And thus good to ignite the fire
I'll gather just a few more twigs
And then we'll move a bit deeper into the woods, where we will be sheltered from the wind
I'll try to start the fire here for your sake, so you can see what's going on more easily
It's important to build the fire with a good base
We'll start out by forming sort of a small nest
of the inflammable material
Now you're probably thinking: If I'm lost in the woods why would I have a lighter
That's not necessary
If you're out hiking or camping, some things are imperative to bring
For example a flashlight
Both for when it gets dark, but also when lighting a fire
A flashlight contains batteries
Those batteries can actually be used to ignite the fire
We take a completely normal small battery
I'll just put it down here
Whilst I put the flashlight back in my pocket
To harvest the power of the battery for igniting a fire
Then you'll be needing one more thing, that is essential to bring when hiking
That is; steel wool
Let me just get it from my inner pocket
To ensure it doesn't get moist
We take a bit of it
It's metal, and is easily conducting
It can be quite the challenge to ignite the steel wool
I've gathered the combined three batteries from my flashlight
Pressing it on here.. and here
As you can see when I press it there, it sparks
Ouch, damn..
It may take a very long time to start a fire
But you gotta keep trying and trying
Because fire, is the difference between life and death
*20 minutes later*
*whispering* fuck, I'll move a bit closer
*40 minutes later*
I dont think you'll be able to ignite these stupid things
Look at all the sparks! Come on
Come on!
It was a bit of a hassle, and we couldn't get the fire going
Which is why we're out looking for birch cortex
Because it will make it a lot easier for us, to start our fire
We have now returned after gathering some birch cortex
Birch cortex is very inflammable because of the oils in the tree
Now we'll put the birch cortex among the things we've prepared here
And then we'll try again
to ignite
*2 hours later*
*Meanwhile* I'm out looking for supplies for the night
Coincidentally, over there, I've found a special forest herb
Parsley
It's filled with vitamins, and they can also spice up our beans
I've spent a lot of time, and I'm beginning to sweat
It can be dangerous to work hard, when we find ourselves in the cold, in December, in subzero weather
The sweat can freeze directly on your skin, which can be just as fatal as not having a fire
I've now found some more birch to ignite the fire
And then I've picked a larger battery from our camera equipment
It's a 9 volt battery, so there a bit more power in it
Look at this
I take the steel wool
Pick it apart so it's not too compact
To make the fire breath more easily
I put it down with the birch
And then I dip at it, with the battery
*4 hours later* Now!
Damned frustrating
Damn it, come on! Ouch
I think it's too moist this birch
It's because it's wet
Unfortunatly, we couldn't start a fire
But on the other hand, we found some food
As you can see down here, under our fire
We've got a good source of protein
Very delicous
Uhmm
A good earthworm
Whoops
I've heard they taste a bit like chicken
The question is whether we should find out here on The Origin of Instincts
If it's edible
I'll eat it
I'll eat.. I'm bloody Bear Grylls
Fuck that
I'm fucking Bear Grylls!
You are Bjørn!
I'm Bjørn!
Welcome, to the Origin of Instincts
*8 hours later* It's getting pretty late
Bjørn is laying in our shelter that we build
Trying to catch some sleep
I'm still attempting to light the fire
Both for us to get warm, but also to scare away predators
Now, finally!
Finally the steel wool would ignite
Now we'll have to hurry to put it to use!
Bjørn!
No don't, oh yeah or else it'll explode
That would be frustrating
Put a twig in it
Wow it's burning easily
Should I put it here?
Ah, it can't
I'll tip it over, and place it
I'll just open it completely
I think that's quite alright
It's nice to cook over open fire
Now we can spice up our beans with the fresh parsley that Bjørn found earlier
I'll just grab my faithful pocket knife
Which I will eat it with
It's important to eat a big dinner, so your body has enough energy to withstand the cold while you sleep
It's a very good thing that we got the fire going
To heat our beans, which will then warm our bodies through
*Later at night* The time is..
2am.. 3am.. We're not quite sure
We don't have a watch, but we woke up because of wolfs howling
As you can hear
Unfortunatly.. I think there might also be a bear
That is plausible
Unfortunatly our fire has burned out
And we're all out of dry wood
A bonfire, well fire scares away predators
So we, ehm..
We are a bit nerv.. It's gonna be a long night
It's gonna be a very long night
Fuck that tastes bad man!
It was so crunchy!
That's because it's filled with dirt Yuck, that is so disgusting