I watched the “To Build a Fire” video until I got to the point where this fellow built a fire and stopped watching.
Now I know there are people that have done this, much like the video portrays.
I’ve tried many times, taking frozen moisture absorbed twigs from under the snow to build a fire. First just getting the match to light and staying lit long enough to start a twig is a problem. For that twig or birch paper to want to light it first needs to be warmed enough by the match to want to light and free enough of moisture to stay lit.
LOL...the message is if you start getting hypothermic, you won’t think clearly...
The point is not to build a fire under an overhanging branch full of snow with your last match!
To comment on my own remarks, I need to add:
We have gotten small fires to start, but not with anything close to the ground that has been laden with moisture by nature.
We look for dead brush still standing, with no buds, that freely snaps with a clean break, that has been hanging out there in the wind and sun to be dried by nature.
As far as the survival shows go I think I like Les Stroud best. He doesn’t jump off a 300 foot cliff with a plan of catching a tree on the way down. His attitude is “stick 2 or 3 butane lighters in your pocket if you’re going into the wilderness”.
In a survival situation, roughing it doesn’t make you tougher, it just makes you suffer.