Creating A Perpetual Fire

In cold countries, a perpetual fire is needed in the wilderness. I had seen in a tv documentary about the survival story in the wilderness that is partly covered by snow. The survivor was able to create fire which lasted for days hence he called it perpetual fire. First, he gathered igniting materials which are dried twigs and small branches. Next, he gathered big branches and was lucky to find a small log. Not able to cut the log, he used one end as a boundary for the fire he created. After igniting the twigs, he added the small branches and then the big branches. After an hour, the log had ignited as well and he was off to a good start. As what I had seen, a big piece of wood like that log is necessary for a perpetual fire that could last for days and nights to keep you warm in the cold forest.

 

I've seen stumps burn for a week when we were trying to clear an area. It was pretty nice to always have a place to warm up at. A log 3' in diameter and 6' long takes a long time to burn too and we used it as a back for our outdoor fireplace on a camping trip. We didn't have a big fire and the log just burned slow for days on end.

 

Those are pretty good infos, and the concept of a perpetual fire reminded me of the greek fire!
If you don't know about it, it was a fire created in ancient Greece specifically for war, to burn down enemy ships. It was pretty scary and powerful since water ignited it. Some say that only sand was effective.
We have no idea of how it was done, and even in ancient times it was a huge secret: there was death for those who shared it!
Today it would be pretty useful to know about how it was made, it might be useful in a survival situation as a perpetual fire indeed.

 

There are several thoughts about Greek Fire. It was some sort of napalm but the exact formula was lost. There are actually several "civilian" home made versions that may indeed be of value. There are actually a lot of things that you don't try to put out with water. The Greek fire was a just horrifying weapon for use against wooden ships and water just made it burn more fiercely. I suspect that it was some blend of thick animal fat, thin tar and some sort of partially refined accelerant that was somewhat like gasoline. It floated on water while burning. It stuck on vertical surfaces and was just an inferno that couldn't be put out by other than smother it with something solid like sand or dirt.

The idea of the perpetual fire to some extent is a skill learned over time by people that heat their homes or camps with and old school wood burning system. The big thing is that when you put it to bed at night or during the day while you are out you "bank" your fire by partially burying the coals the ashes to restrict the air and slow down the combustion. When you return all you have to do is pull the ashes back and add a little small pieces of wood and you are soon off to the races again. If you do it right about the most you might need is just a little breeze to make it burst back into flame.