[Stoves] "Stealth fires" and Wendelbo and TLUD history

[Paul Anderson]

Neil,

Sorry, I did not remember well nor did I reread what I wrote back in 
2007 or 08.   That writing does not mention a height of the small pile.  
It certainly would not have been very tall.  But I suspect that there 
was also some amount of variation in how different people made those 
stealth fires.

I am not disagreeing about the Wendelbo comments, but you wrote:
> The height limitations are essentially no
> different to building any stack of wood to light, better if anything with
> lighter material at the top,
Actually, the "traditional" campfires put the lightest materials (tinder 
and kindling) at the bottom (under the teepee) and ignite there at the 
bottom (and have the smoke problem.)

There is a lot to be favorably said about lighting fires t the top.   
Such as in a common fireplace.  Stack in the logs (with some gaps for 
upward air flow) and then build the initial fire at the top.   The fire 
looks good, burns longer with a more consistent flame, and does not have 
the smokey struggle at the start, then the big blazing, and then the 
dying. back.

Paul

Doc  /  Dr TLUD  /  Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
Email:  psanders at ilstu.edu
Skype:   paultlud    Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website:  www.drtlud.com

On 5/27/2017 12:20 PM, neiltm at uwclub.net wrote:
> On 27 May 2017 at 8:49, Paul Anderson wrote:
>
>> 2.  But he never mentioned that there was an initial tall-ish pile of
>> fuel, sufficiently tall to say "light the top, not the bottom." Instead,
>> a small amount of fuel is likely to be rather flat and only maybe 10 cm
>> (4 inches) in diameter, and maybe only 2 to 5 cm (1 to 2 inches) thick,
>> which is not packed tightly and could be only 2 o3 "fuel pieces" in
>> thickness.   Such a "pile" hardly has a top versus a bottom.   Bring in
>> the match under the upper-most twigs or leaves and ignite this small
>> amount of fuel.   That can be translated a being "top lit."   But the
>> important thing is to have some tiny fire that can be nursed with the
>> addition of small amounts of fuel, which are being places on top.   This
>> is "top-BURNING".
> Now I'm confused about what Paal did, because your original account seems
> to contradict what you have just written?:
>
> http://www.drtlud.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/WendelboTLUDExperiences20
> 09.pdf
>
> "Their meals were prepared with the smallest of fires and minimal smoke.
> The men showed Paal how to lay a small pile of very dry small sticks
> horizontally parallel and with the smallest wood on top. They would light
> the fires at the top. There were no stove structures or fire containers,
> just the sticks. The fires did produce a little smoke, but most of the
> smoke was wonderfully consumed in the steady flames at the top of the
> fuel pile. The pot was a one -  litre tin hanging on a stick extended
> over the fire"
>
> AND quoting Paal:
>
> "I began my serious work with stoves back in Norway in 1988 before my
> next employment started. I began utilizing the fire technology I learned
> during the war . The stove was tested at The Technical High School in
> Norway and Denmark. I made the stove first and the best way to ignite it
> was from the top using some kerosene, but also with straw there was no
> problem to  ignite on top."
>
> I note though that you describe sticks laid horizontally in parrallel,
> with smaller ones at the top.  I had perhaps not remembered the account
> accurately since I made a 'log cabin', with progressively smaller fuel to
> wards the top, in other words, placing parrallel levels of sticks at
> alternate right angles.  The height limitations are essentially no
> different to building any stack of wood to light, better if anything with
> lighter material at the top, but since the structure degrades from the
> top, it should remain intact lower down making the structure much less
> likely to collapse.
>
> Neil Taylor
>
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