Fire

To me a fire is very important when out in the woods.
A fire can be used for boiling to purify water, to cook, to dry off clothes, to keep yourself warm, to see at night and for many other reasons.

To create a fire you must have oxygen, heat and fuel as seen in the fire triangle.

A fire will not light/stay lit if you remove any of these 3 crucial requirements in the fire triangle. 

The oxygen for fire is in the air around us, the fuel can be your tinder or firewood and heat is provided from a lighter, match, firesteel or other source of lighting the fire until the fire is lit and then the fire provides its own heat.

Many people think the bigger your fire the better which is not strictly true. If you think of your cooker at home it does not give off a huge amount of flames which is the same as a fire, if you have a hot bed of red coals it is more than enough to cook/boil and give off heat.

Fire can be a great thing, but it can also be dangerous. Never leave a fire unattended.

Zebra billy can

There are many stoves and cook systems being sold for 'bushcraft' but for me it does not get much simpler than a open fire and billy can.

Billy can's are widely available in many varieties. My personal favorite is the Zebra billy can.

The billy cans themselves come in a variety of sizes with a strong and sturdy bail arm so they can be suspended over a fire. The billy cans come with a lid which speeds up boiling/cooking time and also keeps ash from going into your water/food. The billy can also comes with a steaming tray so as well as cooking/boiling you can steam foods.

Here is my 12cm Zebra billy can  suspended over the fire boiling water.