[swamprat]

Originally Posted by Cajunlady

Gee Swamprat the same thing happens to me, water just keeps filling the hole up. And no rocks, me too, we mustn't be too far from each other.

As Kevin said, pj balls and firesteel should start you off and just start building up fire gradually with tinder and so forth.

You are closer to the coast, does your pit fill up with brackish water or salt water?

[hanzo]

Most times, I have pretty strong wind when I go camping and rain also. So I always make a platform of dry wood to build my fire upon. This keeps it off the wet ground, adds ventilation, and builds a really nice hot bed of coals for the heart of the fire. I usually line this platform in the same direction as the wind is blowing so the wind ends up working like a bellows under the fire.

Then on top of the platform, I will lay a large piece of wood across it towards the side the wind is blowing from. This is the initial wind break. Then a teepee of fire wood with an opening on the side away from the wind.

Tinder and kindling goes in there. The platform and the teepee protects the fire from wind and rain. Good tinder really helps. I like tinder that has high oil and resin content in these situations. Paper bark is available here in Hawaii and is fantastic. Dry pine needles and pine cones are good too. As is fatwood.

So light it up in the protected hollow. Add more kindling as needed. And you're off. Most times, I haven't had to add anymore kindling. Only when everything is totally saturated will there be a problem. But even then, we have made fire. It just becomes more work and is a pain. After your fire takes and is established, you can also put some firewood over the opening that you put your tinder and kindling in.

I think this set up creates a kind of chimney effect making the fire really hot, like an above ground Dakota fire pit of sorts. And even when it was raining hard, the heat from the fire kept the fire wood dry enough to burn and the fire wood acted like an umbrella to keep the heart of the fire dry and really hot.

One of my favorite woods to use is kiawe, our local mesquite. It is dense and hard which makes it long burning. And it makes a superior bed of long lasting coals to cook on. And because it is so dense, it doesn't get as soaked as some other wood can. I have had mango wood, another wood I really like to cook with, turn to rubber when left out over a particularly dewey night.

So always cover your wood too, for safety. Er, to keep it dry. Sorry I couldn't resist after reading the oily balls and triple balls threads.