Fire must surely be the defining element in the evolution of our species. Our control of fire gave us many things; it gave us security from predators, warmth to endure, the ability to extend our range of foods by cooking them and helps us tolerate colder climates. Firelight enabled us to extend our day in the longer nights of winter and it has even been suggested that our development of language and story-telling evolved as a result of sitting around fires in social groups. 

We certainly have a very long association with fire, exactly how long is a matter for scholarly debate but it is probably at least 400,000 years and possibly as long as 1.7 million years. All other animals are naturally and rightly afraid of fire, in nature it is usually not a good sign for them.

Humans however have a unique affection for it and a gifted ability to detect woodsmoke in the air. Most of us find the smell of it very pleasant, our ancestors used it to find their way back to camp, we find the glow and crackle of a fire welcoming and comforting. There is even something very meditative about staring into the embers of a camp-fire in the woods or a wood-burner in your sitting room (it is often called 'nature’s TV’ by bush-crafters).

Fire enables so many essential functions of survival; warmth, light, tool making, water purification and cooking; that it is generally considered to be on a par with water in the list of priority for survival. I think that the understanding of fire is an important skill in self-reliance and one that everybody should have so we will be talking about it quite a lot here at PerfectRucksack.