“Anywhere the struggle is great, the level of ingenuity and inventiveness is high.”– Eleni Zaude Gabre-Madhin
There are several dangerous aspects to a post-disaster open fire or even a fire in the wild. High winds can make your fire difficult to light, and sparks can cause your fire to grow and potentially become out of control. Smoke and radiating light from the flames can announce to all the locations of your encampment and attract undesirable people that could threaten your safety. Still, having a safe fire after a disaster could mean the difference between life and death for you. Fire is a prepper’s essential tool, and it’s key to survival. Fortunately, the ancient indigenous people of North America developed a method to deal with all of those issues. And we are going to follow their model in this video and build what is commonly called a Dakota Fire Pit or a Dakota Fire Hole. In this video, I will explain how to build a basic Dakota Fire Pit, why it’s far superior to an open campfire and why it was probably developed in the first place. Let’s break some ground…
HOW TO BUILD IT
The Dakota Fire Pit is essentially just two holes in the ground that connect up. Your slightly larger fire hole is fed by the smaller hole that should be at least as big around as your fist and will open up at the bottom of your larger fire pit hole.
Having a steep-sided, narrow, and deep fire hole will protect your fire from high winds, which will help you get it started under challenging conditions. The sides of the fire pit will also focus the heat energy upwards and not in all directions like a campfire. This will allow you to generate a concentrated heat sufficient enough to boil water or cook in a very short amount of time.
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