Now that you've traveled into the wilderness, what do you need to know to be able to set a safe and comfortable camp?
Let's explore the techniques a frontiersman would use to create his "home away from home". Using what you carry and what you can find, it's possible to be fairly comfortable even when the weather isn't cooperating.
It is generally accepted that the three most important issues in survival are food, water, and shelter. For the moment, let's focus on the shelter issue, and what can be done to quickly create something from what is available and what you are carrying.
In the southeastern portion of North America, there are few places where one can't find enough material to be able to construct a shelter. The first thing to do is to locate a good location for a shelter. It should be protected from the prevailing wind so a storm can't blow in and destroy it, and situated so that in the event of rain, the water won't channel through your chosen spot.
A lean-to shelter is quite easy to create, and can be very comfortable. It is not usually a problem to find a fallen tree trunk to use as a back for the lean to. A large trunk can act as a wind break and a reflector to contain heat from your fire. A simple frame of branches will support the roof, and it can be covered with branches, leaves, and other debris. Covering the roof with limbs will keep the material from blowing away. Leaf litter and other material from the forest floor can be piled on the roof to create a fairly waterproof covering for your lean-to.
Most often, the settlers and hunters would have at least one horse to carry their food and supplies on, and they would have an oil cloth or piece of sail cloth to cover and protect the supplies. When the horse was unpacked, the cloth could be used as a cover for their sleeping area and protection from the weather.
After some type of shelter is set up, the next concern is whether or not to build a fire. Is the area safe to build a fire in? Are there hostiles that might attack you? Your concerns are more than just if you can control the fire, but also will it give away your presence to those who would wish you harm.
If you determine that it's safe to build a fire, what technology would you possess to start a fire in the wilderness? The most common technology available was the use of a flint and steel to kindle a fire. Even if one used the lock of his rifle to start the fire, the technology was still flint and steel.
Most woodsmen would carry a flint and steel set, consisting of a couple of good sized pieces of flint and a good quality steel striker. Other necessary components would be some tinder (usually gathered as you traveled), some kindling ( small twigs, branches and other easily burned material) and char cloth or something else to catch the spark.
Char cloth is easily made anytime a fire is available, and can be stored and carried for use whenever a fire is needed. All that is needed is some pieces of scrap (100% pure natural fiber) cloth, usually cotton or linen, and a tin to char it in. The tin should be large enough to hold an adequate supply of cloth, and should be sealable to keep moisture out if the char cloth is to be stored in it.
The cloth is torn into convenient sized pieces, large enough to easily catch a spark and glow for enough time to ignite a "bird nest" of tinder. The tin should be relatively airtight, with a small hole for the combustion gasses produced in the charring process to escape. Pack the cloth into the tin, and close it up, insuring that the exhaust hole is open. Place the loaded tin into the coals of the fire. You will see it start to produce a jet of smoke form the exhaust hole. When the smoke stops coming out, turn the tin over in the coals and watch to be sure that there is no more smoke coming out. When it has stopped smoking, use a stick or fire iron to pull the tin out of the coals and into the ashes, keeping the exhaust hole covered in ashes until the tin cools.
After the tin is cooled, you can open it up and check your char cloth. It should be a uniform black color, and charred throughout, but not extremely fragile. If oxygen (air) has been allowed to get into the tin while it's still hot, you will have a tin full of ashes. That's the reason to keep the hole covered in ashes until it cools.
There are several methods used to make sparks with a flint and steel, and each user must determine what works best for him. Some people hold the steel and strike it with the flint. Others hold the flint and strike it with the steel. Regardless of which method you choose, the sparks are made by the flint shaving minute pieces off of the steel, causing them to glow from the friction of cutting them off. For this reason, the edge of the flint must be fairly sharp, and it can easily cut an inattentive user.
You must experiment with the angle of the cutting edge of the flint in relation to the face of the steel to determine what angle will produce the best shower of sparks. It won't take you long to learn the approximate angle of attack which produces good sparks.
My own personal method is to hold the flint with a piece of char cloth on top of it, striking the flint with the steel. Because the char cloth is on top of the flint, and the sparks from the steel will be produced right at the cutting edge, I can usually catch a spark pretty quickly.
As soon as the spark is caught and the char begins to glow, I'll drop it into a prepared bird nest of tinder, usually consisting of the inner bark of a cedar tree, shredded finely with maybe some tow (flax fiber) to give it some volume. Gently wrap the bird nest around the char cloth and, raising it above your head, start to blow long, even streams of air directly at the glow.
If you've made good char, and your bird nest is good and dry, you may be surprised at how fast it bursts into flames. You have to be careful, or you might burn yourself, causing you to drop the bird nest, and you having to start your fire building attempt all over again!