How Bear Grylls Makes Smokes Signals

By Yvonne Gordon

Published

03/07/2023

If you’re ever lost in the wilderness and you think that people are looking for you, the internationally recognized distress signal is three small fires, lit in a triangular formation, which can be spotted from above by rescue craft.

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On the other hand, if no one knows where you are or you can’t find a suitable clearing in the thick forest for a signal-fire triad, Bear Grylls recommends using smoke signals to indicate you’re in distress. (Note: Smoke is only viewable during the day, so at night, signal fires are better.)

“Forget all that stuff about Native American smoke signals,” says Bear in How to Stay Alive. “The trick is to make a fire that produces as much smoke as possible.”

This is especially true in a jungle, where you need to make a plume thick and powerful enough to penetrate the canopy.

There are lots of rules for lighting fires, and one of these is to keep the fire small. But with a signal fire and/or to create a lot of smoke, it needs to be as big as you can safely make it.

How to signal for help with fire

First, collect enough fuel gradually to build up the fire to as large a fire as possible, without causing an uncontrollable blaze. Once it’s going strong, cover it with lots of green matter—the moisture in this foliage creates lots of smoke as it burns.

Next, you’ll need to push air in from the bottom so the smoke plumes upward. For example, wave a jacket, or something like palm fronds or a sheet of metal, at the base of the fire.

“The aim is to produce a big black plume of smoke that can be seen for miles around,” says Bear.

If above the tree line or in a low-foliage environment such as the tundra or desert, and can spot a lone tree, Bear might suggest making a fire underneath it intentionally to ignite the whole tree and make a bigger blaze to serve double duty as signal smoke and fire.

But only do this if there’s no risk of the fire spreading, which will put your life in much greater danger if you start a forest fire. A hiker was recently fined and given a criminal sentence for lighting a signal fire that caused a 230-acre wildfire.