PK Podcast 57: Mattias Norberg On The Art Of Fire
Mattias Norberg is a highly respected Swedish expert in fire-making and wilderness survival, having taught these skills for over 25 years. He is the author of Konsten att Elda, which was published in 2020. The title, translated to English from Mattias’s native Swedish is “The Art of Fire”.
In 1984, when Mattias was 13 years old, he bought his first survival handbook, which he read in two days. This sparked a passion for survival techniques and indigenous knowledge, leading him to a lifelong study of outdoor skills, primitive technology, wild plants and, of course, fire techniques. In 1995 Mattias was appointed an instructor in the Swedish Survival Guild. This is a guild that was founded back in 1982 by, among others, Lars Fält and Harry Sepp. Long time listeners of this podcast will remember that both Harry and Lars have featured on this podcast in the past.
Following this Mattias was teaching winter survival courses in the far north of Sweden and plant courses in the south. Later on, Mattias started the first advanced fire course in Sweden which is a 4-day long course. Mattias continues to inspire many through his writings and teachings and it is my pleasure to have him as a guest on this podcast.
Our conversation starts by delving into Mattias’s background and how he developed his knowledge and skills. We also chat about outdoor culture in Sweden, traditional forest skills and more modern concepts such as friluftsliv and bushcraft.
After this, our conversation turns more to fire skills. There are many touch points, including Swedish firesteels, feathersticks, friction fire, fire reflectors, fire walls (eldvägg), stubbeld (firestump), stockelden, Sami nuorssjo, nying fires and long-log fires more generally, as well as the Siberian fire lay.
Along the way we discuss which fire techniques might be specifically Swedish techniques and which might be more generally Scandinavian. We also consider the effect of the environment on the development of these techniques. Even though many of them are boreal techniques and there is much boreal forest also in North America, as well as across Eurasia, the differences in tree species, as well as the way those species grow, have a bearing on which techniques work where, and which need some modification to make them work.
There’s lots more in this conversation too, so listen via the player below or via one of the links to the various podcast platforms.
Our conversation forms Episode 57 of the Paul Kirtley Podcast…
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Connect with Mattias Norberg
Mattias Norberg on InstagramMatias Norberg on FacebookMattias Norberg on YouTube
Mattias’s Book – Konsten att Elda
AmazonAdlibrisBokusBokbörsenPapercut Shop Stockholm
Other Books Mentioned In This Podcast
Brian Hildreth – How to SurviveLars Fält, Harry Sepp & Stefan Källman – Överleva vintertid på naturens villkor : Handbok om friluftssäkerhetYngve Ryd – Eld: Flammor och glöd – samisk eldkonstMors Kochanski – Bushcraft
External Resources For This Podcast
The Swedish Survival GuildThe Finnish Survival GuildKaramat Wilderness Ways Winter CourseDr Lisa Fenton’s 2019 Global Bushcraft Symposium Presentation
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Related Material On This Website
PK Podcast 022: Conversations From Bushcraftfestivalen (including Harry Sepp)
PK Podcast 032: Conversations From Bushcraftfestivalen (including Lars Fält)
PK Podcast 042: Mors Kochanski, Northern Bushcraft Legend
Surviving A Winter’s Night In The Northern Forest: How To Build An Arctic Lean-To
Tactics For Fire-Lighting In The Damp, Cold Months
Northern Forest Fire Lighting Fundamentals: Pulling It All Together
As Thick As A Capercaillie: How To Build A Long Log Fire
11 thoughts on “PK Podcast 57: Mattias Norberg On The Art Of Fire”
Really looking forward to listening, just wanted to say thanks as always Paul, your dedication to sharing your knowledge and that of others in your field is just outstanding. Thankyou!
Thanks for your positive words Scott. I hope you enjoy this episode with Mattias.
Warm regards,
Paul
Thanks for all you do Paul and sharing.
Making these podcasts takes time Gil but it is an absolute pleasure and I’m so glad you like them. You are very welcome.
Warm regards,
Paul
Thank you Paul, that was a great podcast again with an interesting person.
I first became aware of this book on the GBS 2022, it was on the table of the sponsors’ gifts. And in a particular moment I’ve just realized I’m standing next to the author himself, so I could have a brief conversation with Mattias. (And these are just two of the many inspiring impressions I’ve got on that event.) So since then, I was hoping for an English edition, but couldn’t wait any more, and I bought the original one a couple of months ago. I don’t know a single word in Swedish, so I’m just trying to read it with the Google Translate app, which helps a lot, but still difficult to understand. So I’m glad to hear that the English version is already on it’s way.
Hi Arpad, it’s good to hear from you here on my website. Thanks for commenting.
It was great to see you at both the 2019 and 2022 Global Bushcraft Symposia. I’m glad you connected with Mattias at the 2022 event.
I messaged a bit with Mattias last week and he tells me he is working on an English translation 🙂
Warm regards,
Paul
Hi Paul, I massively enjoyed this podcast, tbf I mostly do enjoy them! The notes ,resources and links you share are great, so professional and inspiring!
Thanks
Lee smith
Hi Lee, it is good to hear from you. I hope all is going well.
Thanks for your comments about this episode. I’m glad you liked this session and thanks for letting me know you also appreciate the links and additional information.
Warm regards,
Paul
I really enjoying listening to this podcast. I have used many of the techniques discussed and feel that this podcast both reinforced my existing knowledge, and caused me to pause and consider my skill level. Also I find it very interesting that even for Mattias, the source of some techniques such as the Swedish Candle/ Finnish Split log fire or “stump fire” is not fully known. This just reinforces for me that many others have gone before us in learning and using these skills in the “real” world….and our job should be to strive to learn the skills as best we can by “doing”, learn from our failures, and do our best to pass along “field proven techniques” to those who are interested.
Hi Jaye, good to hear from you over here on my site. Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad you enjoyed this podcast episode and thanks for sharing how it made you pause to consider.
I think you make a fine point regarding how we should use the information we have, develop our skills, and share what we know.
Warm regards,
Paul
Hi! Enjoyed this conversation very much! I figured I could shed some light on the Friluftsliv tradition. It has certainly become a shared Scandinavian tradition/ heritage regarding the outdoors, but the concept is probably Norwegian in origin (being Norwegian I’m biased of course). The first mention of the word “Friluftsliv “ as far as I know is from Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen in 1859. It also played a big part in the Norwegian national identity which was shaped at this time, when we gradually gained our independence. It was championed amongst others by polar explorer Fridtjov Nansen.
The concept itself is a lot about your mindset and connection with nature. It is more about harmony and not about competition. Man in nature, as opposed to man vs nature. It spans a whole variety of activities (non motorised) like hiking, hunting, bushcraft, skiing+++. In my mind there is a certain purity and peace of mind linked to Friluftsliv, though it can be very down to earth, like an evening walk in the woods with your dog.
The phenomenon you describe with the smoke from your fire/hot tent not rising above a certain level is due to a warm layer of air above a colder one. Cold air doesn’t rise through warm air. It’s called a temperature inversion.
Best regards from Norway,
Magnus Leirtun