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Posted: 11/15/2014 7:52:12 PM EDT
[#1]
I really concentrate on finding dead wood that i can whittle dry tinder out of. I whittle a nice big pile and then feather the wood to make super fine material to light. Even then if can be hard to light. I think I will start taking a handkerchief to put my tinder on as I cut it.
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Posted: 11/15/2014 8:01:32 PM EDT
[#2]
I hear ya. One time we were out in the woods working after an ice storm. We had some hamburger for lunch and tried getting a fire going to cook it. Had a hell of a time getting a fire even using gas from the snowmobile. As soon as the gas burned off the fire went out. Eventually persistence paid off forestalling starvation but the lesson was clear, you should never take it for granted that such a simple thing as a camp fire is always a sure thing.
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Posted: 11/15/2014 8:57:44 PM EDT
[#3]
I got a rude awakening one time when I was up in the mountains of Utah. I broke a lace and used parachord to replace it. But, I wanted to melt the ends. Guess what, at 8200ft. the dang lighter I'd brought wouldn't light. At all. I'd have been really SOL had I needed that form of fire making to save my life.
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Posted: 11/15/2014 11:18:58 PM EDT
[#4]
This story makes me think back to my Middle School days, 5th grade we used to do a snow shoe trip and hike about 10 or so miles into the woods as a class. Part of the lunch was making a fire, the class broke off into pairs and whoever started a fire first and kept it going won. Mind you this was NW Montana, January, Deep snow still in the woods. We had a good time, me and my buddy, had a bon fire in about 10 minutes, using dead standing trees branches and pitch, made a nice base of bigger logs and packed the snow, teacher told us to stop adding wood it was big enough and the rest of the class gave up. And we all used our fire for the rest of the break. We were only allowed one strike anywhere match to start the fire.
I give kudos to the OP for teaching your kids real skills. I highly doubt the school still does such trips..... almost 30 or so years ago... feel old now. Rat, maybe think of looking for the burnables in your area, as well as what you are using for the ignition, witches hair, dry moss on the side of trees, tree bark, dead standing trees, birch bark, pitch is natures gasoline, I know I am probably preaching to the choir, but gather enough good burnable material first and when you have a nice stash then focus on lighting it, prep is key in my experience. Thanks for the memories! |
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Posted: 11/15/2014 11:55:19 PM EDT
[#5]
A lot of people also fail to realize that almost every time you need to build a fire in a low temperature situation, you're probably also going to be wet, or shivering, or both....and it's usually dark out as well. Practice your skills under adverse conditions, people...it will make the practical use of them much more likely when you need to bet your life on them.
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Posted: 11/16/2014 12:09:57 AM EDT
[#6]
tinder is the hardest part of starting a fire by friction.
You need really ideal conditions - dry grass, dry moss, birch bark or dry crumbly bark, really fine dry twigs (like birds nest).... Or a zip lock baggie full of dryer lint. 
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Posted: 11/16/2014 12:16:20 AM EDT
[#7]
I can't remember the last time it took me so long to get a fire. No guarantee with firecraft. Kiddo got bored and started playing with the cats
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Posted: 11/16/2014 4:57:16 AM EDT
[#8]
I try to keep a road flare handy.
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Posted: 11/16/2014 6:11:07 AM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I try to keep a road flare handy. I keep 2 that I've cut down to about three inches in length. No more Bics, spark sticks, or magnesium blocks for me. |
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Posted: 11/16/2014 6:18:52 AM EDT
[#10]
I keep a couple of these squares alongside all fire starting tools. They're only about $10/box bought locally. I've never been able to figure out why people will haul around lighters, waterproof matches, flint & steel, Blastmatches, etc. but can't seem to find enough space to include a little reliable tinder... which is arguably just as important.
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Posted: 11/16/2014 8:07:54 AM EDT
[#11]
Look up, not down. Find dead twigs and branches on standing live trees- they're more likely to be protected from the rain and thus dryer. Create fuzz sticks and start small working up as the fire tolerates it i.e don't overload it with wet wood since as it dries on your fire it releases moisture. Look on your person for items that you can burn also- ex. shoe laces are usually nylon so cutting off a piece can work, a piece of paracord off say a bracelet/bootlace/key chain/etc. a piece of wire and the battery out of your flashlight, old school incandescent bulb flashlights, rubbing Chapstick on a piece of cloth off your shirt, some snacks will light (corn chips are a good example). Lifeboat matches usually work better than a wet lighter and they work at altitude.
Another option, assuming you have your knife on you, is to look for fat lighter and shave off pieces. Yeah I know that's on the ground. You can count me as another who keeps flares around for fire starting also. Orion used to make some small ones labeled as fire-starters and I keep one in each life vest. I've always kept full sized flares in my vehicles. Quite a few years ago on a Boy Scout canoeing trip in particularly bad weather one of the boats flipped so we had to start a fire. Luckily there were several of us on the trip so the wet ones didn't have to make the fire but when your hands are cold, wet and shaking is a really bad time to be trying to start a fire. |
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Posted: 11/16/2014 11:56:31 PM EDT
[#12]
past weekend I was able to start a fire using home made firestarter. consisted of dryer lint packed into half a roll of toilet paper and then filled with paraffin wax and then wrapped in wax paper. worked ok.
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Posted: 11/17/2014 9:22:06 AM EDT
[#13]
RP, I have found it best not to trust your life to a single method of fire starting. I also believe in modern tech, mixed in with the traditional methods.
I carry a little fire starting kit in all my packs. Dryer lint, fat wood sticks, BIC lighter, fire steel, matches. When you really have to have a fire, you can't leave things to chance. 
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Posted: 11/17/2014 10:30:15 AM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: RP, I have found it best not to trust your life to a single method of fire starting. I also believe in modern tech, mixed in with the traditional methods. I carry a little fire starting kit in all my packs. Dryer lint, fat wood sticks, BIC lighter, fire steel, matches. When you really have to have a fire, you can't leave things to chance. . Fire is primary living in the frozen north. I have many methods, carry much tinder.I like to go out in the woods with a different goal each time for fire. Each time is usually different, or I try to further master a particular aspect of something. Some "rules" I have used in the past: Must use ferro rod. Have only 1 match. Cannot use dry grass. Only 3 seconds on the bic lighter. Must use MINI ferro rod. etc, etc I knew things were damp, so I went with the must use ferro rod rule. At the point where I decided to try the bic (and could not get it going yet) was because I always keep a lighter in my jacket. Did get it going with the ferro rod, but took a long time. What I took away was to try harder to get good dry material (or the best available) before I strike the first spark in that damp of conditions.
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Posted: 11/17/2014 1:40:49 PM EDT
[#15]
keep a pencil sharpener attached to your ferro rod, makes tinder easily even with cold hands.
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Posted: 11/17/2014 1:46:30 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: keep a pencil sharpener attached to your ferro rod, makes tinder easily even with cold hands. |
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Posted: 11/17/2014 2:09:20 PM EDT
[#17]
So using my Jetboil (which I know lights at 14,000 feet) to enjoy a warm beverage and then use that fire to light a camp fire is just too damn easy for you all?
And I can stock a basement full of fuel just as easily as any other canned good, so that's not a good reason not to use it. If lighting a fire quickly because you're going to freeze if you don't, why bother with prehistoric tools with wet wood and tinder? |
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Posted: 11/17/2014 2:23:04 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
So using my Jetboil (which I know lights at 14,000 feet) to enjoy a warm beverage and then use that fire to light a camp fire is just too damn easy for you all? And I can stock a basement full of fuel just as easily as any other canned good, so that's not a good reason not to use it. If lighting a fire quickly because you're going to freeze if you don't, why bother with prehistoric tools with wet wood and tinder? Right. Bring an electric pencil sharpener. 
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Posted: 11/17/2014 2:49:19 PM EDT
[#19]
I shave lighter knot into fine pieces. Pack it in an altoids can, along with some charcloth, and tissue paper. I use it every time and I've never had an issue starting a fire. Charcloth on bottom, lighter shavings on it, then a little ball of tissue on top of that. I usually use a bic to start it, but have done so with matches and even the sparks from a buddies cheap coleman magnesium block. Just to prove my method worked to him. Youtube videos on how to make charcloth, lighter knot can be found anywhere old pine is, and tissue explains itself.
Start with dry grass, moss, pine needles, leaves, Small twigs about the size of a pencil or smaller. Once that catches, bark pieces then start adding bigger sticks until you establish a good coal bed. You can also lay wet pieces of wood near the flames and they will dry. Especially if you have a rock wall built around your fire. Just lay them on top. When i use that method, i lay my first big piece over the heat of the fire and flames. It's up far enough that it won't hinder the fire itself, but it dry a piece of wood quick and get it ready to add to the fire. Hope this helps. |
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Posted: 11/17/2014 2:51:42 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Right. Bring an electric pencil sharpener. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: So using my Jetboil (which I know lights at 14,000 feet) to enjoy a warm beverage and then use that fire to light a camp fire is just too damn easy for you all? And I can stock a basement full of fuel just as easily as any other canned good, so that's not a good reason not to use it. If lighting a fire quickly because you're going to freeze if you don't, why bother with prehistoric tools with wet wood and tinder? Right. Bring an electric pencil sharpener.  Andr0id: I think you missed the point about training and practice. What you said is like saying: "I have a GPS. Why should I know how to use a compass and map?". If you don't have/lost your jetboil, fuel went dry, etc, etc, what then? Train for the worst, hope for the best! ETA: I always carry Vaseline soaked cotton balls in individual sealed plastic bags. Spark burns through the plastic (thin) and the cotton ball lights every time. Burns a few minutes. In the vehicles are sterno cans. Lighters/matches everywhere too. I can't believe the art of striking a fire from ferro rod is lost to so many people who have become completely dependent on modern conveniences! |
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Posted: 11/17/2014 3:02:06 PM EDT
[#21]
We built a fire this weekend - it was a little embarrassing how much trouble we had - without cheating (bic lighters and paper).
On my list of things to do is a simple fire starting aide. Snoose can full of string and parafin. Solid, waterproof, simple. Just need a few snoose cans. |
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Posted: 11/17/2014 4:47:26 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Andr0id: I think you missed the point about training and practice. What you said is like saying: "I have a GPS. Why should I know how to use a compass and map?". If you don't have/lost your jetboil, fuel went dry, etc, etc, what then? Train for the worst, hope for the best! ETA: I always carry Vaseline soaked cotton balls in individual sealed plastic bags. Spark burns through the plastic (thin) and the cotton ball lights every time. Burns a few minutes. In the vehicles are sterno cans. Lighters/matches everywhere too. I can't believe the art of striking a fire from ferro rod is lost to so many people who have become completely dependent on modern conveniences! I have a ziplock of dryer lint and a ferro stick UNDER the Jetboil. Vaseline sounds like a good idea too, maybe I'll subdivide the lint and soak half of it. |
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Posted: 11/17/2014 4:49:11 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Actually, I have a ziplock of dryer lint and a ferro stick UNDER the Jetboil. Vaseline sounds like a good idea too but I don't have that. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: So using my Jetboil (which I know lights at 14,000 feet) to enjoy a warm beverage and then use that fire to light a camp fire is just too damn easy for you all? And I can stock a basement full of fuel just as easily as any other canned good, so that's not a good reason not to use it. If lighting a fire quickly because you're going to freeze if you don't, why bother with prehistoric tools with wet wood and tinder? Right. Bring an electric pencil sharpener. Andr0id: I think you missed the point about training and practice. What you said is like saying: "I have a GPS. Why should I know how to use a compass and map?". If you don't have/lost your jetboil, fuel went dry, etc, etc, what then? Train for the worst, hope for the best! ETA: I always carry Vaseline soaked cotton balls in individual sealed plastic bags. Spark burns through the plastic (thin) and the cotton ball lights every time. Burns a few minutes. In the vehicles are sterno cans. Lighters/matches everywhere too. I can't believe the art of striking a fire from ferro rod is lost to so many people who have become completely dependent on modern conveniences! Actually, I have a ziplock of dryer lint and a ferro stick UNDER the Jetboil. Vaseline sounds like a good idea too but I don't have that. Edit for error.
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Posted: 11/17/2014 6:41:35 PM EDT
[#24]
Carry some dryer lint mixed with vaseline in a ziplock bag; place that bag in another ziplock and put into something puncture proof. A pinch of the lint/vaseline will light up pretty quick and burns for a couple of minutes at least.
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Posted: 11/17/2014 7:05:23 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
The vaseline gives you a couple minutes burn time from a single cotton ball. Haven't timed it, but I would say a good flame for 2-3 MINUTES. Edit for error. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
So using my Jetboil (which I know lights at 14,000 feet) to enjoy a warm beverage and then use that fire to light a camp fire is just too damn easy for you all? And I can stock a basement full of fuel just as easily as any other canned good, so that's not a good reason not to use it. If lighting a fire quickly because you're going to freeze if you don't, why bother with prehistoric tools with wet wood and tinder? Right. Bring an electric pencil sharpener.
Andr0id: I think you missed the point about training and practice. What you said is like saying: "I have a GPS. Why should I know how to use a compass and map?". If you don't have/lost your jetboil, fuel went dry, etc, etc, what then? Train for the worst, hope for the best! ETA: I always carry Vaseline soaked cotton balls in individual sealed plastic bags. Spark burns through the plastic (thin) and the cotton ball lights every time. Burns a few minutes. In the vehicles are sterno cans. Lighters/matches everywhere too. I can't believe the art of striking a fire from ferro rod is lost to so many people who have become completely dependent on modern conveniences! Actually, I have a ziplock of dryer lint and a ferro stick UNDER the Jetboil. Vaseline sounds like a good idea too but I don't have that. Edit for error. Sounds about right. |
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Posted: 11/17/2014 7:23:58 PM EDT
[#26]
I carry a couple of the old Triox bars although I have not lite any in years . The OP is right about practice .
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Posted: 11/17/2014 9:56:43 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
A lot of people also fail to realize that almost every time you need to build a fire in a low temperature situation, you're probably also going to be wet, or shivering, or both....and it's usually dark out as well. Practice your skills under adverse conditions, people...it will make the practical use of them much more likely when you need to bet your life on them. This is spot on. I always use a fire steel to light my stoves or start a fire and I always have some type of tinder (typically the cotton balls and Vaseline) on me. Still, you take every opportunity like last weekend when I found a downed pine tree and the broken branch knots were loaded with fat wood. Spending a little time making shavings and sawdust makes it very easy to light with a fire steel. I recommend practicing at home while it raining, snowing or really windy. Even with a good ignition source and tinder, try doing it after jumping in a lake, river or even a swimming pool when it's 40-degrees outside. Your gross motor skills are about all the dexterity you'll have and making fire even with the materials handy is quite difficult. Keep practicing and keep challenging yourself. When you really need it, conditions most likely won't be favorable. ROCK6 |
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Posted: 11/17/2014 10:02:57 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
This is spot on. I always use a fire steel to light my stoves or start a fire and I always have some type of tinder (typically the cotton balls and Vaseline) on me. Still, you take every opportunity like last weekend when I found a downed pine tree and the broken branch knots were loaded with fat wood. Spending a little time making shavings and sawdust makes it very easy to light with a fire steel. I recommend practicing at home while it raining, snowing or really windy. Even with a good ignition source and tinder, try doing it after jumping in a lake, river or even a swimming pool when it's 40-degrees outside. Your gross motor skills are about all the dexterity you'll have and making fire even with the materials handy is quite difficult. Keep practicing and keep challenging yourself. When you really need it, conditions most likely won't be favorable. ROCK6 Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
A lot of people also fail to realize that almost every time you need to build a fire in a low temperature situation, you're probably also going to be wet, or shivering, or both....and it's usually dark out as well. Practice your skills under adverse conditions, people...it will make the practical use of them much more likely when you need to bet your life on them. This is spot on. I always use a fire steel to light my stoves or start a fire and I always have some type of tinder (typically the cotton balls and Vaseline) on me. Still, you take every opportunity like last weekend when I found a downed pine tree and the broken branch knots were loaded with fat wood. Spending a little time making shavings and sawdust makes it very easy to light with a fire steel. I recommend practicing at home while it raining, snowing or really windy. Even with a good ignition source and tinder, try doing it after jumping in a lake, river or even a swimming pool when it's 40-degrees outside. Your gross motor skills are about all the dexterity you'll have and making fire even with the materials handy is quite difficult. Keep practicing and keep challenging yourself. When you really need it, conditions most likely won't be favorable. ROCK6 Well said |
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Posted: 11/17/2014 10:05:26 PM EDT
[#29]
Always stick a candle in my gear.
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Posted: 11/17/2014 10:29:52 PM EDT
[#30]
I agree with most of the posts: CHEAT. A ferro rod alone works great when everything is dry, but when everything is wet mother nature laughs at your pathetic attempts to make fire. Use some kind of petroleum based accelerant. Even then it can be a pita to get a steady fire going. If you are in a situation where you really NEED a fire right now, your are probably in a situation where a ferro rod is not enough.
As a character building exercise, everyone should go out once on a cold rainy day and start a fire with only their knife and ferro rod. |
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Posted: 11/17/2014 10:41:56 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I try to keep a road flare handy. I was in a CAP ground SAR squadron in the 80s. I kept a 15 minute road flare in my buttpack. Wet wood? Whatever. |
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Posted: 11/17/2014 10:58:10 PM EDT
[#32]
Quoted:
Took my 8 year old outside today and headed into the grove, with the intent to make fire with the Ferro rod. I pride myself in my spark stick abilities, but there was so much moisture in everything that I was having major trouble. Took 90 minutes, and had to go in an entirely different area. At one point I gave up and used the bic. Still would not go. Found a protected patch of dead grass dry enough to take spark but i had my doubts. Keep those skills sharp. Want a handy tool to use for starting fires? Wax fire-starters! They take a bit of prep-time but they're pretty useful - and your child can help you make them. What you need: candle wax (old candles, etc), newspaper, scissors, a tin can, cotton twine and a heat source. Step 1: start melting the wax in the can. Step 2: Cut the newspaper into strips. Roll each strip up and tie a length of twine around them; you'll need to be sure one end of the twine is long. Step 3: Take the roll by the twine and dip it into the melted wax. Be sure the entire roll is covered. Pull the roll out and let it dry; 2-3 coats should be good.
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Posted: 11/17/2014 11:02:50 PM EDT
[#33]
If it's a matter of imminent or worsening hypothermia, don't screw around, cheat. Use siphoned gas or anything you can get if you don't have something already prepared.
Look for that fatwood, sappy stumps or snags of evergreens. 
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Posted: 11/18/2014 12:04:19 AM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: If it's a matter of imminent or worsening hypothermia, don't screw around, cheat. Use siphoned gas or anything you can get if you don't have something already prepared. Look for that fatwood, sappy stumps or snags of evergreens. http://www.fatwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Fatwood_What_Is1.jpg Unfortunately, no evergreen stumps on our property
 . |
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Posted: 11/18/2014 12:29:46 AM EDT
[#35]
Don't forget that a small bottle of 70%+ abv hand sanitizer can work in lieu of Vaseline and it doesn't take up much real estate, either.
Chris |
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Posted: 11/18/2014 12:34:21 AM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: If it's a matter of imminent or worsening hypothermia, don't screw around, cheat. Use siphoned gas or anything you can get if you don't have something already prepared. Look for that fatwood, sappy stumps or snags of evergreens. http://www.fatwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Fatwood_What_Is1.jpg Fire is a basic necessity. No such thing as cheating when it comes to fire starting. You use the most efficient method you have at hand. |
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Posted: 11/18/2014 1:01:39 PM EDT
[#37]
My brother used to make a fire starter with coin wrappers that he would get free from the bank. He would stuff those full of dryer lint, pour some paraffin in it when he got it stuffed, and then taped the ends closed. I guess that's pretty much like using vaseline, except if you're seriously fucked, you would have vaseline for once...
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Posted: 11/18/2014 1:15:15 PM EDT
[#38]
Quoted:
Took my 8 year old outside today and headed into the grove, with the intent to make fire with the Ferro rod. I pride myself in my spark stick abilities, but there was so much moisture in everything that I was having major trouble. Took 90 minutes, and had to go in an entirely different area. At one point I gave up and used the bic. Still would not go. Found a protected patch of dead grass dry enough to take spark but i had my doubts. Keep those skills sharp. I have watched survival shows in triple canopy jungle, and guys making fire in the rain with sticks. I couldn't start a fire with a bic and can of gasoline in those conditions. 
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Posted: 11/18/2014 5:49:25 PM EDT
[#39]
Living in the PNW we deal with this all the time. You just need to process some wood (pine, cedar in the PNW) and get to the middle, or find some pitchwood. Pitchwood (fatwood) is everywhere once you know how to find it, and it will light almost like gasoline. One place to look is rotted trees/stumps. Use a large knife find solid areas within the rotted material. Pitchwood doesn't rot like normal wood, you will find veins of infused pitchwood, it will have a heavy smell of pitch or turpentine. Even some cut off stumps will be heavily saturated with sap.
You can also take the back of your axe or a battoning log and knock the broken branch stubs off downed half rotten tree. After you knock it out, remove the rotten bits and smell the base for pitch or turpentine. If it has a heavy smell, process it down, and look at it. If it's sticky, and has a pungent smell, it will light right up. It's good practice to get out there and hone the firemaking skills and crappy weather. Once you do it in horrible weather, any other time of the year is easy. Last Years Test: Spur of the moment 30 min before dark I headed for the mountains. I left my house in shorts and a sweatshirt end of November. It was raining and temps were in the high 30's. All I took with me was my ferro rod and ESEE Junglas, No headlamp, lighter, tarp. I got up to my spot about 45min later. I had about 10 min before it was pitch black. What made it spooky was the thick fog. I had enough time to check 3 or 4 stumps before I couldn't see a thing. I didn't find pitchwood before it was to dark to see, and I started to freak out a bit. The fog was really getting to me. I remembered I had tripped over a hunk of cedar a ways back. On my way back, I grabbed some thin branches, bundled them and rubbed them vigorously against a tree trunk hoping it had some residual sap. I found my way back to that spot and processed that hunk of cedar down. While crouched over using my back as a rain shield I struck my ferro rod got a small flame. I had a roaring fire within 45min and I was warming up. I stayed there until my fire was large enough I felt like I could sustain a good coal bed overnight (couple hrs). I have more tests I have done, but that was pretty spooky. |
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Posted: 11/18/2014 8:21:42 PM EDT
[#40]
OK, now assuming you have no tinder with you...
1) check your pockets and belly button for lint - you don't need alot, just enough for a flame to catch other things. 2) knife + wet wood..... shave off the wet bark of dead wood and the wood underneath SHOULD be dry. Split the branches to make drier twigs. 3) take the time to make a pile the size of a pillow of such kindling and wood shavings from the inside of formerly wet wrist size to arm size branches before attempting to light them.... this should be enough to ignite larger logs if you build it right. |
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Posted: 11/20/2014 9:24:45 AM EDT
[#41]
We used to just pick grass and suckers throughout the day and stick them between shirt and tee shirt to dry as we hiked. By the time we stopped, we'd have a decent little bundle of dry tinder. Pine cones are also good, though not so much under the shirt.
I've never really had a problem with getting rain-wet wood fires going. Takes a bit more work to find tinder, and a lot more fine tinder to get something hot enough to start drying out the big sticks. The real bitch is wet, frozen wood. Trying to start a fire in a wet snow is sheer hell without a decent amount of preps. I've used all manner of gimcracks and gizmos over the years, and I've never come up with a really good solution. Of course, I measure success as a decent fire within half an hour. |
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Posted: 11/20/2014 11:47:19 AM EDT
[#42]
Quote HistoryQuoted: We used to just pick grass and suckers throughout the day and stick them between shirt and tee shirt to dry as we hiked. By the time we stopped, we'd have a decent little bundle of dry tinder. Pine cones are also good, though not so much under the shirt. I've never really had a problem with getting rain-wet wood fires going. Takes a bit more work to find tinder, and a lot more fine tinder to get something hot enough to start drying out the big sticks. The real bitch is wet, frozen wood. Trying to start a fire in a wet snow is sheer hell without a decent amount of preps. I've used all manner of gimcracks and gizmos over the years, and I've never come up with a really good solution. Of course, I measure success as a decent fire within half an hour. |
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Posted: 11/20/2014 1:00:51 PM EDT
[#43]
Good to have the skills but this is exactly why we carry a fire KIT.
Ever since man discovered how to make fire, when he depended on it for life he would carry substantial means with which to ensure fire capability. The conditions discussed (wet/frozen) are a large part of why I carry a hatchet/small axe. It greatly speeds up the ability to get to dry wood. Also is one hell of a lot quicker to make fuzz sticks with. Jute rope makes some nice/compact tinder. Big fan of the petro jelly/cotton balls in combo with ferro rods. For those eschewing these "primitive" methods: We're going for reliable, under the widest conditions. The higher degree of technology, the higher the possibility for it to fail. Same reason you want more than one method. |
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Posted: 11/20/2014 4:34:52 PM EDT
[#44]
Like many have already stated, it's good to have a few methods at your disposal. In addition to the ferro rod, lint and lighter I keep in my bag I also added a small tin of pre shaved magnesium. I use a very large drill bit on a magnesium bar, drill a few holes and get a pile of shavings, and keep the in a small dip can. If you're going to carry magnesium, why not carry it pre-shaved? I've found that using magnesium on wet wood requires more shavings than you're going to want to shave at the time you'll need them.
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Posted: 11/20/2014 4:50:45 PM EDT
[#45]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Good to have the skills but this is exactly why we carry a fire KIT. Ever since man discovered how to make fire, when he depended on it for life he would carry substantial means with which to ensure fire capability. The conditions discussed (wet/frozen) are a large part of why I carry a hatchet/small axe. It greatly speeds up the ability to get to dry wood. Also is one hell of a lot quicker to make fuzz sticks with. Jute rope makes some nice/compact tinder. Big fan of the petro jelly/cotton balls in combo with ferro rods. For those eschewing these "primitive" methods: We're going for reliable, under the widest conditions. The higher degree of technology, the higher the possibility for it to fail. Same reason you want more than one method. +1 A true survivor uses any and all resources available to them. They don't have to be caveman-era technology. |
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Posted: 11/20/2014 6:26:10 PM EDT
[#46]
I always carry multiple fire methods in my day pack, matches, Bic lighters, tin of dryer lint, Tin of sawdust mixed with wax. magnesium and blast match. I don't like being cold.
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Posted: 11/20/2014 6:30:57 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Like many have already stated, it's good to have a few methods at your disposal. In addition to the ferro rod, lint and lighter I keep in my bag I also added a small tin of pre shaved magnesium. I use a very large drill bit on a magnesium bar, drill a few holes and get a pile of shavings, and keep the in a small dip can. If you're going to carry magnesium, why not carry it pre-shaved? I've found that using magnesium on wet wood requires more shavings than you're going to want to shave at the time you'll need them. Those shavings will oxidize and not readily ignite with a spark, eventually. Hence the preference for fresh shaved. |
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Posted: 11/20/2014 9:02:18 PM EDT
[#48]
Quoted:
Took my 8 year old outside today and headed into the grove, with the intent to make fire with the Ferro rod. I pride myself in my spark stick abilities, but there was so much moisture in everything that I was having major trouble. Took 90 minutes, and had to go in an entirely different area. At one point I gave up and used the bic. Still would not go. Found a protected patch of dead grass dry enough to take spark but i had my doubts. Keep those skills sharp. Next time, take a pencil sharpener. You'll always be able to find dry twigs that can be sharpened for their shavings to get a fire going. |
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Posted: 11/20/2014 9:13:29 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I carry a couple of the old Triox bars although I have not lite any in years . The OP is right about practice . About 10 years ago, I bought a full .mil case of trioxane, about 960 bars if I remember right. While it lasts for a long time if the foil packaging stays intact, the trioxane does go thru chemical changes over time-it starts to grow crystals and eventually goes bad. I don't know how good the Chinese Esbit/Hexamine is, but they have been dumping a shitload of it on the market cheap lately. Esbit is preferrable to Trioxane to me, and you can shave it off and use it to get a fire going. I bought quite a bit of the Esbit recently for emergency gifts, it'd be pretty hard to screw it up. I think I paid $4 for 24 tablets, putting 5 or 6 in a fire kit seems like a pretty smart idea. |
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Posted: 11/21/2014 1:54:40 AM EDT
[#50]
Any use for magnesium ribbon? It's cheap for a 70 foot roll on ebay.
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