• The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
    Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.

  • Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. I pray that this nation does not forget the loss of lives from this horrible event. Yesterday conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered, and I worry about what is to come. Please love one another and your family in these trying times - Spark

any of you store small containers of calcium carbide or gasoline?

S

SkinnyJoe

BANNED
Joined
Jun 9, 2007
Messages
7,236
I imagine in extremely cold and wet conditions, with wet twigs and nothing else to work with, those two would come in handy (in addition to something capable of producing sparks). Thinking along the lines of current weather conditions in the Northeast, with deep snow. When it's really cold and windy, I don't think I would want to mess with magnesium shavings and whatnot.

Gasoline mixed with some vaseline or cooking oil so that it sticks to the twigs nicely and evaporates slower? Does anything have a lower flash point than gasoline? The only hazard I can think of would be getting it on your hands just before the spark is generated..:eek:

It's possible to get calcium carbide shipped, correct? That has to be the neatest fire starting accessory, you drop it in some snow, and voila, acetylene gas! :D
 
kerosene my friend. Store it in a SS flask and your good to go!

as for calcium carbide....heck ya is good stuff
 
Diesel has a lower flashpoint than gas. We used it all the time to start bon-fires in the summer.
 
Kerosene. Super safe to. Drop a match into a puddle of it, and the match usually goes out.
 
Most of the time hand sanitizers are gelified alcohol and can double as fire starters.
Also have started many fire using the iodine tincture I carry for water purification. Again that's iodine+alcohol. Medical alcohol also work.
Of course, all those are no match for gasoline and derivates in terms of power but they a lot more uses.

Also prefer paraffin and candles. Probably safer. Some candles are edible.
Can also use self contained solid fuel stoves:
http://www.asmc.de/en/Outdoor-Survival/Cookers/Emergency-stove-M71-p.html
 
333rm said:
Diesel has a lower flashpoint than gas. We used it all the time to start bon-fires in the summer.
Click to expand...

I found different info, but this is from wikipedia, which is not a textbook by any means. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_point

Fuel Flash point Autoignitiontemperature
Ethanol 12.8 °C (55 °F) 365 °C (689 °F)
Gasoline (petrol) <&#8722;40 °C (&#8722;40 °F) 246 °C (475 °F)
Diesel >62 °C (143 °F) 210 °C (410 °F)
Jet fuel >60 °C (140 °F) 210 °C (410 °F)
Kerosene (paraffin oil) >38–72 °C (100–162 °F) 220 °C (428 °F)
Vegetable oil (canola) 327 °C (620 °F)[1]
Biodiesel >130 °C (266 °F)
 
I don't carry any kind of combustibles. The safety issue outweighs the benefits for me. If your container happens to get a pin hole or is not sealed tight enough, then gas/diesel/kerosene leaks all over everything and you're carrying around a molotov fuse.

I've been carrying strips of bicycle tire and innertube for a fews years now. They're really good to use--the only downside is that you have to have a lighter or matches to get them going. So I carry two lighters: one in-pack, the other is a Bic Mini inside the Altoids tin kit on my knife sheath.
These strips light when they're wet, cold, hot, doesn't matter. And they stay burning long enough that they can dry out damp tinder.
Naturally, I have other sources of fire lighting: pj cottonballs, dryer lint, char cloth, a little bit of rubbing alcohol in a medicine bottle (serves a dual purpose).
But these are my favorites.

...And they're cheap.


ETA:: I lied. I carry three lighters...I forgot the one in my pocket!!
 
tholiver beat me to it! I have the same Zippo container. Doesn't hold a lot of volume but the seals seem to be good.

I expect a small turpentine or paint thinner can would work as long as you checked the cap periodically.

DancesWithKnives
 
Go easy with the acetone as an accelerant, the wikipedia article talks about its mobility, It sure can move when not properly contained (and on fire). No good for alcohol stoves either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top