Burning Steel Wool

S

stevetexas

Joined
Nov 10, 2005
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247
Ladies and gentlemen,

There is a place on the net called Tactical Forums. One of the subforums is moderated by a Navy SEAL. He mentioned one method they have used to start fires.

Carry some fine or ultrafine steel wool. Short the steel wool across the posts of a battery. It's best if the steel wool has a small amount of pet. jelly on one side. This will ignite even if wet.

I tried it, the steel wool will ignite and burn even with no PJ on it. It will burn longer with the jelly. A 9volt batt. works fine.

Steve
 
Hey Steve,
I use steel wool too (oooo super fine). It's also good as a primary starter from flint. Try this.... take some parrafin oil, saturate the steel wool with it, then strike a spark on it. Denat. alcohol works too, but it evaporates and doesn't burn as long as wool with parrafin oil.

Even steel wool without additive is good from a spark. It just won't flame up or, if it does, very little. It burns a hot ember that you coax (blow) into your dry tinder to get it going.
 
The point comes up, at some time in the discussion, that in the wilderness, or from a survival perspective, people aren't going to have a 9 volt with them.

If you did lack one in your PSK or Pack, then you'd have the issue of the battery going dead.

Put a generous helping of magnesium shavings in the middle of the steel wool. that will wake up the fire. You'll have a small "melt down" at the core. :thumbup:
 
That is true, however, any battery or battery combination with enough amperage to make the fine hairs of steel red hot will work. For example, from a crashed car, boat or airplane. Some people will have a source of electricity on or around them. This just gives one more option for making fire.

In fact, if you have a good 12 volt car sized battery, you could make enough sparks to ignite lots of types of tinder or fuel.

Also, as has been stated, the steel wool can be ignited by other means.

Steve
 
I agree with both. You can't really count on having a battery to ignite wool or anything else BUT that shouldn't stop us from trying it (like Steve). I'd read about the battery trick but (unlike Steve) I never went out and tried it to at least see what it was like. Same with the wool...I can;t guarantee I'll have it at that crucial moment, but if I do, I know what I can do with it (as long as I have flint).
 
I agree that it's good to know you can get spark with a battery and that Steel wool will burn.

If it's a wrecked car or plane, you will have some fuel and motor oil to burn for warmth. If in a forested area, I would suggest thinking about how to use the resource before simply burning it up. The oil could be smeared onto wood to keep it from getting wet, and make it take flame very well.
The fuel would be "instant" tinder, just add spark. You wouldn't need much.
The longer you could stretch it, the better.

The oil makes a lot of smoke for signalling, also, add some anti-freeze mix and wow, you will really have some smoke signals, but, beware of quite noxious fumes.
 
An obvious follow up question might be...
If you remember to pack a 9V battery and steel wool, why not a lighter and waterproof matches too? Just thinking that's all.
 
Because steel wool makes better padding around your Thermite Grenades, Signal Flares and SatLink gear (batteries included). :)
 
What makes you think that it's always going to be a wilderness environment that you are going to have to deal with? I have been going to ask you guys and will in a later post when I can lay it out but for me the most likely scenario will be a major earth quake here in southern Calif and a 40 mile walk home. Very little of which would be in open undeveloped areas. Iv'e been reading your posts and gathering gear but the more I think about it there is alot of gear that I have purchased that is only going to add weight to my load and slow me down. Sorry to say but except for a three mile stretch Im gona be hard pressed to find a tree to chop that isn't in a park or someones yard. so the bob I keep at work is going to be different than what I have at home or what some of you carry into the woods. so don't discurage anyone with good ideas it may not help you but it might save someone elses butt.
I bet that Koran guy that died trying walk out of the woods a few weeks back could have used his car battery to start a fire then burn his tires for heat and as a signal. I bet no body ever told him he could. I didn't know I until I read it here tonight.
 
I don't think the point is to have all of it with you, but to gain the knowledge of possibilities for what's available. I carry matches, a lighter, trioxane bars, cotton balls, and steel wool, and mini magnesium/ferro rod. I also happen to have a flashlight or two, sometimes a GPS, and occasional other items which might have a battery which could be applied to the steel wool.

If it's cold and I need a fire in a hurry, my first choice is a lighter and trioxane bar - the easiest to me. If I have more time, I'll practice another technique just to learn. However, if there is some accident that strands me with some or none of these items (or something similar to some of them), I'd have more knowledge and a better chance of success than if I had always chosen to just bring a Bic and never play around with steel wool and a battery.
 
s002cjs said:
I don't think the point is to have all of it with you, but to gain the knowledge of possibilities for what's available. ........
Click to expand...

Yeah. That's my thing too. Just do it and find out what works and what doesn't, and get accustomed to different things.

Also, like Fulmtljkt said, you never really know where you're going to be. It might be urban but, more than likely, if you hone skills for a wilderness environment (forest, desert, plains, summer, winter, windy, wet, or dry), you'll stand a better chance almost anywhere..... I think anyway.
 
Steel wool (#0000) is one of my favorite tinders to carry with me. (Not the only one!) Although I think the battery trick is mostly for wowing the uninitiated, having it up your sleeve may come in handy depending upon your assets in a survival situation.

It lights readily from any spark source from the lowly Sparklite (or ray gun! :D ) to a hurricane match. It isn't messy, like wax or petrolium jelly enhanced tinders can be. It is also waterproof and doesn't take up much room. It has (at least) one nonfirestarting use in one's kit, namely pollishing a metal surface for reflective purposes. Finally, it is dirt cheap! I bought a package the size of a loaf of bread for about a buck.

Granted, steel wool doesn't burn the hottest, or for that long. Even after the initial flare-up, you can blow on it for a hot matrix of embers. I like to augment steel wool with magnesium or gathered tinder. I haven't tried it with petrolium jelly. (All of these are in my kit.)

Often, when someone brings up the idea of carrying some form of tinder with them, people jump to the conclusion that that is the only firestarting method they intend to carry. Yes, I think it is a good idea to carry a lighter (or 5) and/or some waterproof/windproof matches, but I think it is prudent to carry a ferro rod and tinder as well. Fire is too important to trust to only one implement. (How many of you guys are satisfied with carrying just one knife? :rolleyes: )

Likewise, I think it is critical that people learn to identify and find natural tinder in the environment they find themselves in. Discussing carried tinder in no way suggests that such knowledge can be dismissed.


-- FLIX
 
I've outfitted both my kids with cottonballs/Vaseline as well as steel wool. Plus, their kits have the PAL LED light, which houses a 9V battery. Just having different options on top of their lighter and firesteel.

ROCK6
 
Good observation on preparing for probable scenarios, rather than in a vacuum.

FULMTALJKT said:
I bet that Koran guy that died trying walk out of the woods a few weeks back could have used his car battery to start a fire then burn his tires for heat and as a signal. I bet no body ever told him he could. I didn't know I until I read it here tonight.
Click to expand...
IIRC, they did burn the tires, so they had some source of ignition. Trouble was, although in a heavily-wooded area, they apparently never thought to use part of/one of the tires to start a wood fire. If they had done so, no reason it would have ever gone out and they would have stayed warm and easier to find (fire by night and smoke by day).
 
Hey Guys...

I used a 3 Volt surefire Batt today to show a friend why I carry snare wire in my fire kit..

I tried using my mini mag by sticking the snare wire into the holes where the bulb goes,, however the batts didn't have enough juice in them..

works Very well with 1 3V Lith batt though...

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Hi NORMARK :) ,

Let us imagine an Airplane crash. In the USA, most normal survival tools have been taken away by the Government. We are allowed to keep a small 2 cell flashlight. Call it a "minimag".

The Airplane crashes into a mountain....might be anywhere in the World.

After that, we wake up, it is cold, there is NO rescue. There is a lot of airplane debris around. We sort thru and find a bit of stranded wire that has very fine strands. We work a fine copper strand of the wire down into the bulb holes in our MiniMag that we still had in our pocket upon the crash and then turn it on. That wire glows Red Hot and ignites some cheap lap blankets that were on the airplane. Smoke is seen by some helicopters that pass by.

A happy ending occcurs.

S

BTW, things similar to that have happened.
 
Would a copper wire provide the resistance needed to get sufficiently hot from the amperage available from 2 AA batteries?
 
Thomas.....yes, remember, you picked a fine strand from one. If it is too fine to push in....wrapp it around a little splinter of wood or plastic or whatever.
 
The steel wool/battery method is a nice thing to remember. I've used it for demo purposes. If you shake fine wood shavings into the steel wool they will ignite. I normally don't carry steel wool as a tinder, if it gets damp it will rust.

When I teach about PJ and cotton I make it up right on the spot from the medical kit using gauze and triple anti-biotic ointment. I want them to see that things have uses they never thought of. BTW the medical kit has a mini-bic in it.

I also put a little plastic envelope of char cloth in my binocular case. Unscrew the lense and it will get you an ember in short order. I don't think I'd ever be that busted down to rely on it to make a fire some day but it is neat to use for demo purposes.

These are "outside the box" firestarting methods and they are good to know. Mac
 
Just as note....United States Navy SEALS have used this method of fire lighting in serious conditions.

We did not consider it to be for a prank. I am just guessing now, however *deleted per USN regs*

I wish that I could tell you who I am and where I have been. Instead, I must wait for some of you to call me a liar. I want to kick something.
 
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