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!!!!!!Cant start a fire to save my life!!!!!

R

rabbitstew1

Joined
Nov 18, 2008
Messages
22
Ok so I just got the "aurora firestarter" in the mail after reading so many great things about it. For all of you who are not familiar with it. Its a fire starter enclosed in its own aluminum case, and has magnesium and ferosium mixed together in the rod. To be honest I have really never had any great luck with fire-starters but this one is just impossible. Included in the aurora package along with instructions is some plain ol cotton balls for fuel. I can light the cotton on fire with no problem....Unfortunately anything else I try to light such as TP, dry leaves, and an old t-shirt just dont light up.. the magnesium just burns holes right though the material. So in a true survival situation when lets say I only have the first-starter on my keychain what good is it? Is there a secret to lighting anything other than cotton balls? Whats the benefit of a $20 firestarter vs a lighter? Any help would be great. Here is a link to a video about the auroura.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCAdffOuVm0&NR=1
 
I'm not that familiar with the specific Aurora model: is it the misch metal or just a plain firesteel?

Either way, these things are not meant to just hit leaves/cloth/etc. and set it on fire. It has to be appropriate tinder. This means fluffed cotton, birch bark scrapings, fatwood shavings, jute twine, etc. Natural tinders are available in the woods, you just have to be willing to hunt for them and experiment. But you won't be just lighting a pile of leaves on fire (it can work, but it's not the main way it's meant to work).

My advice is to take as many tinders as you can and just keep practicing. Firesteels are not one of those things you buy and then 'you're done'. You have to develop the skill to use them effectively. Try everything you can find: fatwood, cattails, cotton, 'fuzzed' wood or bark, etc.

The benefit to a firesteel is that it will work under any conditions: it survives the bad weather, cold, wet, etc unlike a lighter or matches. So you always have a reliable spark.

Edited to add: Remember to use a firm, steady, slow(ish) scrape along the firesteel. Not a quick strike/jerk along the steel. You're trying to scrape off chunks that will burn longer and hotter. And you can try pulling the firesteel and keeping your scraper in the same place rather than pushing down with the scraper, you'll have less of a chance of messing up your tinder pile that way.
 
rabbitstew1 said:
Whats the benefit of a $20 firestarter vs a lighter? [/url]
Click to expand...

The only time a firestarter will be better than a lighter is if the lighter is out of fuel. They're emergency backups that are guaranteed to get a spark when a lighter can't.

I can't really help you out otherwise though. The only firestarters I've had are the magnesium bars with a flint strike bar built in, which I like because it lets you scrape up a pile of magnesium shavings onto your tinder, then light that, rather than just producing sparks. I've been eyeing the misch metal ones from GoingGear, as they produce molten metal globs as opposed to just sparks. I also really like the one linked, with the compartment for some tinder built in.
 
rabbitstew1 said:
I can light the cotton on fire with no problem....Unfortunately anything else I try to light such as TP, dry leaves, and an old t-shirt just dont light up.. the magnesium just burns holes right though the material. So in a true survival situation when lets say I only have the first-starter on my keychain what good is it? Is there a secret to lighting anything other than cotton balls? Whats the benefit of a $20 firestarter vs a lighter? Any help would be great. Here is a link to a video about the auroura.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCAdffOuVm0&NR=1
Click to expand...


What you have there is a source of ignition and a flash tinder. In order for it to work, you will need to secure actual tinder that will burn sufficiently to get your kindling going. Initially, you can bring some with you, such as a chunk of fatwood on your keychain or some PJCBs in a spy capsule. Ultimately, you will need to learn how to identify and prepare found tinder. (Hint: An old tee shirt is not tinder! :) )

The benefit of a firestarter over a lighter is its waterproofness and studiness. It is still a good idea to have other means of firestarting as well.

FLIX
 
If you're having trouble with the Aurora I would give a regular light my fire firesteel a go.
I have both the LMF and the mischmetal and the LMF is easier to get a fire going with if you're not too experienced with the mischmetal. That said it's all about practice.
 
Walkabout said:
Hi,

I wonder it might be most important to start with the fundamentals and work from there with various methods.

My favourite instruction clip is Ray Mears' basic concepts of fire starting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVcHWoT2jmE
Click to expand...

To that very point, rabbitstew, how are you on starting a fire with a match?

Please, please excuse me if the following seems too simple, but you appear to report that you get the tinder to light but a fire does not result.

"Tinder" comes first because it can be ignited with a small flame, glowing coal, magnifying glass, or high-temperature spark. Really good tinder, like charred cotton cloth, can be ignited with a low-temperature spark from natural flint and steel.

The burning tinder is placed under and ignites fine material (pine needle to match stick size) placed above the tinder.

The burning fine material ignites pencil-sized material ("kindling") placed above the fine material. The burning "kindling" ignites thumb-sized sticks and larger ("fuel wood"). Build it right before trying to light!
. . .
The fine material that the tinder will ignite and the kindling that ignites next is best collected dead but still attached to the tree or bush. How much? As with tinder, the common mistake is to have too little when the match is lit. "Too much" is about enough. It also needs to be kept dry.

A “fire-starter” is prepared in advance to boost the fire-making sequence. A 1" roll of cardboard dipped in paraffin or a 3" candle stub are examples. A pine cone speckled by nature with dried, sticky pitch, a “fuzz stick” made of dry pine, or "fat wood" (pine wood impregnated with dried sap) are all natural fire-starters. The worse the conditions, the more important it is to have a fire-starter – or two – or three.
Click to expand...

And then there is practice. When you can consistently start a fire with one match, you are ready to move on to more challenging methods of ignition.

Or start with a butane lighter.
 
I really appreciate the all the input. Its looks as if my perception of a fire stater being a simple tool that didn't need preparation or skill was misunderstood. Thank you very much for your help.
 
Spooky is right, practice really helps. Experiment with different tinders. Very fine material works best: scrape up lint, scraped wood, fluffed cattails and thistles, shaved bark, pulverized dry grass. Use lots and lots of tinder to improve your chance on catching a spark. Once it gets going, add kindling slowly until your baby fire develops.

I practice with the firesteel constantly. My neighbor thinks I'm nuts, 'cuz I use it to light my grill. But practice provides confidence. You'll get the hang of it. And then you'll need to order a new firesteel to replace the one you just used up. :D
 
I light my normal fires with a LMF rod. as practise under ideal conditions. BUT I carry PJCB's Coughlans firestarter matches lifeboat matches and sometimes ever sterno AND a butane lighter for when things go pear shaped.
I believe if you can use the most difficult method to light under ideal conditions then it will be easier to light using ideal tools ( butane and sterno for eg;) under difficult conditions.
Remember the more desperate your need (Soaking wet in cold rain) for fire the harder it will be to achive.
Carl
 
Search the forums for PJCB firestraws and make a few the length of your Aurora. Tape a few to the Aurora, and you're gtg. I've used firesteels and other sparkers in the nastiest weather you can imagine, with PJCB. IMH PJCB is the most effective media for what you're trying to do. I agree the problem is tinder, and you need to understand how to harvest dry tinder in the field. But the PJCB and a good spark will get you going.
 
For what its worth, I think the built in striker on the Aurora is just about impossible to use. I can't get a reliable spark out of it. The design is really cool though, just that you have to have a different striker.
 
It would be hard to start a fire with a blowtorch if you are using an old t-shirt as tinder.
Think of why the cottonball worked, the fine fibers you can barely see are super thin and will burn readily from a spark. PJ, though wet, works like candle wax. Not flammable but not inflammable either, sort of a neutral. It causes the fibers to burn slower and give more chance of igniting your second stage tinder.
I love using birch bark as tinder, it can light when damp from the oils in it, just fluff and tear it up really good for the sparks to ignite.
 
They must be dry but dead Foxtail grass and Cattails ignite easily.

I also found some dry tender inside of dead horseweeds one time. Everything else was wet .
 
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Other than during the dryest days of summer I have struggled to light virtually all tinders including leaves, grasses, cat-tail seeds, cedar bark, you name it I tried it !

The only one that I rarely fail with is good old fatwood. Even with fatwood to get the best results you should use the saw on your SAK and make some fine dust, this is what is going to catch your spark, on top of the dust should be some real fine curls and then have some larger bits set aside to place on once you have a good flame !

Let us know how you get on !!!
 
Pitdog- I like the SAK saw, too, for gathering fatwood dust. This is also why I insist on having a crisp spine on all my blades; it's perfect for scraping up some fuzzy fatwood/bark/whatever, not to mention use with a firesteel.
 
This post is for anyone having a problem with strikers. I have tried just about everything imaginable, and this is the best so far. I use a piece of sawzall blade. I take one with a high TPI and snap off a length equal to the steel I am using. This should be done from the bottom, since you will want the mounting hole to attach it to the lanyard. Using a scratch wheel, I remove just the paint from the teeth and the spine. Leaving the majority of the paint on the blade prevent's it from rusting. Also, you can choose a hi-vis colored blade (red or orange) to help prevent loss. The fine teeth work very well on a magnesium bar. Just one of these will last a lifetime. I know that this a little off the main topic, but striker problems were mentioned.
 
I got volunteered to teach cub scouts how to make fire , being I was an experienced camper. I bought one of those magnesium fire starting bars at walmart . Never had done this myself, I gathered a lot of dried foxtail grass around the camping area. I also picked up a few pieces of chert from the area. I practiced and had a fire in just a couple of strikes.I did not scrape mag. shavings off. Just the chert and the spark producing rod. Every last cub scout got a fire started. Eight and nine year olds.
 
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