Easiest and most reliable fire source

I haven't seen anyone mention this, but it works: Original Pringles. Flammable as hell and tasty, too.
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Tonk
 
Greg,
Can i just send a check to ANEW for the metal match and write down what i want on a piece of paper? Do i need the order form?
Thanks
Luke
 
Hi Luke,

That darn order form is a pain :>). In answer to your question, yes you can submit an order without the exact form. Simply refer to it for price, etc. We are setting up secure internet credit card ordering and it should be up and running by next week.

We still have openings in our January 20-23, 2000 Wilderenss Survival trip if you'd like to bring the metal match to Washington and build some big fires with it :>). The trip covers the "five survival essentials"

1. Personal Protection (clothing, shelter, fire)
2. Siganling (manmade and natural)
3. Sustenance (Water and food ID and procurement)
4. Travel (with and without a map and compass)
5. Health (mental, environmental, trauma).

Join us if you can :>) :>) :>)

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Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
Read this in American Survival--a small (2x2) piece of innertube when lit with a match (obviously this assumes you have one to begin with) will stay lit for several minutes even when wet. I carry several pieces with me in my matches container. Works great. I glued sandpaper inside the lid of the container (perscription bottle) to light the match. it is all I have ever needed since I started using it. The rubber stays lit long enough to dry out tinder so you can get a bigger fire started. I also carry an old Gerber Strike force and a lighter.
 
Greg
Thank you so much for your generous and friendly offer. However, A few problems. I am a tenth grader in high school and only 15. But you bet your boots and your fire starter that when i graduate i will most likely be getting in touch with you.
Thanks again.
Luke
PS> how many fires can be started with the 4 inch starter before they pooh out. And what type of knife(s) do you use when you are out in the woods funnin' it?
 
Hi luke, The 4" by 3/" metal match will last a long time.... I use mine a lot (far more than the majority of people who own such devices) and it is over 10 years old. It will last another ten and probably another...:>) I will probably loss it before I use it up (Note: if I lost it I'd kick myself very hard :>))

Take care....

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Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
I can get them made 1/8" by 2" if anyone is interested. I carry one of these in my very small emergency pack (that is on me at all times). they aren't as good as the 4" by 3/8" but work in a pinch. Supposedly the will get 1,000 sparks. I'd sell them for $3.00/each plus S and H if you want one.

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Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?



[This message has been edited by Greg Davenport (edited 02-20-2000).]
 
Firestarters are many -some use a product called "fire ribbon" a paste in a tube for charcoal grills. some are home made - paper egg cartons with the cavities filled with a mix of sawdust and parafin and a "strike anywhere" match stuck into the goob head first to keep it waterproof.. birchbark works well if it is indigenous to your area.. pine knots loaded with sap are good.. dryer lint works well... and don't forget the waxed matches a small candle a bic lighter or two .. maybe a fusee and some c-4
if all matches fail - pry out the bullet from your rifle and pour a small amount of powder into your kindling... shake some down the barrel... chamber the blank round and fire... a 9 volt radio battery and steel wool also will start a fire for you.. the trick in all this is having the stuff with you when you need it !
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I like my flint and steel, and the metal matches. But since you asked easiest I will say British Lifeboat matches. They work and work well. I also carry butane lighters but even they are easier to blow out than one of these matches when you light them.

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Lee

LIfe is too important to be taken seriously. Oscar Wilde
 
Originally posted by Greg Davenport:
Hi all. I like to carry my sparker (4" long by 3/8" diameter) and as many cotton balls (saturated in vaseline) as I can cram into a small 35 mm film container. Note: I always collect natural tinder the first day (and beyond) and make sure it dries by the fire I make that night...with my cotton balls.
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Is the 4" striker more realiable/easier to use than its 2" version? I'm asking because the longer striker costs a lot more.
 
yes.... the two inch version is only 1/8 inch in diameter. The four inch is 3/8 of an inch.... you'll lose it before you use it up and it is well worth the cost. I use the two inch as an emergency sparker in a small kit that i carry in my cargo pocket. the larger one is my primary and is always in my upper right pocket.

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Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
Hello to Greg and the gang,

Greg I talked to a few guys and they prefer the Stirke force over that Blast match but more preferred is the long metal match you sell. Last I heard the school house stopped issuing those but shoot a line over and you may get a bunch of guys interested in buying those instead. I remember being issued the small and large ones and the only problems with the large ones is losing them. Otherwise they will last forever!!!!!! The small one is good for a small PSK(personal survival kit). The only thing I ever use to light a fire is a metal match because everything else man-made is too easy. As far as tinder goes I ALWAYS use pitchwood and have found it everywhere from Florida to Washington to Korea. Hexamine is my next choice followed by cotton balls and petroleum jelly as it si the cheapest man-made tinder you can make. FLAME ON!!!! Take care.

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yol bolsun,
Jamie
 
I have found that OOOO steel wool is a very good fire starter and excepts a spark very well. It isn't suseptible to moisture, and can be started by a single 9 volt battery, just by brushing it accross the terminals. You can stuff allot of this stuff in a film bottle, and a tinny bit mixed with other tinder works very well.
 
Petroleum Jelly and Cotton works good.

And you can make up a large batch of it very easily by melting the jelly over your stove and putting the cotton balls in and then letting it cool.

I mad enough for me and a bunch of my friends.

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Thank you,
Marion David Poff aka Eye, Cd'A ID, USA mdpoff@hotmail.com

Talonite Information and Resource Page, including other cobalt materials.

"We will either find a way, or make one." Hannibal, 210 B.C.
 
I don't like the blast match "concept" because it's bulky and kind of cheesy/ flimsy. Though I do like the metal bar/element (I'm not quite sure what it's composed of) when it's removed from the plastic housing and the end cap is torn off the bar (I belive it's epoxied on). If you drill a hole in one end to attach to some 550 and a small stiker( I used a piece of hacksaw blade)it really produces a flood of hot sparks. At first it's a little cumbersome to use, but by learning to manipulate the cord for a better hold it really is comfortable to hold for the size.
The bar seems like it will last nearly forever, it will produce sparks all the way through, not just on the surface( as was discovered while drilling the hole)
 
In my limited experience, cotton ball soaked with vaseline used with a sparker is the most reliable. It is easy to use too. Easiest is probably a lighter or weatherproof match depending on the conditions.
I have in my small kit: Vaseline soaked cotton balls, metal match+Mg, weatherproof matches, Jeep disposable lighter (just a bit bigger and stronger than BIC), Colibri torch lighter and a credit card size Fresnel lens. Heck, one of them should work after all...

HM
 
It seems strange that no one mentioned the old standby-a Zippo lighter! I also carry a Bic lighter, several boxes of waterproof matches in different locations, pitch-impregnated pine(look for pieces that are left when the rest of a pine has rotted away), and dryer lint with wax drizzled on it. Oh, and also magnesium & flint. It may be excessive, but an old outdoor life book about survival stories made a big impression on me, in 24 of the 26 stories, people were in jeopardy because they couldn't get a fire started!

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"Actions speak louder than words"
 
I use bic lighters, have small ones (2) in my kit and always a couple of them in my pockets (sometimes it´s good to be a smoker)
BTW, they also work after they´gotten wet, just dry them and they will sprk again. Even an empty BIC still creates sparks.
As a starter i have Esbit fuel tablets. Also I lined my mini-kit box with wax-soaked Kleeenex or similar tissue. Two purposes for that: it makes my box more waterproof, and I can use pieces of it for tinder.
I also always collect natural tinder/kindling first, and the stuff from my kit is only the last resort if i find nothing
Robert
 
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