easy quick survival firestarting

ashtxsniper

ashtxsniper

Joined
Oct 28, 2006
Messages
3,910
I was playing with a swedish firesteel and came up with this. Take a small bottle like an eye drop bottle. Fill it with lamp oil / kerosene or something similiar. A few drops of this on your tinder and a strike of the firesteel and you have a fire even in bad conditions. Best part is a small bottle can last a lot longer than a box of cotton balls the same size. Just thought I would let everyone know and if this has been posted here recently then sorry for cluttering BF.
 
sounds like a good idea. i once dumped a little bit of my denatured alcohol that i was carrying for my alcohol stove onto some kindling, and it helped a great bunch.

i was thinking about maybe making some artificial fatwood by soaking kindling sticks in some kind of oil or kerosene...like some people do with thier big logs for getting a fire started. could be good if fatwood is out of the question in your area...
 
ashtxsniper said:
I was playing with a swedish firesteel and came up with this. Take a small bottle like an eye drop bottle. Fill it with lamp oil / kerosene or something similiar. A few drops of this on your tinder and a strike of the firesteel and you have a fire even in bad conditions. Best part is a small bottle can last a lot longer than a box of cotton balls the same size. Just thought I would let everyone know and if this has been posted here recently then sorry for cluttering BF.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's a good one. Even something like a small tube of flammable model making glue might work.
Compact is the name of the game.
 
siguy said:
sounds like a good idea. i once dumped a little bit of my denatured alcohol that i was carrying for my alcohol stove onto some kindling, and it helped a great bunch.

i was thinking about maybe making some artificial fatwood by soaking kindling sticks in some kind of oil or kerosene...like some people do with thier big logs for getting a fire started. could be good if fatwood is out of the question in your area...
Click to expand...

I will have to try that also.
 
PVC glue comes in a can, so not very compact. I was thinking SuperGlue has obvious added usages, plus the fire thing.
Would probably have to work fast before it sets.
 
only problem with super glue is that once the tube is opened it is a matter of time before it dries even if it is resealed. They dry up real fast around my house and the lids usually glue themselves on.
 
ashtxsniper said:
I was playing with a swedish firesteel and came up with this. Take a small bottle like an eye drop bottle. Fill it with lamp oil / kerosene or something similiar. A few drops of this on your tinder and a strike of the firesteel and you have a fire even in bad conditions. Best part is a small bottle can last a lot longer than a box of cotton balls the same size. Just thought I would let everyone know and if this has been posted here recently then sorry for cluttering BF.
Click to expand...

Sure, why not, sounds practical. I like realism and practicality. I think that I will bring a few good sized few chunks of bar-b-q briqette starter in a zip lock bag. I want my fire to start, and as fast as possible. If someone wants to start a fire with stiff fingers while close to hypothermia using petrified bug snot and dried owl crap, go for it. I wish them well starting it with a hand drill, or whatever, at minus 30 while it is snowing. It can likely be done, but I do not have the time to wait.
 
Lamp oil, kerosene, gasoline, which fluid is the most combustible? longest lasting (will it "go bad")?

I like this idea a lot.
 
Once used. Store the tube of superglue in your refrigerator and it won't dry out.

Of course out in the boonies, packing a refrigerator may not be practical
 
i carry a zippo lighter with me in the case that it runs out of fuel the cotton wool inside can be used to get the tinder burning in roufgh conditions as it is still socked in lighter fuel/flammiable remains off i've found this saves space
 
Hey Guys...

Sounds like a Great idea..

The only problem I can see with carrying liquids is that, no matter what you do, liquids tend to leak...

Leaking flammables could pose a problem with your gear..

Someone suggested something,, and that is to carry a small container of Purell.. A Great multi purpose idea..

Purell is alcohol based, very flammable and will easily ignite with a flame or spark..

However it has a delicate flame, and is easily blown out..Soaking a cotton ball with it,, will make is much more resistant to blowing out...

I'm not saying it's a bad idea,, just make sure whatever container you have it in is leak proof...

There is also a Fire Paste commercially available, and seems to work very well...

Great thinking out of the box guys..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Liam Ryan said:
Lamp oil, kerosene, gasoline, which fluid is the most combustible? longest lasting (will it "go bad")?

I like this idea a lot.
Click to expand...

Kerosene is very stable over long periods of time. Other fossil fuels are highly unstable. Read that in Spigarelli's Crisis Preparedness Handbook.
 
When I get home I'll see if my tube of seam grip is flammable - I'm sure it probably is. If you don't know of or have any, seam grip is an excellent addition to your kits - this stuff will hold a sole on a boot if it comes loose, and its waterproof.
 
you want easily ignitable fuel that burns for a long duration ie Gasoline ignites easy but burns off real quick. Diesel last a little longer. Motor oil last the longest if you can get it lit. Kerosene is a good trade off between these lightability and burn duration. I will have to look into the seam grip. I wonder if you put a little in your bow drill if it would help the ignition process?
 
Go and buy the travel size Visine bottles from Wal-Mart/Target/Drug stores. I usually refill them with hand sanitizer and put them in my fire kits. (Be sure to label them as such so someone doesn't put a drop in their eyes.)

They are very small and you can administer just what you need for that one particular fire.
 
The mere flamability of some of these suggestions is probably not a sufficien measure. Determining that it has a low enough ignition temp to be lit with a relatively cool spark, as opposed to the open flame of a match or lighter would be helpful. (Not that I would know off the top of my head the ignition temperature of gasolive vs. Purell vs. lamp oil vs. olliphant poop juice!)

I seem to remember seeing someone demonstrating this by sending a shower of sparks into a bowl of gasoline with no effect. Of course, the small fibers of tinder would probably really help out here.

-- FLIX
 
The tiny tube of rubber cement and the rubber patches in the repair kit my wife purchased for me would probably work as tinder/kindling.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top