Emergency tender

I tend to favour the Vaseline/Cotton wool balls mix, but also carry, Maya dust, Steel Wool (one of the few things to burn when wet!), rubber inner tube, & perhaps most useful of all Bike tyre patch glue (i think its called Vulcanizing Fluid!), I nicked that one from the assortment of items that Mike Spinak carries in his kit, I found his site one night whilst trawling thru google-generated sites under "Survival Kit", and his two articles on Survival kits make very interesting reading!
In an emergency when youve got no tinder, a quick rummage thru pockets can usually rustle up some "fluff", and you must not forget that old favourite "BELLY BUTTON FLUFF" HeeHee!
 
Jeff Clark said:
It is easy to cut an auto flare down to half length ( if you have a sharp knife:) )! Then you just cover the cut off end with duct tape.
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Yes. I guess the friction striker is an extra.

Tube patch glue - acetone burns well. :eek:
 
Jeff Clark said:
It is easy to cut an auto flare down to half length ( if you have a sharp knife:) )! Then you just cover the cut off end with duct tape.
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I cut mine down with a hacksaw and dip the open end in melted Gulfwax.

I've never used one because I *had* to, but from experimentation... there's no substitute if you need a fire in a hurry. :D
 
Has anyone mentioned naptha (Coleman Fuel)? I have a 4 oz glass bottle (mouthwash bottle) of the stuff that I have carried in really wet weather. Zero "bushcraft" points, but it works.
 
I've been carrying a highway flare in my saddle bags, and in my day pack, for about 35 years. Of course I also carry the other standard fire starting items, but I've been in two situations, one in s.w. Colorado, and another in the high Sierra of Calif., where I HAD to use them in an emergency.

In Colorado, my partner and I had got an elk down just at dusk. Unfortuantely, it had been off and on raining/snowing for several hours. It was miserable, but that's elk hunting. We were getting colder and colder and we had to have a fire. Everything was damp, including the squaw wood. We gathered a whole bunch of squaw wood, and then heavier blown down wood and got ready. I took out one of my flares and fired it up and placed the squaw wood on top. Pretty soon, the wood was burning and then the larger wood, until we had a good fire.

We were able to continue cleaning the elk. We also cooked some of the elk rib meat on sticks over the coals. Damned good, too!! Finally after piling snow on the fire to extinguish it, we gave our horses their heads and let them take us back to camp. I do not believe we could have started that fire without that flare.

Kinda the same situation up in the Sierra, except I didn't have a horse, and had to stay the night with my deer. I wasn't about to try and walk off that mountain in the dark with snow coming down. I made a rough camp against a fallen log next to a boulder. The flare started my fire and with all the wood I gathered, kept me comparatively warm through the night. (Yes, I ALWAYS have the stuff in my daypack to get me through the night, if I have to stay out.)

So, in a real emergency where nothing else will work, a highway flare will get your fire started. In 35 years I only needed it twice, but when I needed it, I REALLY needed it.

FWIW. L.W.
 
Thomas Linton said:
Has anyone mentioned naptha (Coleman Fuel)? I have a 4 oz glass bottle (mouthwash bottle) of the stuff that I have carried in really wet weather. Zero "bushcraft" points, but it works.
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I find it evaporates too quickly...But gasoline on the other hand...a cup will get logs going :D.
 
What about rubbing alcohol?

My brother showed me this thing where you vaporize it in a coke bottle or something, by pouring in a small amount in and violently shaking, you remove the cap and light it fast. That will give you a small torch that will last a few seconds.

I've never tried to light it by spark, or tried to light something with it. But people at school really get a kick out of it. :D
 
If Will is concerned that naptha is too volatile, alcohol is the opposite. It does not burn vigorously in extreme cold -- a problem with alcohol pack stoves in real Winter. I'd go with Will's suggestion rather than alcohol.

Ah, but those highway flares !!!!!!!! :)
 
Try rubbing jute twine with a little petroleum jelly it works great. Mac
 
pict said:
Try rubbing jute twine with a little petroleum jelly it works great. Mac
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We have had mixed results with binder twine. Some is apparently treated with borax (flame retardent). We salvaged that product by soaking in changes of water and drying it for later use. Other binder twine worked great. I suggest that you test before you "need" to use.

Tom
 
In my wallet and kits I carry laminated tinder cards. Basically it is petroleum jelly/100% Cotton cotton balls inbetween two sheats of paper laminated. When you need to use it you cut one side, tear the laminate into its two sides (the paper will be attached), and light the cotton on top of it. The cotton will catch with a spark, which lights the paper and laminate plastic too. It burns nice and hot, it waterproof, and is flat. (perfect for altoids tin kits or in a wallet)


Other then that all I ever use is:
1. petroleum jelly mixed with 100% Cotton cotton balls (don't use too much jelly, just enough to make it slightly greasy if rubbed on something, it shouldn't feel real greasy to the touch)

2. fatwood- basically a natural wood that is high in resin burns very hot and is naturally waterproof)

3. charcloth- not water proof, but the only thing that will easily become an ember in a bow drill or real flint and steel.

4. Twine- again not really water proof, but easy to light with the charcloth ember

5. Steel wool- can be lit with a battery/lighter/spark device/ect and holds an ember real well.

If you have those things and you practice you can start a fire about 1,000 different ways easily.
 
shpshooter said:
In my wallet and kits I carry laminated tinder cards. Basically it is petroleum jelly/100% Cotton cotton balls inbetween two sheats of paper laminated. When you need to use it you cut one side, tear the laminate into its two sides (the paper will be attached), and light the cotton on top of it. The cotton will catch with a spark, which lights the paper and laminate plastic too. It burns nice and hot, it waterproof, and is flat. (perfect for altoids tin kits or in a wallet)

Do you laminate these yourself? If so, any tips?
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Leanwolf said:
In Colorado, my partner and I had got an elk down just at dusk....
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Leanwolf - I hunt the Flattops and Sangre de Cristos... or I did, till I moved from the Front Range to rural Kansas. I've been in that situation - fun, ain't it? ;)
 
Cut cardborad into thin strips, and then dip them in paraffin wax. The cardboard can then be ripped apart and lit. This is cheap and effective. ;)
 
I wouldn't call these "emergency" tinders, but I do keep them in my kit in the car: the old cardboard egg carton full of dryer lint/saw dust/cotten balls, and then soaked in Parafin Wax. Cut up and you have 12 great fire starters just waiting for a match. Also have some 1 inch cubes of candles wrapped in wax papper like the old salt water taffy. Light either or both ends of the papper, and it will go for several min.
Mike
 
a small tub of vasaline is also good to cartry in the survival kit because it isnt just for medical and fire staring ive made lamps from it before. strip of cotton in a glob of vasaline inside half a tin can works great. ad a little rubbing alchol to it and it works better.
 
Thomas Linton said:
shpshooter said:
In my wallet and kits I carry laminated tinder cards. Basically it is petroleum jelly/100% Cotton cotton balls inbetween two sheats of paper laminated. When you need to use it you cut one side, tear the laminate into its two sides (the paper will be attached), and light the cotton on top of it. The cotton will catch with a spark, which lights the paper and laminate plastic too. It burns nice and hot, it waterproof, and is flat. (perfect for altoids tin kits or in a wallet)

Do you laminate these yourself? If so, any tips?
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Yup, I have a small laminator so I made a few after hearing about about someone else trying it. Usually you can made a few in one sheat and cut them out, just remember you need to leave a bit of the plastic touching each side around the paper in order for it to stick together.
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