Favorite method of starting a fire?

[Myal]

Firesaw is fun .

I carry a lighter tho sometimes matches as well , they are handy for cleaning my ears , ( this water proofs the match too )

I like doing fun things like arcing jumper leads onto steel wool and using the steel embers to light a fire

using underfelt from a car and a magnify glass , or arcing a spark onto it , if its a genuine real problem Ill drip some petrol onto the underfelt .. tho technicaly thats an accelerant , but in a survival situation I dont give much of a hoot about rules and playing fair .

using a magnify glass is fun too , I get the kids small ones to burn designs into wood , and a big one for lighting a fire FAST when there is some sun

the only problem with this method is you have to be aware of needing a fire before you *need* it so stopping and camping before sundown is a must pretty much

 

[Normark]

Hey Guys..
Doc...

Thanks you much for the offer..
One of these days I will surely take you up on it...

Rifon...

I gotcha..
It's pretty neating watching that stuff go up...


ttyle

Eric
O/ST

 

[siguy]

i like a ferro rod with a peice of glass from a beer bottle bottom...with dry cotton balls and fatwood match sticks i split out of bigger peices.

the easiest way though is to use one of those mini torches

 

[T. Erdelyi]

ferro rod would be the easiest way
though flint and steel is very fun :thumbup:

no fire piston fans? are fire pistons even allowed

I bought one last year and it is one of the better systems available it works on the diesel principle by compressing air and raising the temp. IIRC to about 800 degrees to ignite the tinder.

It works great and it took me about 1/2 an hour to learn how to effectively use it, try and learn to do that with a Bow Drill in 30 minutes.

 

[matthew krissak]

Flint and steel is my favorite

 

[sicily02]

I like to use thistle. I use the part of the plant that goes to flower and turns white and gets fluffy and looks like cotton towards the fall when it has gone to seed I have collected this even when it is raining and been able to start it on fire with my sweedish fire steel. I have even used it with the mix of vaseline and it works like cotton. I have used cattail down but it burns up so fast. I like to use milkweed down with great success too. Birch bark works wonders too. I have lit dandlelions on fire too.
Take care all,
Bryan

 

[Bowie Mike]

You can't just grind the sugar.. (Or maybe Chuck Norris could!!)

Take a small pile (teaspoons sized, maybe a little bigger) of Potassium Permanganate and create a "well" in the top. It now resembles a mini-volcano. Pour about a teaspoon of pure sugar into the well, it's ok if it spills over.

Take a flat-ended stick about an inch in diameter, and place it against the pile. While applying alot of downward force, grind the two ingredients together. You are NOT trying to mix them, you are trying to GRIND them together. You will start to see smoke, keep going. All of a sudden, it will burst into flames. You're done! This is not an exact recipe... I just through the sizes and amounts out there for demo purposes only!

Interesting note: Potassium Permanganate can also be used to purify water, and since it's purple in color, it makes a GREAT emergency signal in the snow!

Everyone should also be aware that potassium permanganate is a strong oxidizer and will eat up your lungs if you breath it in. Would be really bad if the wind blew it in your eyes.

 

[lexanilover8]

pour some cooking oil on dried leaves and flick the bic