Firesteel? ... why not a lighter?

You guys crack me up. I hunted and fished my native Montana for years in all kinds of weather. My brother and I trapped beaver in the winter with a canoe in water that had ice on the banks in many places and often slush in the fast running water. We screwed up once and turned over in the Clarksfork river in January. Quickly went to shore and gathered a bunch of small wood. Not picky. Ripped the several wrapps of tape off the plastic snoose can in my pocket and opened it up and placed one chunk of the 2 half round piece of waxy firestarter under the pile of wood. Flipped over the sandpaper in the lid half and struck one of the waxed strike anywhere matches that I had fit between the 2 halves of firestarter and poof the fire starter was off and running and shortly the wood. We were warming in a few minutes and dry in an hour. Didn't have time to mess around with tinder and sparks and twigs and finding bark. If your going to play hard have what you need ready. A plastic snoose can with everything you need in it is very easy to carry in your pocket and it will give you immediate heat. You can make waxy fire starter with sawdust and cotton and wax. You can also add one of those trick relighting birthday candles to the center section of the container if you need more assurance of fire. No dicking around while hypothermia is setting in. When you are soaking wet and it is well below zero, I wonder how many of you could actually gather tinder and strike a fire or use a soaked bic. Good luck. I KNOW my method works unless I get my pants ripped plump off.
 
ib2v4u said:
You guys crack me up. I hunted and fished my native Montana for years in all kinds of weather. My brother and I trapped beaver in the winter with a canoe in water that had ice on the banks in many places and often slush in the fast running water. We screwed up once and turned over in the Clarksfork river in January. Quickly went to shore and gathered a bunch of small wood. Not picky. Ripped the several wrapps of tape off the plastic snoose can in my pocket and opened it up and placed one chunk of the 2 half round piece of waxy firestarter under the pile of wood. Flipped over the sandpaper in the lid half and struck one of the waxed strike anywhere matches that I had fit between the 2 halves of firestarter and poof the fire starter was off and running and shortly the wood. We were warming in a few minutes and dry in an hour. Didn't have time to mess around with tinder and sparks and twigs and finding bark. If your going to play hard have what you need ready. A plastic snoose can with everything you need in it is very easy to carry in your pocket and it will give you immediate heat. No dicking around while hypothermia is setting in. When you are soaking wet and it is well below zero, I wonder how many of you could actually gather tinder and strike a fire or use a soaked bic. Good luck. I KNOW my method works unless I get my pants ripped plump off.
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If you like matchets , great use what works best for you. too each there own.
 
We may crack you up, but there are a lot of folks on this site that aren't just talking, but practice what they preach. Don't be mistaken in your thinking that this site is full of keyboard commandos that don't actually use what they talk about. I spent 5 hours in a kayak yesterday in a pretty remote area and I would go head to head with you any day with my fire kit and you use yours.

I think your matches are a fine idea and I used to carry them also until I discovered greased cottonballs and firesteel, but as was already said if it works for you use it. :thumbup: Chris
 
if you can open a can, light a match your fine motor skills are still intact, i carry a bic and a firesteel or gerber strikeforce, and some vaseline soaked cotton balls, sometimes some esbit fuel. if i am out in subzero temps or around water i keep a highway flare in my fanny pack also, it is the ultimate fire starter. will work with your bic, your firesteel or with its own tip. the gerber strike force is bulky, but carries wet fire tinder in the handle, and the handles are large easy to grab with numb hands. i have spent a fair ammount of time in the washakee in late season for elk, you cant have too many fire starters.

alex
 
People forget firesteels will rust. Soak a Bic in a bucket for a week? Do the same with your firesteel and tell me what happens. If you're smart enough to keep a firesteel dry, I'm smart enought to keep my Bic warm. A lighter runs out of fuel? How long before you run out of vaseline soaked cotton balls?

Bottom line is a firesteel takes skill and a lot better quality of tinder than either a match or a lighter. They will certainly last much longer than a lighter, but 99% of people are planning for a survival scenario lasting days or weeks, not years. And they are usually building fires in less than survival conditions. If your survival need is real and not hypothetical preparation, a firesteel backs up matches, and matches back up a lighter. Take all three and don't worry about which one is cooler to use.
 
Blue Sky said:
Bottom line is a firesteel takes skill and a lot better quality of tinder than either a match or a lighter. They will certainly last much longer than a lighter, but 99% of people are planning for a survival scenario lasting days or weeks, not years. And they are usually building fires in less than survival conditions. If your survival need is real and not hypothetical preparation, a firesteel backs up matches, and matches back up a lighter. Take all three and don't worry about which one is cooler to use.
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You said it. :thumbup:
 
I have been using firesteels way before they were cool, I have found some in packs and pockets that were at least ten years old and still work great. I have never had one rust to the point it couldn't be used or was really damaged at all.

If I run out of vasoline cottonballs I know lots and lots of natural tinder that I can gather and I have gathered it and used it to successfully light a fire.

99% of every fire I build is with a bic lighter and natural tinder but if it comes down to root hog or die and I need a fire now and for whatever reason my lighter doesn't work, my steel and firestraws are ready and work 100% of the time. Chris

Edited for billym,
you do have to be tender when using tinder to start a fire.
 
Hey guys, you're fast!

I was waiting for just a few answers and I have a 2 pages tread now!
Great reading! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

I think I will try one. But many times I just need a quick flame, not a way to make fire ("fixing" a hole in a plastic jacket or bag, sterilizing a blade or a niddle) so the lighter is still coming with me :)

One question, Blue Sky points that the firesteel rusts. Will it still spark with a coat of oil or something on it? In the tropics is an important issue!


BETO
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Sorry for my english :o
 
Tinder=tender????

OK I have seen this many times here on BF and finally checked with Merriam-Webster. Tender does not apper to mean the same thing as the word tinder. Why do quite a few folks use tender instead of tinder?
Is there something I am missing?
When I checked tender in the dictionary it had no connection to making fires as tinder does.
Not trying to attack anyone just trying to clarify the terms we use.

Oh and why not have both a FS and a lighter? Maybe it is that I am a bit of a fire-bug / pyro but the more ways to make fire the better.
 
I'm not really into survival that much.

I usually have several sources of fire with me, just like flashlights:thumbup: Not because I'm worried about being stranded but just in case one effs up.

Firesteel is cool. That's why I like them. That and a lighter is made out of oil(plastic) It has a limited number of strikes then you throw it away if it a Bic type. Wasteful.

I have a firesteel with the cottonballs and use that first with the bic for a backup.

I can usually use the firesteel and cotton balls to start a fire quicker than a lighter with just natural tinder.

However without the cotton balls the Bic is easier to get a fire going because it's a flame not a spark.

But I mainly use my firesteel first because it has a much longer life so it's more environmentally friendly:thumbup:
 
I carry waterproof matches for my main fire starter and a mag. block or firesteel as backup. I agree with the thought that if hypothermia is setting in, you are going to want to have a quick way of starting a fire. The matches or lighter is going to be slightly quicker than a firesteel. That being said, if giving only one choice, it would be the mag. block or firesteel. It just more reliable.
 
This is a really worthwhile thread:thumbup: especially as I have never used a fire-steel but I would like to acquire the skill (my fires depend on lighters but an extra skill is always welcome) I take the point about lighters being throwaway and partly wasteful, also, here in Scandinavia they do not work well in low temps.

Here's a few points you can perhaps comment on:

In my limited experience, strong wind is the real enemy of fire-starting, even very cold but still days are preferable. How to combat wind when using a lighter?

Which types of fire-steels are any good? Saw a scout model on DLT's website, was cheaper than the army version but is it useable?

What are these vaseline soaked balls? Do you buy them or make them? What about these wind-proof matches? Any good or myth?

Is using a firesteel complicated, is there a 'proper' technique and on average how many strikes does it take to get dry tinder to ignite? depending on wind and wet of course.

ib2v4u certainly seems spot on with his preparations and I tend to respect first-hand experience in most matters, just wonder how waterproof that snuss tin would be...

Thanks
 
Vasoline soaked cotton balls are simply that, vasoline worked into 100% cotton balls. I place cotton balls in a plastic bag add vasoline and then knead it in. I then take a drinking straw cut it to size seal the end by holding it with pliars and melting it closed with a lighter, I stuff it full of prepared cotton balls and then seal the other end with the lighter. This makes a totally waterproof method of carrying tinder and the straw is flammable also. Here are some pictures.

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The bands used to hold it all together are cut from a bicycle innertube and are also very flammable even when wet, I carry this mainly when I am on the river. Of course there is always a lighter in my pocket and another kit in my pack. Chris
 
Alberto Salas said:
One question, Blue Sky points that the firesteel rusts. Will it still spark with a coat of oil or something on it? In the tropics is an important issue!
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I've read where some people coat them with clear nail polish. I've never tried it but it's supposed to work well. Not practical if you are using it often, unless you're willing to re-coat it everytime, but OK for the one kept in reserve. BTW, I don't mean to imply they will rust away before your eyes if they get wet, it's more of a long-term issue.

(Alberto, I see you are in Costa Rica. I spent time there a few years ago visiting my sister-in-law. We were in some tourist areas of course, but also spent a lot of time driving around the countryside. Beautiful country, friendly people, I was sorry to leave.)

willgoy said:
Which types of fire-steels are any good? Saw a scout model on DLT's website, was cheaper than the army version but is it useable?
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The ones you see at DLT are very good. I have some of the Army models and they throw an impressive blast of sparks, but the Scout is more than sufficient imo. There are some around that are even larger, like this one:
http://www.epcamps.com/4in_Flint.html
But at some point weight becomes an issue for most people, and it's really not necessary to go that large. Though I must admit, I might get one some day anyway.:o

willgoy said:
What are these vaseline soaked balls? Do you buy them or make them?
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I think runningboar's got this one covered, especially the part about the straw. They take a spark very well, but it is possible to get too much vaseline in them.
 
runningboar said:
Vasoline soaked cotton balls are simply that, vasoline worked into 100% cotton balls. I place cotton balls in a plastic bag add vasoline and then knead it in. I then take a drinking straw cut it to size seal the end by holding it with pliars and melting it closed with a lighter, I stuff it full of prepared cotton balls and then seal the other end with the lighter. This makes a totally waterproof method of carrying tinder and the straw is flammable also.
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I really need to try the straw thing. To get the petroleum jelly in the cotton, I put some in a double boiler on the stove and got it liquid. I stirred in the cotton balls and they sucked up the liquid. I layed them out on a peice of tin foil to dry and harden. Worked great. I've stored them in 35mm film cans, ziplock bags and even the medium spy capsules. A local paint store had small plastic jars (3oz?) with screw top lids that are great for storing stuff like this. Another technique is to put the cotton balls in duct tape-- lay a couple in a length of tape and just fold it over, making a duct tape envelope. Cut it and spread it open to use it-- the duct tape burns well too. I like the straw idea as you could tuck them into small spaces.
 
I am new to trying cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly (vaseline)as tinder, but the first time I tried them I was impressed. :thumbup:

I bought a small waterproof pill container from the pharmacy to carry them in my personal survival kit so that the petroleum jelly would not grease up the whole kit. I have not tried the soda straw method for carrying, but isn't likely to ignite the cotton balls when you use fire to seal off the ends of the soda straws? With my waterproof pill container, I just uncap it, take some of the tinder out and recap the lid. Simple. ;)
 
Midnight Scout said:
but isn't likely to ignite the cotton balls when you use fire to seal off the ends of the soda straws?
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Not likely at all, leave space at the end, squeeze the straw together with needle nose pliers and seal with a lighter. There is actually no way the fire can come in contact with the cottonballs. In the woods I will snip the end off of the straw, stick a small twig down in the straw twirl it around making a q-tip looking match, then save the rest of the straw for later. You can also use the straws to sip water out of a seep, or the vaseline cottonballs as a treatment for abrasions or dry lips, in my mind handier than a box of matches or a lighter. Chris
 
Well a snooze can with matches lasted for years in the foot of my survival suit when I was young and commercial fished in Alaska. I checked it every season. I also had 2 plastic soap containers in the feet of my suit. 1 had a small knife, flashlight, hooks, line, a coil of very light cable (snare). The other was loaded with hard candy. I would open them and check them at the beginning of each season then rewrap them with electric tape. Fire steels are fine, but I want something that will light up some damp fuel quick if nessary. In the long run you could start more fires with the steel. I wanted to live long enough to prepare for the long run.
 
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