- Joined
- Dec 31, 2005
- Messages
- 2,984
With all the support being given for the production of a folder I thought I would show what I usually work with "folder wise" when I am out and about where I live ....
To begin with I bet like many here I have a few things in the pockets of my outdoor jacket whenever I am out for a walk .... I try to keep these to a "minimum" weight wise .... and I try to carry enough bits and pieces to ensure I can light a fire .... here is what I usually take ....
The knife is a Spyderco UKPK which because of our laws only allowing an EDC carry which is a sub 3 inch slip joint knife it works well and was designed for this purpose ( by this I mean you can carry a slip joint knife without having to show a lawful reason for carrying it, but if you are out with a specific purpose in mind such as doing a bit of bushcrafting you can carry whatever you want so long as it fits the intended purpose .... I know .... it is a bit weird over here legally speaking
)
I also carry a lighter with a built in small torch .... compact and useful and around the lighter is a bit of pedal bike inner tube rubber .... this is absolutely the best "tinder" I have ever come across .... it will light when soaking wet and burns for a long time to get a fire going .... simply cut a small strip off and away you go .... works every time all the time and is great for a "back up method of fire lighting" ....
I carry a loud whistle and a fire steel and a pencil sharpener .... the last two bits of kit work well together to get a fire going if you fancy a bit of "bushcraft" skills use .... you will see what I mean in the pic's below ....
I also carry a drink such as that shown and a small candle .... the drink's use is obvious and the bottle if need be can be cut to make a candle holder as per the one shown in the photo .... keeps the wind from blowing it out and is a nice way to illuminate an area when you want to light a fire .... the candle is another good back up to get a fire going and also makes for a pleasant way to work in the dark keeping both hands free ....
The main thing for me is the ability to get a fire going if I get stuck with an injury and need to keep warm till I get some help .... it is bleak and cold where I live so a fire is the answer to avoiding hypothermia .....
It rains a lot more than it snows so it is always good to practise lighting a fire when the weather is wet .... if it is wet you need to pick your tinder carefully .... where I live the best you can get from the trees around is Birch Bark ....
Easy to cut off with a small folder .... if you want to use this as tinder and do the "bushcraft" thing with the firesteel .... you need to cut it into small strips and scrub the bark into a fine gathering of dust/shavings so it would take from a spark ....
The handy thing with the use of bark is that if you cut a section deep enough then you can use that as the "hearth" to light the tinder on even if the front is soaking wet with rain .... definately to work with a firesteel you have to have everything pretty dry that your using or it is a total waste of time ....
You can use the folder to make some basic small tinder but getting the right sized branches so they are dry on the inside but able to be split with the small blade needs a little searching for ....
In my case for the pic above I used some wood I had sawn up earlier but with the right application you can break up wood the right size .....
Making the tinder using the knife is easy enough and sharpening a dry stick to a pencil shape to use with the pencil sharpener is a really useful tip if you want to get a fire going with the fire steel ....
If you prepare well enough it is possible to get the fire going like that ....
Then transfering the hearth to the ground and building up the fire carefully so that the flames will catch is the hard part .... especially if it is raining .... this is when the fire can go out and that is a real PITA .... but with a bit of careful structuring it can be done ....
It just takes a while for the wet firewood to "take" and start burning although once done the sense of achievement is pretty good .... it takes an age to prepare a fire though this way .... probably the best part of 40 minutes to an hour ....
To begin with I bet like many here I have a few things in the pockets of my outdoor jacket whenever I am out for a walk .... I try to keep these to a "minimum" weight wise .... and I try to carry enough bits and pieces to ensure I can light a fire .... here is what I usually take ....
The knife is a Spyderco UKPK which because of our laws only allowing an EDC carry which is a sub 3 inch slip joint knife it works well and was designed for this purpose ( by this I mean you can carry a slip joint knife without having to show a lawful reason for carrying it, but if you are out with a specific purpose in mind such as doing a bit of bushcrafting you can carry whatever you want so long as it fits the intended purpose .... I know .... it is a bit weird over here legally speaking
)I also carry a lighter with a built in small torch .... compact and useful and around the lighter is a bit of pedal bike inner tube rubber .... this is absolutely the best "tinder" I have ever come across .... it will light when soaking wet and burns for a long time to get a fire going .... simply cut a small strip off and away you go .... works every time all the time and is great for a "back up method of fire lighting" ....
I carry a loud whistle and a fire steel and a pencil sharpener .... the last two bits of kit work well together to get a fire going if you fancy a bit of "bushcraft" skills use .... you will see what I mean in the pic's below ....
I also carry a drink such as that shown and a small candle .... the drink's use is obvious and the bottle if need be can be cut to make a candle holder as per the one shown in the photo .... keeps the wind from blowing it out and is a nice way to illuminate an area when you want to light a fire .... the candle is another good back up to get a fire going and also makes for a pleasant way to work in the dark keeping both hands free ....
The main thing for me is the ability to get a fire going if I get stuck with an injury and need to keep warm till I get some help .... it is bleak and cold where I live so a fire is the answer to avoiding hypothermia .....
It rains a lot more than it snows so it is always good to practise lighting a fire when the weather is wet .... if it is wet you need to pick your tinder carefully .... where I live the best you can get from the trees around is Birch Bark ....
Easy to cut off with a small folder .... if you want to use this as tinder and do the "bushcraft" thing with the firesteel .... you need to cut it into small strips and scrub the bark into a fine gathering of dust/shavings so it would take from a spark ....
The handy thing with the use of bark is that if you cut a section deep enough then you can use that as the "hearth" to light the tinder on even if the front is soaking wet with rain .... definately to work with a firesteel you have to have everything pretty dry that your using or it is a total waste of time ....
You can use the folder to make some basic small tinder but getting the right sized branches so they are dry on the inside but able to be split with the small blade needs a little searching for ....
In my case for the pic above I used some wood I had sawn up earlier but with the right application you can break up wood the right size .....
Making the tinder using the knife is easy enough and sharpening a dry stick to a pencil shape to use with the pencil sharpener is a really useful tip if you want to get a fire going with the fire steel ....
If you prepare well enough it is possible to get the fire going like that ....
Then transfering the hearth to the ground and building up the fire carefully so that the flames will catch is the hard part .... especially if it is raining .... this is when the fire can go out and that is a real PITA .... but with a bit of careful structuring it can be done ....
It just takes a while for the wet firewood to "take" and start burning although once done the sense of achievement is pretty good .... it takes an age to prepare a fire though this way .... probably the best part of 40 minutes to an hour ....
Ducci can carry it to his office 
