Foolproof Firestarting????

valcas1

valcas1

Joined
Feb 25, 2007
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With all the vast knowledge and experience on this forum I have to ask your opinion!

Firestarting when you actually need it in a survival situation. I read Pitdogs post about cold weather and being prepared and it started me thinking. what would be your tinder/firestarting combo for sarting a fire in a true survival situation? Something like you fell into the water and need to warm your body and dry your clothes. Freezing rain, and dry quality natural tiner is not available.

There is a distinct difference between woods loafing and playing with primitive firemaking skills and then there is the "damn" I have to start a fire or I might die scenario. I also understand the importance of several different methods in a PSK, but if you could only have one that you had to stake your life on what would it be? Remember everything is wet around you and it's cold so your motor skills may not be perfect.

I think the biggest part of this question for me is Tinder and the legnth that it burns I almost feel that one of the fuel tabs from a esbit stove would be perfect because it burns for several minutes and would allow time to get a good fire going, maybe alcohol gell sanitizer? It would not be blown away like lite tinder or Maya dust, which is great when you have time to play.

Sorry for the long winded post but I wanted to convey my message. I am eager to read your input form your experiences Please chime in and give it some thought.

Thanks Paul
 
I actually thought of it after seeing survivorman. I was thinking of one of those little marine survival flares. It has a lot of merit.
 
I carry all-cotton dryer lint smeared lightly with vaseline sealed inside 3-4 inch lengths of drinking straw. Lights readily with a firesteel, and will burn for a while if left in the drinking straw. Completely waterproof until cut/scraped open, as is the firesteel.
 
Living here in the wet Pacific Northwest my friends/teammates practice wet fuel firestarting all the time. The two things that will give you the highest probability of starting a fire and being able to repeat that over and over is a sturdy knife that you can baton split wood with and a firesteel with striker.

Even with the amount of rain and snow we get you can always split wrist or arm sized wood and get dry wood to burn. If the focus is only on accelerants, you are going to have a couple very short fires out of such a kit.

Pitchwood is our primary accelerant here. We all carry some (as well as others like petroleum jelly saturated cotton, esbit tabs, fire gel but I prefer to rely on natural materials which can be replenished easily in the field). Carrying more expedient firestarting methods as mentioned here and the other thread is important and will give you an edge in the "tipped canoe" scenario provided but if you end up needing more than 1 or two fires you will again be wishing for a firesteel and a good sturdy (medium to large) blade IMO.
 
FoxholeAtheist said:
I carry all-cotton dryer lint smeared lightly with vaseline sealed inside 3-4 inch lengths of drinking straw. Lights readily with a firesteel, and will burn for a while if left in the drinking straw. Completely waterproof until cut/scraped open, as is the firesteel.
Click to expand...

That sounds really great, can you show us a picture or two of it?
 
I saw some small flares used in a movie once. They weren't much bigger than a cigarette, but they ignited and burned just like a flare. Almost a perfect firestarter while still being small enough to carry several in a PSK. The ONLY thing I could find on it was someone said that some fire departments use them to start backfires or structure fires for training.

On a related note, I once had my hands so cold that I couldn't even operate a bic type lighter. Nothing life or death, but I was surprised at the complete loss of coordination. I could just barely hold a match enough to strike it. So a few days ago I was at a check out line at WalMart. Standing there waiting my turn, I was kind of looking at the lighters. They had a lighter called (I think) the slide lighter. Said it was a new way to use a lighter. Figured what the heck, it's a buck. I must say it's pretty neat. You just kind of squeeze your hand and push up on the body with your thumb. Very natural and easy to do. It's more gross motor control so it should be much easier to operate when you're really cold. It's a little bigger than a standard lighter and it uses piezo electric instead of a flint. Despite the larger size, it seems like a winner of an alternative to a regular bic.
 
I do like the idea of those flares but our team has had really bad luck with "dud" incendiaries/smokes. To take some dexterity requirements from firestarting a gerber blast match is an amazing spark thrower. I did manage to break the tab that holds the striker though so use with care. Do you get reliable performance out of those little flares? The look pretty nice.

edited to add: I DO carry a couple road flares when canoeing or snowboarding LOL. I have had people laugh when I told them but I came very close to getting stuck overnight on a mountain once. Just weeks later a girl got lost/stuck on that part of the mountain and didn't make it out. I had to lay on my snowboard and paddle it like a surfboard to make it out.
 
Now that I have a moment to further expound on my thoughts...

For a typical summers day hike I pretty much carry a Bic lighter, and an old Gerber Strike Force (read big damn fire starting steel for cold and clumsy hands) along with an altoids tin of dryer lint and PJ.

When doing stuff that's more likely to yield a GIMME A FIRE RIGHT DAMN NOW scenario canoeing, snowmachining, etc. I throw a road flare into the pack. And of course I have a saw, big knife,hatchet, etc. It's not the end all be all survival answer, but it's a pretty good addition in a multi-layered emergency plan, ya' know?

Something else I've done before is mix dryer lint with paraffin wax. Works extremely well out of altoids tins, tuna cans, cat food cans, etc. Also empty egg cartons. The first one I made was with a small coffee can I threw in a canoe. That thing was like a portable campfire by itself.

I've become kinda paranoid about firestarting. I'm ridiculous enough on the topic to actually consider a bottle of Mapp gas and a torch in some cases...:o
 
Runs with Scissors... Better safe than sorry I always say ;). Back ups and variety of methods are important.
 
I know what you mean about being nuts about firestarting. I get my share of ridicule from my girlfriend over how much on bring along even on a day hike.

My 'go to' is usually a mag bar and some fatwood, and I have cotton hidden in a few spots. I still have the lighter and a match canister if things got 'hairy'.

I'm still working on the bow drill.
 
Light My Fire scout model firesteel and some Spark-Lite tinder kept dry. And a Bic (with a rubber o-ring to keep the fuel from accidently discharging) as a back up. -DT
 
Good tinder is still mandatory to get a good fire. Tinder could be anything from fatwood shavings to roadflares to VCBs (Vaseline Cotton Balls).
But you can't put a wet log on it, and expect it to light up. Cut slices of wood from the dry inside and make them bigger up to the size when you have to batton pieces. Problems with cold fingers are very serious. Don't panic to make a fire, and work cautiously, don't rush yourself. You cut yourself before you know it. The nice thing is, you won't feel much if your fingers are almost numb....
It's hard anyway with cold finger, so practise.
A good item for one hand operation is the Blastmatch, Throws some seriously thick and heavy sparks.

I carry:
Bic lighter (2 or 3)
Blastmatch
Doan magnesium tool
Thick 10mmx100mm firesteel with scraper
Vaselined cottonballs (and dry cottonballs)
Sparklite tinder plus sparklite
Fatwood

Yes, I'm firestarting paranoid... :D

CZ
 
When I was a kid, we used to make smoke bombs out of saltpeter and sugar. While something like this might be good for signaling, my point in mentioning it in this thread is that they burned hot and furious. I would think a film canister of gun powder or something similar might work just as well for a must have fire.
Who knows what the chemistry is behind a road flare? Perhaps it's possible to make a smaller version. Or perhaps all this is a bit too dangerous.
 
Consider the merits of the humble candle. Burns and burns. Some heat for your hands while you're at it. Various former sperts have recommended candles for generations.

('Course I carry a candle, smeared cotton, fire steel, bic, matches. Paranoia strikes deep.)
 
I think firesteel, PJ cotton and fatwood are about as foolproof as it gets, although I would like to have a couple of those pencil size road flares. Chris
 
For the type of situation valcas1 discusses, I'd go with a firesteel as the way to light a fire, and fatwood as the tinder. There's nothing more foolproof than this combination, that I've found. The firesteel is utterly waterproof, shockproof, fireproof, waterproof, windproof, altitude proof, etc. Fatwood is waterproof, shockproof, burns like napalm, can be prepared within 5-10 seconds, and lights easily and reliably from a firesteel spark.

The Blastmatch is a good form of firesteel for one handed use when motor skills are failing.

Tinder Quik (the tinder that comes with SparkLites) is another good choice, in terms of being waterproof, shockproof, and lighting quickly and easily. Methanol (which I almost always carry, for cleaning camera gear) is another decent choice.

As for the fire's main fuel, once I've achieved a flame: I'd use my knife (and, if necessary, chainsaw... yes, I carry a chainsaw in my PSK) to split and get to dry wood. At least in the areas I frequent, this can be done regardless of how wet the conditions are.
 
potassium permaganate (those blue chrystals) and antifreeze/glykol and mixed with salpeter and magnesium. I have not tested the whole thing but the two first will burn if mixed right and smoke like an East German steel mill when mixed wrong.
How about taping together a bunch of life boat matches and strike them at the same time, or take a small paint jar filled with sawdust, bees wax or melted candles and some matches stuck in. I have one small metal jar that I have filled with cotton pads and melted candles. A spark to the cotton sticking out and you will get a real good fire for a long time and it will light most fires.

I have tried the fire lighters that looks like big fat matches, the size of a pinkie finger. They work, but they dont really have the "punch" I want. I want more burst, like in the life boat matches. Maybe I get some road flares and put them in those plastic pipes that holds pain killers. One option is to pour the contents of a flare into some kind of watertight container and leave the igniter on top. This way you open the container and strike it. There should be something like the auto injector for allergies. You pull the safe, smash it into something and it burns like XXXX.
 
If you have a chainsaw a really neat thing is to take a piece of log, about half a meter or so. Then make two cuts from the top down almost all the way like an X seen from above. Then light the center of the X right down at the bottom and you will have a really nice and neat fire and you can place any pots and stuff ontop of it. The sawdust is dry and can be sprinkled with fuel from the saw if necessary. I have seen this done in Sweden, Finland and maybe Russia. A cooler way is to use a drill instead. One hole down and one from the side, you will have a wooden blow torch.

Anyway I bring a firesteel and PJ-balls. It always works for me. Tampons are also useful, lots of cotton and tightly packed. If exposed to any flammable liquid, voila.
I have some pee test jars with screw on cap with PJBs in them.
If you carry a field dressing you can use parts of that, well you are not supposed to use it for anything else, but you dont need it anyway if you freeze to death.

I am going to experiment with cotton pads in the lamination machine at work. Hopefully I will get a waterproof container that I just can cut open with a knife or so.
 
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