Foolproof Firestarting????

(Weber 3975 Firestarter Lighter Cubes) I found these in our local super market, They are the same cubes found in the Gerber Strike Force only much larger.they will light when wet and are designed to light charcaol brickettets they work very well as a tinder to start a fire in wet conditions.
I usually crumble a small amount into powder and it will light with one or two strikes from a fire steel each cube is large enough to brake up into smaller pieces for lighting several fires. down side to the cubes is that like trioxane heat tab's once opened the cubes must be used with in a few days or they brake down and become harder to light
i've seen webber fire starter cubes for sale at many large Dept. stores in the BBQ section also a good place to find
Duraflame Fatwood
 
foxyrick said:
... Also, as an ex science teacher with a particular bent for energetic chemistry, I know a *lot* of possible mixtures. ...
Click to expand...

Rick, I appreciated your comments, and I loved your term, "energetic chemistry." I'll have to remember that one. You remind me a little of my old (1963?) high school chemistry teacher, Mr. Cramp. He was a highly intelligent and very creative person who resented children who came to his class ill prepared. For those who came up to his desk to ask to borrow a pencil, he had a special lesson. He kept some pencils in a drawer just for these kids, but he had previously "prepared" them using a solution that, when it dried, was an extremely sensitive explosive. The pencils were wet when placed into his drawer, but they had dried by the time the next little idiot attempted to pick one up. When the pencil (or the group of them) was merely touched it would make a snap or a little pop loud enough to startle the unprepared kid, though it wasn't capable of causing any harm. And, no, I won't tell anyone what the solution was that Mr. Cramp dipped his pencils in! :D
 
I've also had my hands so cold i couldnt use a lighter. I dont think i would've been able to use matches or a flint very well either.
 
There is a custom if living in any of the cabins in the mountains in Sweden. When you leave the cabin you should make sure that the fireplace is "charged" with firewood and tinder for the next person to arrive. You should also leave some matches sticking out from the matchbox. The next person can be very cold and have limited fine motor skills. There have been occasions when this custom has saved life. This custom might be version of an old sami tradition. When sami people left a fireplace the left over firewood and a piece of birch bark as tinder was left under a stone for the next person to use.
 
Dr. Mudd said:
Rick, I appreciated your comments, and I loved your term, "energetic chemistry." I'll have to remember that one. You remind me a little of my old (1963?) high school chemistry teacher, Mr. Cramp. He was a highly intelligent and very creative person who resented children who came to his class ill prepared. For those who came up to his desk to ask to borrow a pencil, he had a special lesson. He kept some pencils in a drawer just for these kids, but he had previously "prepared" them using a solution that, when it dried, was an extremely sensitive explosive. The pencils were wet when placed into his drawer, but they had dried by the time the next little idiot attempted to pick one up. When the pencil (or the group of them) was merely touched it would make a snap or a little pop loud enough to startle the unprepared kid, though it wasn't capable of causing any harm. And, no, I won't tell anyone what the solution was that Mr. Cramp dipped his pencils in! :D
Click to expand...

Love it!

I used to make it in a salt shaker and sprinkle it (wet) onto the floor inside the doorway. I've heard that a fly landing on it is enough to trigger it but never seen it. Would be a hell of a way to get rid of flies though!

I was always into chemistry as a kid, and my lecturer at college was a real nutter who poisoned himself with chlorine and used to make black powder and set loads of it off in class. Science the way it should be - fun.

I was head of science in an EBD school (for really *bad* kids, 11-16) until a year ago. They needed science to be a bit more stimulating than the way it is usually taught. Everyone passed the exams! Not sure the elf and safety people would have liked it though... (and no, I didn't get sacked, although they tried)
 
sunshaker said:
I like this, I've seen commercial versions of it. The only downside to fire sticks is if you drop them on the ground in your average wooded type area they are almost perfectly camouflaged (I dropped a small cube of it on the ground once, must have taken me 10 minutes to find the damn thing. This is one reason I tend to like the white tinder options, right up until I drop one in the snow sometime...).

Anyone have any orange or yellow tinder options for us clumsy people?
Click to expand...

Recycle old candles with your choice of colours. Use this coloured wax to coat your fire sticks.

Doc
 
No-blow-out birthday candles!

Just because I haven't seen them mentioned yet ... get those birthday candles that don't blow out and put them in your kit!
 
lukus said:
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.
Click to expand...

I also saw these and picked one up cause they are refilable, after reading your post I dipped it in water to see how well it would light.
It took a few tries but it did light.
 
Scott Ridgeway said:
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.
Click to expand...

I made those too. What you might do is dissolve the salpeter and sugar in water until it dissolves no more. Then let the water evaporate and it will form a "cake". Cover this with paraffin so it's waterproof (this step I haven't tested). Crush it and there is your kindling.
 
stieg said:
No-blow-out birthday candles!

Just because I haven't seen them mentioned yet ... get those birthday candles that don't blow out and put them in your kit!
Click to expand...

Dont put the kit in your car in summer, they will melt all over everything.

Skam
 
I've tried to duplicate those conditions before they happened in reality. I'll grab a knife, firesteel & striker and go for a hike in the rain, sleet, snow etc. I practice, fail, then practice some more. What I have found helpful is to bring home some of the materials I was trying to use during my many failures. I have learned a lot making them work in the comfort of my home.
 
VALCAS1 - "... 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."

One thing I'd carry for just such a situation to always work in very wet conditions??

Easy.

A road flare... which I've had to use twice before in very wet, snowy, cold conditions, when I HAD to have a fire right then and there!

I know they work!!!! :thumbup:

L.W.
 
As told to me by DiveHog/ DiveRat - take a slice or two of road flare same effect, less bulk.

J.
 
I definitely vouch for ferrocerium rod and the straws filled with petroleum jelly and cotton (learned that here, great tip). Theyre watter proof, very easily ignited and can be burned like a match with for several minutes or bust open and burn hot enough to start twigs and other coarse kindling.
 
I needed a fire the other day. Rolled some fatwood in Purell, and NO PROBLEMS!

I love the idea of the match in the drilled out hole in a firestarter stick. Neat trick!!
 
Buck268 said:
Those sound pretty tricky to make; any tips on getting them stuffed?
Click to expand...


Theyre easy, but a little time consuming.

I like using the thicker straws, like they have at mcdonalds. Saturate the cotton wool, squeeze out all the excess (I wrap it with a bit of dry cottonwool and give it a squeeze to make get off the excess) then basically pack it in with something, the ink cartridge of a ball point pen works fine. It helps to stretch out the cotton so you can feed it in nicely, I prefer that to breaking it up. Pack it in tight, when you seal the end clean it off a bit, I had problems when I tried to melt it with vasaline and some cotton in between.

What I like about these is theyre dirt cheap, I dont have to go buy anything to make them, and theyre very versatile, you can open them up and just take a pinch of tinder if you need to ration it, plus you have some vasaline in the bush with you, good to protect your lips and exposed skin when its cold and dry.
 
They are kind of messy to make, but they are worth it. IMO I found something on here on the last post about making these. Using a babies med syrenge(sp?) to pump it into the straws as you pack the cotton in. I find this a heck of alot cleaner to do and they work just as good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top