Igniting punkwood with an empty BIC into flames during night out with a wool blanket.

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Woods Walker

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Jun 3, 2010
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For this outing I decided to spend a night out with a wool blanket. I think a sleeping bag of the proper rating is often better but there are pros to the wool blanket. My pack all ready to go. It would be around a 8-mile hike up and down hills through rattlesnake and tick country. I worry more about the ticks because unlike the snakes they really are after me. :(



5-inches of rain left over from a tropical storm soaked the ground. Water could be easily found. Not problem getting a fast drink on the fly.





These little newts can be underfoot after a heavy rain. I didn't want to trample any so kept an eye out.



No rattlesnakes but did run into a few of these. Believe it or not garter snakes do have a mild neurotoxic venom. Not dangerous to humans but just an interesting fact.



Standard cheap meal out. Powdered potato and beef jerky.



Here is my wool blanket with a fleece jacket used for a pillow. To be honest I wished for my Hennessy Hammock or Downmat. The level of comfort those provide has made me soft in the woods. There was some turning and twisting during the night. I used bug spray to keep them away however the temps dropped into the lower 50's which also helped. The Mylar blanket with duct tape grommets was kept out just incase of rain but decided to sleep under the stars. Normally this isn't something I prefer but just rolled with it.





There are pros and cons to everything. My fleece jacket pillow got a hole melted from a guessing Helmock spark however the wool blanket had multiple hot ember hit it without issue.



Here is a video of the night out with a wool blanket.

[video=youtube;0FOF4RMOAXo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FOF4RMOAXo[/video]
 
Firecraft.

Igniting punkwood with an empty BIC into flames:

I have used my modified empty Bic to get a coal with punk wood which was then blown into flames but this was the first time it produced flames from the get go. I was surprised given the soaked nature of the woods. My two methods of firestarting for the outing consisted of a striker neck knife, charred punkwood for an on going firechain plus the empty modified Bic. When using marginal means for firecraft I am always on the lookout for things that will increase the chances of success. This punkwood felt reasonably dry despite the 5 inches of rain the night before. It can catch a spark, act as a coal extender and chars well.





Cedar bark makes for a nice tinder nest or charred material so like the punkwood I took some.



As the light started to fade I found this yellow birch. The bark is very flammable and downright hard to pass up so took some.



Also found some quartz in a stream. It would be used to toss a spark from the neck knife to complete the second firestarting method.



My firecraft forage: Punkwoods, Yellow birch bark, somekinda white fluffy stuff name unknown, cedar bark and the quartz now broken up.



The modified empty Bic and striker neck knife.



I decided to try the empty Bic first. If I really needed a fire the lighter is stuffed with cottonballs and Vaseline capped off with wax. I keep that for a rainy day.



Standard smaller U shaped fire ring. The nest was made from all of the tinder. I kept the fluffy white flashover tinder separate incase the punk wood failed. That combined with some yellow Birch bark was my empty Bic back up plan. Or could have used some of the charred punk. Lots of options here.



Success. After the punk failed to hold a coal, then ignited twice I was able to light the tinder bundle. The same method would work with a Sparklite.



Here is a video of the process from tinder gathering to flames.

[video=youtube;0waxkhed90I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0waxkhed90I[/video]

Thanks for watching.
 
Good stuff man ... what were the temps during the night ?

Did the wool blanket provide enough warmth ?
 
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