Derrick and Wendy at Knives Ship Free (KnivesShipFree.com) now offer the KSF Fire Kit.
Its a cool set-up that is designed to be a functional, ..last ditch, on the verge of hypothermia, need a fire now, ...kind of deal.
Though it seems to me that many of the components can also be used as part of your everyday fire starting kit.
Heres the description of the kit from the KSF web-site:
This kit contains everything you need to make a fire under virtually any conditions.
Each kit is contained in an OtterBox 1000 which ensures it is dry and ready to use when you need it most. The OtterBox is easily carried in your pack or on your belt in the OtterBox Holt. Though the OtterBox keeps the kit dry, every part of the KSF Fire Kit is completely functional wet so you can make fire in the most dire situations.
The contents of the kit are:
Misch Metal Firesteel: A special blend of metals that when scraped with a scraper or the back of a knife produces a shower of very hot sparks. This firesteel produces little balls of molten metal that, with a bit of practice will easily light tinder.
Hacksaw Blade: Used to scrape the firesteel for sparks.
Tinder Disks: A specially prepared cotton disk which will take a spark from the firesteel and burn for several minutes to ignite your kindling. The Tinder Disks will burn even when wet.
Fire Cards: A card specially treated to burn easily and for a long time. If it is shreaded, it will take a spark and work as tender. It contains a basic checklist for how to build a fire with the kit. By folding the card, you can create a lean-to with the Tinder Disks and Fuel Bars and Kindle Sticks. The cards will burn even when wet.
Fuel Bars: These firestarter bars will serve as a hot burning fuel for your fire which burns long enough to get even wet wood burning. The Fuel Bars burn even when wet.
Kindle Sticks: Wax impregnated sisal rope which will burn long and hot to help get your wood kindling burning. The Kindle Sticks, once lit, resist being blown out by the wind. Like the other elements of the KSF Fire Kit, the Kindle Sticks burn even when wet.
Aluminum Foil: When you try to make fire in wet conditions, it is often helpful to have a barrier between the fledgling fire and the wet ground. The foil can be folded into a tray in which you get your fire going and then slide into place under your kindling and wood for the larger fire.
The small Otter Box is quite convenient for this type of kit, as it will keep stuff dry in the worse conditions. Also all the ingredients are designed to work when wet, really upping the odds when the chips are down. As mentioned in the web-site text, there is a Sharpshooter Sheath System carry device (the Holt) that lets the whole deal easily ride on your belt, pack or baldric rig.
OK, ...time to get down to the nitty gritty.
It had been raining here for weeks on end, and we headed out that day knowing there was a good chance for more inclement weather.
My hiking buddies, and fellow knife nuts and Forum members, Tony and Marcelo, joined me on the adventure. We headed down the trail toward one of the local lakes, to a spot on the waters edge that had a nice set up for building fires. It also had plenty of water available to douse the fire, an important consideration when building any fire in the wilderness. We planned on hiking on after out testing, and no conscientious woodsman would leave a fire without making sure it was safely extinguished.
Tony had volunteered to be the fire starter, and though we had started many fires together in wet conditions, I new that the easy tinders like Birch Bark and Pitch Pine/Hemlock where not to be found at the location we where headed toward.
Once we reached the spot, I broke out the kit and took some photos while Tony scrounged for some dry material. He did a good job scraping some inner bark off a cedar, and found some seasoned wood that was not totally soaking wet.
Tonys carefully gathered tinder would probably have work just fine under most conditions, but the incessant wet weather had left even this well scrounged bundle just damp enough to resist the spark from his fire steel.
We started examining the kits ingredients, and decided to give one of the Tinder Disks a try.
This cotton disk was quite stiff from the wax, and not as easily fluffed-up as a Vaseline impregnated cotton ball. After a few minutes pulling and cutting on it, Tony looked down at the hacksaw blade based striker, and, in one of those moments of mental clarity, realized that the sharp teeth on the blade was just what was need to separate the cotton fibers.
Employing the Misch Metal rod, it took Tony a few tries to scrape off the protective coating, but soon it was throwing hot globs of molten metal.
Once ignited the Tinder Disk did burn long and hard.
Next we tried a piece of the wax impregnated sisal rope (Kindle Sticks). Tony used his Bark River Gunny to cut off a small piece and proceeded to tear it apart.
It created a fine little tinder bundle, and, as you can see it these photos, caught a spark and ignited easily.
Its a cool set-up that is designed to be a functional, ..last ditch, on the verge of hypothermia, need a fire now, ...kind of deal.
Though it seems to me that many of the components can also be used as part of your everyday fire starting kit.
Heres the description of the kit from the KSF web-site:
This kit contains everything you need to make a fire under virtually any conditions.
Each kit is contained in an OtterBox 1000 which ensures it is dry and ready to use when you need it most. The OtterBox is easily carried in your pack or on your belt in the OtterBox Holt. Though the OtterBox keeps the kit dry, every part of the KSF Fire Kit is completely functional wet so you can make fire in the most dire situations.
The contents of the kit are:
Misch Metal Firesteel: A special blend of metals that when scraped with a scraper or the back of a knife produces a shower of very hot sparks. This firesteel produces little balls of molten metal that, with a bit of practice will easily light tinder.
Hacksaw Blade: Used to scrape the firesteel for sparks.
Tinder Disks: A specially prepared cotton disk which will take a spark from the firesteel and burn for several minutes to ignite your kindling. The Tinder Disks will burn even when wet.
Fire Cards: A card specially treated to burn easily and for a long time. If it is shreaded, it will take a spark and work as tender. It contains a basic checklist for how to build a fire with the kit. By folding the card, you can create a lean-to with the Tinder Disks and Fuel Bars and Kindle Sticks. The cards will burn even when wet.
Fuel Bars: These firestarter bars will serve as a hot burning fuel for your fire which burns long enough to get even wet wood burning. The Fuel Bars burn even when wet.
Kindle Sticks: Wax impregnated sisal rope which will burn long and hot to help get your wood kindling burning. The Kindle Sticks, once lit, resist being blown out by the wind. Like the other elements of the KSF Fire Kit, the Kindle Sticks burn even when wet.
Aluminum Foil: When you try to make fire in wet conditions, it is often helpful to have a barrier between the fledgling fire and the wet ground. The foil can be folded into a tray in which you get your fire going and then slide into place under your kindling and wood for the larger fire.
The small Otter Box is quite convenient for this type of kit, as it will keep stuff dry in the worse conditions. Also all the ingredients are designed to work when wet, really upping the odds when the chips are down. As mentioned in the web-site text, there is a Sharpshooter Sheath System carry device (the Holt) that lets the whole deal easily ride on your belt, pack or baldric rig.
OK, ...time to get down to the nitty gritty.
It had been raining here for weeks on end, and we headed out that day knowing there was a good chance for more inclement weather.
My hiking buddies, and fellow knife nuts and Forum members, Tony and Marcelo, joined me on the adventure. We headed down the trail toward one of the local lakes, to a spot on the waters edge that had a nice set up for building fires. It also had plenty of water available to douse the fire, an important consideration when building any fire in the wilderness. We planned on hiking on after out testing, and no conscientious woodsman would leave a fire without making sure it was safely extinguished.
Tony had volunteered to be the fire starter, and though we had started many fires together in wet conditions, I new that the easy tinders like Birch Bark and Pitch Pine/Hemlock where not to be found at the location we where headed toward.
Once we reached the spot, I broke out the kit and took some photos while Tony scrounged for some dry material. He did a good job scraping some inner bark off a cedar, and found some seasoned wood that was not totally soaking wet.
Tonys carefully gathered tinder would probably have work just fine under most conditions, but the incessant wet weather had left even this well scrounged bundle just damp enough to resist the spark from his fire steel.
We started examining the kits ingredients, and decided to give one of the Tinder Disks a try.
This cotton disk was quite stiff from the wax, and not as easily fluffed-up as a Vaseline impregnated cotton ball. After a few minutes pulling and cutting on it, Tony looked down at the hacksaw blade based striker, and, in one of those moments of mental clarity, realized that the sharp teeth on the blade was just what was need to separate the cotton fibers.
Employing the Misch Metal rod, it took Tony a few tries to scrape off the protective coating, but soon it was throwing hot globs of molten metal.
Once ignited the Tinder Disk did burn long and hard.
Next we tried a piece of the wax impregnated sisal rope (Kindle Sticks). Tony used his Bark River Gunny to cut off a small piece and proceeded to tear it apart.
It created a fine little tinder bundle, and, as you can see it these photos, caught a spark and ignited easily.
:thumbup:
