Light weight, low cost gadget for fire starting

kgd

kgd

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
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There are so many gidgets and gadgets that we love to try to help with fire starting. We often stuff several of these in our kits from sparkers, to tinder to strikers, matches, you name it. I was reading the Alaska Experiment thread on the trials and tribulations of ordinary folks using the firestarter, then that GearJunky guy who couldn't get his LFM to work and I thought - where do I have troubles, and what have I added to my kit to overcome this?

Well, my answer to this is a pretty spiffy piece of technology. It is on the picture below. Can you spot it?


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Lets try that again, this time take a closer look :D

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Yes sir, a piece of paper. This ingenious piece of kit weights very little and can be packed quite small. You do need to keep it dry, but many of you might keep this piece of gear in the form of a notebook or pad in your pack. Multiple uses for firestarting: tinder, kindling and my favorite use - the sawdust catcher/funnel.

Okay - you've cracked into your stick and accessed the dry interior. Now you want to either make really thin fuzzies or sometimes I like to make sawdust, either using a saw itself to cut the piece, or to scrape the wood with your knife edge (edge perpendicular to the wood, not angled).

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Capture the saw dust on the paper (be sure you are guarded from the wind). This works especially well with a magnesium bar and mag shavings too. When you've done, form your paper into a funnel and concentrate your shavings.

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I know, you are all thinking brilliant. Thats why that guy has a PhD. Yes it is all true, but hey that is why they pay me the little bucks....

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However, despite my gigantic ego, sometimes I just forget the simplest of things. In fact in the couple of years or so since I've been playing with firesteels I can't recall once ever using one to light up a piece of paper. So here it goes - is that piece of technology also suitable for tinder?? Yep....

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I know, I know, you are wondering just where can I purchase this piece of kit? My recommendation is that you recycle it from your printer tray. Or maybe steal some from work. You can also politely ask your local mail carrier if he has any junkmail available. Really - you don't have to run out to buisness depot and buy a ream of computer paper, in urban society this stuff can be had anywhere :D
 
Good point! Great idea for a thread- alternative tinder materials. Paper is everywhere. Unless you're deep in the wilderness, there's almost always some paper or other trash around that can be used as tinder. I can think of one time in particular, when I was having a hard time getting a fire going, that I found a McDonalds cup somebody had tossed in the bushes. It turns out, the wax-coated paper McDonalds uses for their cups makes amazing tinder! And McDonalds cups have the additional benefit of being waterproof!
 
Not all but some people carry lip-balm and if you smear a little of it on the paper then twist it you can make a sort of improvised candle. Get it going and it will burn a lot longer than normal paper and you can keep using it to light your kindling until you're fire is going strong.
 
Another great one is toilet paper. I always carry it (For obvious reasons), it's light weight and catches a spark really easily. If you wrap it around the firesteel and strike directly over it, it catches 99% of the time (Although 84.7% of all statistics are made up).
 
absolutindian said:
I've used paper too, but I just thought I was cheating...:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

While practicing your skills, paper might be considered cheating.

In a survival situation where you need fire, nothing is considered cheating. If you have your wallet you should have some dry paper in it. Vehicle registration, proof of insurance, receipts, etc.

Great post K. Thanks for the reminder to keep it simple :thumbup:;)
 
I have used the bill or brim of my hat to catch tinder scrapings I must admit the best tinder maker I have come across is a simple pencil sharpener instant paper thin ragged edged perfect tinder.
I also carry strps of rubber inner tube. I am yet to secure things with Ranger bands.
They never get wet takes a small flame to light a thin corner.
Carl
 
I admit it, I've used paper to start a fire before. Please understand, it is cold and wet here in the PNW. I know that there are alternative methods to start a fire, and I'm consciously trying to change. I started with matches and newspaper and soon was hooked. After a while, I progressed to just burning grass in the yard, but could never get a suitable fire going. That was when I discovered soft, textured papers. I lit my first napkin and was hooked. I did paper towels, toilet paper, even muffin wrappers. My life spiraled out of control like the smoke from my burning household amenities. I'd get lost in the woods and make a fire, not because I had to, but just because I wanted to, using paper.

Years later, I found a way out. Now I just run clandestine operations to remove the lint from my neighborhood dryers.
 
I have used a piece of a Cleenex on ocassions. If fluffs up nicely and catches the sparks great.... but I feel it is cheating. I try to limit myself to found-on-the-spot materials and when everything is wet... it is kind of hard. Hey! But that's just part of the game, isn't it?

Mikel
 
I carry toilet paper in my kit and use that to help light the fire. Works great! Thanks for making this thread and bringing it to others attention.

Heber
 
I keep a folded strip of waxed paper coiled around the inner diameter of my match safes, with the matches inside the paper, just for luck.
 
absolutindian said:
I've used paper too, but I just thought I was cheating...:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

If it keeps your @$$ alive or in better health....is it really cheating?

Most of us have some paper on us all the time. Even if it is the kind that's green and has numbers in the corners. Never tried it with a firesteel, but I know it will burn.
 
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