matches vs. lighter

I EDC a Zippo (some times) and bic mini (always). My friends always wonder why I carry a lighter when I don't smoke.... I always wonder why they wouldn't.

My PSK contains another bic mini, a spark lite, magnesium firestarter, and matches... although if I need more room and had to get rid of something, the matches would go first.
 
Hey Guys..

Rupe...

Yaa I hear ya...

I must be using the wrong woods,, as I get smoke,, and it squeals like a stuck pig,, lots of smoke,, but no ember...

Going to keep at it and try different wood...

I was using a pine base before,, so I think that may have been the problem..

The trick is to find and make everything out in the woods!! Except for maybe the cord..

If you are hardcore,,maybe you'll even make that!!!

Good luck dude..Let us know if you get fire!

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Hey Guys...

Burncycle....

Yaa the matches would be the first to go as well..

In fact,, my oldest son now 13 isn't allowed to use matches or a lighter to start a fire..
He can use any other mthod except for those two....

I've had that rule with him since he's been 7-8 years old...

And,, I'll have it with my Scouts as well....

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
if your Bic runs out you can keep it for the flint and steel.just pop off the metal cover in the back. and use w/ your tender. can be picked up in the city when thrown away.
 
Lots of matches in several separate waterproof containers distributed in my pack and pockets -- book matches in zip-lok bags, wooden strike-anywhere matches PLUS matchbox striking strips in 35 mm film containers sealed with electrician's tape -- AND a freshly filled Zippo with extra flints tucked under the absorbent pads inside. I also carry some fire starter in my daypack and will pick up tinder such as birch bark when I come across some on a hike.
 
Normark said:
...In fact,, my oldest son now 13 isn't allowed to use matches or a lighter to start a fire..
He can use any other mthod except for those two....

I've had that rule with him since he's been 7-8 years old...

And,, I'll have it with my Scouts as well....

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
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Remind me to send them some small road flares. They aren't matches or lighters. Did you guys forget about these? Yup, they will dry out wet kindling, burn for quite a while, even the small ones. When all else fails...

Oh, and when looking around for accelerants, don't forget the elastic band from your whitey-tighties, as well as small sections from your shoestrings or paracord. Cheap sunglasses burn well too.

Codger
 
MY EDC firestarter was a mini bic for about a year now. In one of those flip top covers that bic makes. Did my weekly gear check ritual on the new one I was using for the last few weeks (might have flicked it a dozen times since I bought it, still visibly full of fuel).

No spark didn't work, indoors!

They can fail!

Carry a back up. I am now back to my filled weekly Zippo and my keychain Boy Scout firesteel with a spy capsule of matches attached to it.

Check your gear periodically. Eventually someone will notice that your flashlights /knives/lighters/ always seem to work. If your lucky his name is Murphy
 
Normark said:
Hey Guys..

Rupe...

Yaa I hear ya...

I must be using the wrong woods,, as I get smoke,, and it squeals like a stuck pig,, lots of smoke,, but no ember...

Going to keep at it and try different wood...

I was using a pine base before,, so I think that may have been the problem..

The trick is to find and make everything out in the woods!! Except for maybe the cord..

If you are hardcore,,maybe you'll even make that!!!

Good luck dude..Let us know if you get fire!

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
Click to expand...

Normark, try Basswood (Tilia americana) for the drill and hearth. BTW, are you interested in the next gathering in Southern Ontario for primitive skills? I'm sure we could sort out your friction fire problems.

I always have a magnesium fire starter on my belt, a Bic in my pocket and when I'm heading outdoors, a freshly filled Zippo. I know a lot of people go on about the fuel drying up but there was a post awhile back about keeping a ranger band (section of bicycle tubing) around the Zippo join to slow down the evaporation - I'll have to try that. Also, I guess you could seal it with electrical/duct/muffler tape, if you're using it as a backup. Besides, I don't find it to be a great hardship to carry a can of fuel in my pack if I'm going to be out for awhile. I also keep a spare flint under the 1st layer cotton in the Zippo like the previous post.

I also do hand drill and bow drill.

Doc
 
Scott is right on with the vaseline soaked cottton. The length of burn time is amazing. Enough to dry out damp tinder and kindling. Fire craft is about redundancy. not choosing one over another. Matches, Bic, striker all can be packed. I carry a pouch with all the above. The Jack London story "to Build a Fire" is one of those great cautionary tales. Its about fire making but also about arrogance and hubris. The old timer from Sulpher Creek warned "the man" not to go afield alone after 50 below. "The man" ignored the advice of a guy who had been there and done that. Balls bigger than brains is a recipe for disaster.
 
Certain job's will destroy anything lesser... Like cutting down trees
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I'll second that. I love wool but most jobs I've had would tear it up in no time. I do wear wool long johns though, and I like a woolly pully under my Carhartts.
 
Bic or matches?!? In the space taken up by a half dozen waterproof matches, I'll carry a Bic every time! There's simply no choice there. It's the difference between starting 6 fires and 600.

The little ferrocerium rods are nice (if you have practiced, and know what you are doing). I also have a fresnel lens I carry in my wallet. It's only good on sunny days, but it will get a fire going... or a smoke, as I found out one day when my trusty Zippo wasn't so trusty!

-M40-

PS - As for making the vaseline soaked cotton balls, try warming the vaseline in a pan over the stove. It will turn clear and watery. At this point you can squish a whole bag of cotton balls in there and let them absorb the liquid vaseline. Remove them from the heat, and let them cool. I keep a bunch in a Ziplock bag for use when camping. I also keep a small ziploc of these in the trunk of my car, and a few in my survival kit.
 
All the above, please! I live in the Pacific Northwest and getting wet and cold is the thing to survive if you get stuck outside.

I carry NATO matches, butane lighter, no-blow-out joke birthday candles, Esbit tabs and a Swedish FireSteel. If you can handle the weight, a 15 minute road flare is a great fire starter as well as a signal device, and would probably scare away a bear or cougar. I carry alcohol gel hand sanitizer and it makes a good fire starter too-- a Firesteel or the sparks off a dead Bic will light it right off.

I do use the butane lighter for general camp stuff and leave the rest for emegencies.
 
Hey GUys..

DOC...
Where and When ???

I'll come if nothing is happening otherwise!

Let me know..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
I carry a zippo at work (welding spatter being the nemesis of all bic-type lighters), a bic and a zippo when not working. If I know I'll be out for a day or so (like during hunting season) I'll often carry some strike-anywhere matches sealed in parafin wax (just in case). I once got turned around in the bush for about 6-7 hours in -30 C. and had an old bic that just would not light no matter how much I swore at it. Now I always carry more than one method (because I will never forget how much my feet hurt when they started warming back up).
 
I find it interesting how many guys mentioned that Jack London short story, yet still prefer a bic lighter. Heck I carry bics too and certainly prefer them over matches, but a big point of that story was how the guy got so cold he simply couldn't light the fire with the matches he had. His hands were practically froze, and he tried lighting a bunch a matches just held between his two palms. And he tried striking matches by holding them in his teeth. Then he decided he would kill his dog and warm up his hands by sticking them inside the carcass, but they were too cold to even hold his knife.

So how would you work a bic lighter under those circumstances?
You have to strike the wheel, and immediately press down that little fuel button, and hold it down. I must admit this is certainly one area where the zippo type lighters are superior. All you have to do is somehow spin the strike wheel. Even if your hands were frozen as in the story, you could hold the lighter in your teeth and strike it against your sleeve, and then spit out the lighter onto your tinder, or whatever.

Now, I'm not trying to make the case for carrying a zippo here either, because I hate the way the fuel always seems to be evaporated when you need it. But, I have seen refillable butane lighters in smoke shops that seem to combine the best features of both types. That is, even with injured or frozen fingers they could be lit and would stay lit on their own.
 
the possum said:
So how would you work a bic lighter under those circumstances? ...
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Place your hands under your armpits inside your clothing to regain the feeling and dexterity. You could also stick them down your pants to your groin. Guaranteed to make Willy disappear, but these are some of the warmest places on your external body. The lighter needs to be heated as well. Same treatment.
 
Codger, does that also work for hand injuries? My point was just that some fire starting methods simply require more fine motor skills and dexterity than others. How about just being able to operate one lighter vs. a different one without having to remove your gloves/mitts in the first place? It would be nice to combine the reliability of one with the handyness of another, etc.

In that specific story, why didn't the guy just do as you said? Maybe because he would have been too far gone before his hands got warm enough again? And opening his coat & clothes to do so would only speed up the process? It just seems to me that if that's a practical option, then you don't need to get an emergency fire going. I don't have any experiences with temps 50 below zero, but it sure sounds like if I fell into a stream in that weather I'd have a genuine emergency on my hands.
 
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