- Joined
- Apr 20, 2001
- Messages
- 18,423
Raining today, so I decided to test out some new emergency firestarters I found at Menard's this week.
MEECO Red Devil Sure Starters.
They are some kind of compressed wood and paper fiber mixed with wax.
Waterproof and very light weight. Also very cheap, this 4 pack is only .88 cents, and a 24 pack is 1.99.
I was just out of the rain under my shed roof, hence the wet concrete at the top of the picture.
I didn't expect it, but after scruffing up the top of a 1" square, it lit easily from a firesteel. I've never had one of these type of starters light from a firesteel, usually they require a lighter/match flame in my experience. This is a HUGE plus for these.
This is 2 minutes after lighting, it's putting out a good solid flame, despite it being a cold , rainy and windy day here.
(Yes, both the knife and firesteel are Gerber Bear Grylls gear, I'm currently in a sort of joke test with a buddy, that I only use BG gear for awhile)
This is 5 minutes after lighting, still going strong and the wind is not even close to putting it out.
At this point, I tossed it aside into my driveway to go on to another test, and looked over later to this:
This is at 15 minutes since lighting, and nearly 10 minutes of laying on wet gravel, directly in the rain and wind, and it's still burning.
I'm impressed, frankly if you can't get a fire going with one of these, you need a can of gasoline.
PROS:
Lights easy, even with a firesteel (I lit multiple squares with multiple steels, worked every time)
Cheap
Water resistant in/out of packaging
Wind and rain resistant when lit
Odorless and non-toxic
Weighs next to nothing
Comes scored to break off in 1" squares, but you could easily cut it to just use what you need, or to fit in any size "kit"
Long steady burn time.
CONS
Can't really find any to be honest.
MEECO Red Devil Sure Starters.
They are some kind of compressed wood and paper fiber mixed with wax.
Waterproof and very light weight. Also very cheap, this 4 pack is only .88 cents, and a 24 pack is 1.99.
I was just out of the rain under my shed roof, hence the wet concrete at the top of the picture.
I didn't expect it, but after scruffing up the top of a 1" square, it lit easily from a firesteel. I've never had one of these type of starters light from a firesteel, usually they require a lighter/match flame in my experience. This is a HUGE plus for these.
This is 2 minutes after lighting, it's putting out a good solid flame, despite it being a cold , rainy and windy day here.
(Yes, both the knife and firesteel are Gerber Bear Grylls gear, I'm currently in a sort of joke test with a buddy, that I only use BG gear for awhile)
This is 5 minutes after lighting, still going strong and the wind is not even close to putting it out.
At this point, I tossed it aside into my driveway to go on to another test, and looked over later to this:
This is at 15 minutes since lighting, and nearly 10 minutes of laying on wet gravel, directly in the rain and wind, and it's still burning.
I'm impressed, frankly if you can't get a fire going with one of these, you need a can of gasoline.
PROS:
Lights easy, even with a firesteel (I lit multiple squares with multiple steels, worked every time)
Cheap
Water resistant in/out of packaging
Wind and rain resistant when lit
Odorless and non-toxic
Weighs next to nothing
Comes scored to break off in 1" squares, but you could easily cut it to just use what you need, or to fit in any size "kit"
Long steady burn time.
CONS
Can't really find any to be honest.
