My best wet weather tip...pack a pencil sharpener !

[pitdog]

We'd got rain forecast today so I thought I'd show my favourite tip of wet weather fire lighting.
As is to be expected the weather didn't play along and rained before I left the house and again now as I type this but while I was out...nothing !

Due to living in a super wet part of the world I've found when it's raining heavy your tinder becomes soaked as you prep it with your knife, that was when I came up with this idea.

First off shape one piece of ya wood to a pencil size. I always use fatwood when I can but this also works with regular wood just try and pick the dryest stuff you can( The stuff ya see on the end of one piece of wood is some resin I found on my way to the spot....too good a stuff not to use)~

By pitdog2010 at 2011-07-13

Next hold the top of a bag ( Zip lock would be best but I used a Dog poop bag ) tightly around your pencil sharpener to stop any rain from wetting ya shavings ~

By pitdog2010 at 2011-07-13

Then just whistle a happy tune while you twist away making lots of awesome little fatwood shavings......after a while you should end up with something like this~

By pitdog2010 at 2011-07-13

At this point you should ony remove your dry tinder from the bag at the last minute when everything else is ready and if you can find/make cover for your fire then do so...every little helps in heavy rain.

My video's always suck as I'm hampered by two crazy canines but I tried anyway !!!

[youtube]bZTQeGDURXQ[/youtube]

You can see how quickly a fatwood/resin fire takes hold, even in wind and rain this fire won't go out !

By pitdog2010 at 2011-07-13

Even when I threw the bits into the water the fatwood wanted to carry on burning~

By pitdog2010 at 2011-07-13

So go add a Poo bag and Pencil sharpener to your kits !:thumbup:

 

[silverbullets]

pretty good idea, thanks for sharing

 

[ROCK6]

I've done that a few times and it works great! The video cracked me up...looked like sparks flew from Snicker's arse and started the fire

ROCK6

 

[thebrain]

I found at a local paint store a magnesium pencil sharpener!!! (they have art supplies) I drilled a lanyard hole in it and it went into my kit. They are made by a german company called "Kum" (really).

 

[Hawkings]

Well, I can certainly see how that comes in handy, those times you don't have a real bushcraft knife with you, like a mora















Honstly the bag is pretty clever, that never occured to me :thumbup:

 

[mtwarden]

I found at a local paint store a magnesium pencil sharpener!!! (they have art supplies) I drilled a lanyard hole in it and it went into my kit. They are made by a german company called "Kum" (really).

I wonder if in a pinch you could shave off some of the magnesium to start a fire????

 

[PARKINGLOT]

that's a really cool idea!

 

[lambertiana]

I like to use the larger sharpeners that are made for the flat carpenters' pencils. They allow you to use larger sticks of fatwood, and they make larger shavings.

 

[thebrain]

I did light the shavings left from drilling the hole and they light just fine so I keep that in mind while out and about.

 

[Rprecision]

thats crafty