I was orginizing my huntinig pack and the survival kit in there is built around the Ultimat Survivla Kit (it is a pelican box with Blastmatch, saber cut saw, star flash mirror, jet scream wistle, and wetfire tinder packets). Well I have been using petrolium cotton balls for some time now and was going to replace the wetfire. First I had to know if it would still work, because it is several years old now. Well I could not get it to light with flint, so I attempted to light it with the Blastmatch and no luck there. Upset by now I got some matches and the shavings from the wetfire still would not light. So, I got a lighter and held a flame to the shavings and they eventually melted but never caught on fire. Just thought some of you would find this interesting. Also I was playing with other possible fire starter methods and found out that Purell hand sanitizer is very flammable and can easily be lit with a flint. A drop about the size of a pencil eraser will burn for about 45 sec, and a drop on the cotton torn off a Q-tip will burn about 1min and 13-30 sec. Even the sparklite was able to ignite it with one try. The 1/2oz size bottle and cotton balls could be something to add to a survival kit. What do you think?
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Old WetFire tinder will not light
- Thread starter wade
- Start date
I had some old wetfire tinder that I burned last year. The tinder must have been about 7 years old and it burned just fine. It started the first try with a match and burned very hot. The wrapper on this piece of wetfire had been half way open for years.
Your experience makes me wonder though. I am curious what others have to say
Your experience makes me wonder though. I am curious what others have to say
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2003
- Messages
- 2,373
I have had wetfire tinder go bad in as short as a year. It depends on the integrity of the wrapper. If the wrapper gets pinholes in it the stuff goes bad.
I decided to check the tinder in my kits recently getting ready for rainy season. I had a bad one just like you described. It looked like styrofoam. I yanked the rest of it from my kits and found them in the same condition. Kind of defeats the purpose. The stuff stored at home was 100% fine after the same time. It has to be protected.
Treated cotton stored in straws at the same time and in the same kits lit up like the day I packed it. IMO it is a much better long term storage tinder especially in a kit that sees alot of rough use. Besides it is practically free. Mac
I decided to check the tinder in my kits recently getting ready for rainy season. I had a bad one just like you described. It looked like styrofoam. I yanked the rest of it from my kits and found them in the same condition. Kind of defeats the purpose. The stuff stored at home was 100% fine after the same time. It has to be protected.
Treated cotton stored in straws at the same time and in the same kits lit up like the day I packed it. IMO it is a much better long term storage tinder especially in a kit that sees alot of rough use. Besides it is practically free. Mac
Here are pics from a post I made on my forum
Pics are self explanatory. You may want to play around with Vaseline content but its not that important only that too much may be a PITA the light quickly with a spark.
To seal the tube, its not as easy as you may think. The problem I had in the beginning was that it just melted holes in the tube. This is what you need to do.
Get a Bic and hold the tube vertically so that the flame is directly under the tube and litterally swipe it across the end of the tube a couple of times, a bit like spray painting. If you try to do it from the side one side of the tube will melt much too fast and make it difficult to weld the tube shut.
When you see the end of the plastic tube begin to thicken Its about ripe for welding.
Drop the lighter and in the same movement, lick your forefinger and ball of your thumb and press the ends together.
You may get a little bit of 'feathering' just waft it again with the lighter and get rid of the messy bits.
Once you have done it a few times you only screw up about 1 in 20 tubes.
Pics are self explanatory. You may want to play around with Vaseline content but its not that important only that too much may be a PITA the light quickly with a spark.
To seal the tube, its not as easy as you may think. The problem I had in the beginning was that it just melted holes in the tube. This is what you need to do.
Get a Bic and hold the tube vertically so that the flame is directly under the tube and litterally swipe it across the end of the tube a couple of times, a bit like spray painting. If you try to do it from the side one side of the tube will melt much too fast and make it difficult to weld the tube shut.
When you see the end of the plastic tube begin to thicken Its about ripe for welding.
Drop the lighter and in the same movement, lick your forefinger and ball of your thumb and press the ends together.
You may get a little bit of 'feathering' just waft it again with the lighter and get rid of the messy bits.
Once you have done it a few times you only screw up about 1 in 20 tubes.
Its not really rocket science, so all you have to do is get some cotton wool with some Vaseline on it into a straw and seal it.
These sheets are cotton wool, its hard to find stuff here that isn't cutsey-putsey packaged for dainty noses
These straws are about 4 inches long or about half of the straw length once you cut the flexible thing off the end.
These sheets are cotton wool, its hard to find stuff here that isn't cutsey-putsey packaged for dainty noses
These straws are about 4 inches long or about half of the straw length once you cut the flexible thing off the end.
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2003
- Messages
- 2,373
Wade,
If you have dry conditions and natural tinder you can use just a small bit of treated cotton to start things burning. You can also use a small piece to get a candle going or a rubber band, whatever. When I pack it in the straws I pack it in tight, you can put alot in with a little force.
The cotton just needs to be actual cotton and not that synthetic fluff.
The same concept can be done from the contents of many medical kits. When I teach firelighting I don't show the treated cotton first. I use standard cotton gauze and triple antibiotic ointment from the medical kit.
Lots of things work like this. I first have the entire group go through their pockets and collect all the lint from the corners, cut off any frayed cotton strings from the cuffs of their jeans etc. We then scrape their jeans with a knife edge and get up a pile of cotton lint. That can be treated with the ointment, etc. By the end of the trip everyone wants a ferro rod and they aren't sold here in Brazil. Mac
If you have dry conditions and natural tinder you can use just a small bit of treated cotton to start things burning. You can also use a small piece to get a candle going or a rubber band, whatever. When I pack it in the straws I pack it in tight, you can put alot in with a little force.
The cotton just needs to be actual cotton and not that synthetic fluff.
The same concept can be done from the contents of many medical kits. When I teach firelighting I don't show the treated cotton first. I use standard cotton gauze and triple antibiotic ointment from the medical kit.
Lots of things work like this. I first have the entire group go through their pockets and collect all the lint from the corners, cut off any frayed cotton strings from the cuffs of their jeans etc. We then scrape their jeans with a knife edge and get up a pile of cotton lint. That can be treated with the ointment, etc. By the end of the trip everyone wants a ferro rod and they aren't sold here in Brazil. Mac
After some expermenting last night I found that I had a hard time getting the cotton to light after being packed into the straw. I eventually got it but it took a long time. I found that if you put some dry cotton in first and pack it to the bottom and then put the treated cotton in after that, when you go to use it cut the bottom end open with the dry stuff and it lights first try every time. It also allows you to really soak the other cotton on top. I got a five min burn time out of a 4in straw. By leaving most of the cotton in the straw and lighting the dry end it burns slower but still plenty hot. Thanks for the help and I hope this helps someone.
wade said:
Interesting, you could also put the dry stuff in the middle too and get a half burn time but double heat, maybe different straw colours depending on the location. I usually just break open the straw in the middel and feather the cotton wool a little. A Blastmatch usually takes care of the rest of it. If you could find 'Strike anywhere' matches I guess you could seal a couple up in the same tube and make it a complete fire kit. Just make the straw an inch or so longer.