Pop Quiz Hot Shot! SHTF and you need a fire!

Diomedes Industries

Diomedes Industries

Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
7,443
Okay - pick a time today when you were out and about with what you had on you. You are away from your vehicle and house and only have what you carry on you.


You need a fire - what do you have on you to help?

Let's assume you need to get Tinder, kindling, and fuel for this fire. What do you have to help yourself? Assume you are in your local at this time today.

Let me start by telling what I had at 12 noon today when I took the kids out for food.

I had a Sak Farmer: This will assist with making fluff out of wood to help with tinder. As I was in Houston though - I could have gotten some dry weeds to help. The problem was that it has just rained - so scraping would really help with this.

I would also use my SAK to make the component of a bow drill.

I had my 'survival bracelet' on. I could use the 550 cord it is made of to use for a bow drill bow. I also had my show laces to help in this.

I feel confident in making fire with where I was and what I had. But I am drastically SHORT for a quick fire. I didn't have a ferro stick or matches on me! :( I better have time on my side - because if not - I would be screwed.


What did you have?

TF
 
at any time after i got out of the shower this morning, i had 1 firesteel, 1 austrian army lighter, 2 chumks of fatwood, and sak and about 4 feet of parachord braided up and on my keyring. i could have gotten a fire going pretty quickly at any given time.
 
No really though I wouldve been in the same boat. (away from my vehicle) Shoelaces and Vic cadet.
 
No prob, bic in left front pocket, spydie endura in right front pocket, small ferro rod and firestraw in wallet. Chris
 
Zippo lighter and small ferro rod, pack of kleenex in the back pocket. Swisstool on belt for striking sparks.
 
Mini Bic :D

BTW, generally at this time of year in Australia, getting a fire going is not the problem, putting them out is :thumbdn:



Kind regards
Mick
 
Thin firesteel from a mag bar in my wallet. (spark) SAK on my belt. (striker and tinder making) Cotton pockets of my pants. (dry tinder) Benchmade 710 clipped to my pocket. (larger fuel) I think I'm safe. :)

Stitchawl
 
Well, my nephew and I got out into the timber today to try out a couple more axes that we got from Brian Andrews yesterday. Well I was carrying my shoulder kit it looks like this right now.

101_1278.jpg

Here is the knife and hatchet that I am carring on the shoulder strap.

101_1282.jpg


It has the means in it to get a fire going and pretty quick to, as the pic shows.

101_1231.jpg


I took a pic of our axes and the fire we made with the wood we chopped up.

101_1286.jpg


Once I put my pants on in the morning. I carry these items everyday on my belt.

101_1281.jpg


From the top to bottom is my BPA Breeden Pocket Axe and sheath. Then there is the bigger knife I call my wild craft knife with a spy capsule in the handle that has a firesteel and cotton/pj mix in it. Then my Whittler knife for smaller carving tasks. then the sheath that holds both knives and the matchsafe with a firesteel and cotton, some hooks and line a couple of needles and a scalpe blade. then the E-Z lap sharpener for the knives and pocket axe that I carry every day.


To start our fire we collected some dried plant stalks and then broke them in foot long sections. we then collected some small finger thick sticks from the surounding area and then I then took out my Wild craft knife and shaved up one fuzz stick. I put it in the middle of the fire ring of rocks and then put on the dried plant stalks and then Opened the up the spy capsule that is in the handle and then took out the firesteel and a pinch of cotton. I wraped some around a little stick and struck the firesteel and lit the cotton on fire and used my match since that is where I wrapped the pinch of cotton around to make a 10" long match. With the lit match I put it under the fuzz stick and then once it was lit I took the match and used it to light a couple more places around the dried stalks. In a couple of minutes we had a nice cherry fire. We chopped wood with are axes and then put the logs that we were chopping up on the the fire and just did that for a couple of hours for fun.

TF I can not beleive you did not even have a firesteel on you:eek: LOL let along even admitting that on BF LOL. What's up with that.:D

Well that is what I normally do. If it has been raining then I make up way more fuzz sticks and then just use the wood I split up.

Bryan
 
I was out ice fishing on Lake George today. In my left pants pocket, I had a disposable lighter and a 3" sealed segment of plastic drinking straw with about three PJ-soaked cotton balls in it. On my belt was a Busse Meaner Street and in my fishing gear bag was a Normark Rapala folding fillet knife.

Because I was ice fishing, I guess an emergency fire-making situation probably would be caused by somehow falling through the ice and getting wet. There is plenty of dry wood around, including lots of paper birch with excellent bark for fire-starting. I'm reasonably sure I could get the sparking wheel on the lighter dried enough to get it lit and ignite the cotton balls for tinder.

After reading this thread and considering the situation, I'll make sure I put a mag bar/ferro rod (Doan's) in my ice fishing gear bag.

If I'm ice fishing in an area far from any houses, I usually carry a hatchet in my gear bag or pack basket.

One thing a lot of folks don't factor into their emergency fire-making scenarios is manual dexterity. I've come off the lake from ice fishing with my hands so cold that I didn't have the finger strength to turn the key in the lock to open my truck door! And that's without having fallen through the ice... I often wonder if I'd be able to start a fire after falling through, no matter what I had with me.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
G'day Bryan

What's the specs for your "Whittler knife" ?

Looks like it would make a mean Trout & Bird knife :thumbup:



Kind regards
Mick
 
As I live on the edge of a small rural town, and I spent most of the afternoon smoking a couple of fine cigars. A fire would have been a matter of gathering tinder and fuel and using either the cigar, or the zippo to get it started.
 
Hi Mick,

Well that one has a 3.25" blade is 5/8" wide and is 3/32" thick and I put 4" long handle on that one. But I can make them up how every you might like. In this pic I have several different sizes the top one that has no handle on it has a 4.5" long by 1 3/16" wide with a 5/32" thick blade and a 4.25" handle and will be getting currly maple handle scales on in the morning:D
The middle one has a 4.5" blade and is just under 1.5" wide with a3/32" thick blade and has a 4.5" handle ( cocobolo wood )
and then the bottom one is the one I carry every day and told the spects of it al ready above.


101_1211.jpg


I call this my whittler series.
Bryan
 
Thanks for the quick reply.

Would it take much to add a spoon to the butt of the handle (ala the old Gerber Trout & Bird)?



Kind regards
Mick
 
Well, I don't think I'd have a problem. I carry a Bic, matchcase (holdover from my cigar days), Ka-Bar Mule, and I haven't cleaned out my wallet in years, so I've copious amounts of old business cards and receipts, so tinder is covered, too. :D
 
My pack goes with me everywhere I go, and at least stays in the car if I don't want to wear it into a store. I have two LMF fire steels and one I got from Talfuchre in my Maxp. bottle holder pocket and a film canister stuffed with PJ cotton balls.
 
If I'm hiking I have a complete pack with me. Yesterday, my 11 year old and I braved the wind and I had my large daypack which has lots of firemaking stuff, including 2-3 Coughlin's firesticks and a couple pieces of fatwood (along with various tinders, sparkers, lighters, matches, etc,).

However, to answer the original post, more directly, I now *always* carry my little Altoids tin kit. In or strapped to it are things like a Bic lighter, Gerber UL LST, TinderQuik, Spark-Lite, a fresnel card, and some cotton balls (not PJ'd). I'm good on ignition source and tinder but would need to find kindling and fuel. Clipped to my pocket always is a Mini-Grip and a SAK Classic rides inside along with a chapstick.

My PSK is very useful for most basic survival situations IMO and along with the fire kit stuff has an oven bag, water tabs, needles, wire, floss, a whistle, single edge razor blade, couple safety pins, a $10, $5, and $1, a couple sheets of waterproof paper, pencil stub, and coin cell flashlight. On the outside, it's wrapped with 8 wraps along the length of duct tape and further wrapped with about 10' of 550. Under the 550 is a small mirror and a couple bandaids. Over all that, on each end, are a couple of wide ranger bands. The Gerber UL LST and small GoingGear ferro rod are strapped under the ranger bands. To make it easy to slip in my pocket I placed it inside a 4"x6" zip bag.
 
Im never away from my vehicle normally and when I am I have couple of ways to start a fire (3) matches lighter ferro rod (or extra lighter) So the question kinda seems to catch me unprepared. But the truth is, anywhere I am other than mentioned above, Id get the ol Burnz o' matic out of the truck and start a dang fire, if it was an emergency.:D

But if my truck was somehow stolen when I came out of walmart and suddenly needed a fire :confused::confused::D Id be rubbing two of the lot seagulls together I guess:eek:

A little ferro rod in the wallet couldnt hurt nuthin I guess, where you guys get em that small?
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
My pack goes with me everywhere I go, and at least stays in the car if I don't want to wear it into a store. I have two LMF fire steels and one I got from Talfuchre in my Maxp. bottle holder pocket and a film canister stuffed with PJ cotton balls.
Click to expand...

See why I don't have my firesteel on me Bryan! 42 blades has it! ;)

I know what you mean - I normally have the matching one that 42 blades has - but that is why I posted up. However, I don't need to CHEAT like you do with all that technology! ;)

As for you Barberfobic,

WHAT?!?! You can't make fire IN the shower! Amateur! ;)

TF
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top