Review Wet Fire Commercial Tinder

[AeroNautiCal]

Here's a good video displaying WetFire Tinder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuDm1lHDPtY

 

[tonym]

Nice job Ken. I like both, but since the wetfire is smaller, that is what is in my lil psk.

Thanks for the well done comparison.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Nice test, k. Where did you get the wetfire?

Doc

 

[banana-clip]

Great reviews

 

[Mistwalker]

Well that is pretty cool how that wetfire fits into the strikeforce housing like that Mist!

Yeah, I'm not trying to knock the product too much because it does do everything it is supposed to do. The tabs are pretty convenient to tuck away here and there. However so are the firesticks and they can be broken down into whatever size you like. I can't see firesticks having any longevity issues. Not willing to do a 10 year experiment, but it is just woodchips embedded in paraffin. I'd imagine a given firestick will last just as long as a piece of fatwood will.

Maybe the compromise is to do as Storl says. Keep the Wetfire as an emergency use tinder and more commonly use the firesticks for regular firemaking. Or you can be a total cheap ass and just harvest fatwood around your local woods

Yeah, it is cool. It has the large ferro rod sparker and emergency tinder all in one relatively compact piece of kit. Still a little bit bulky for short day hikes and I'd rather just have a firesteel and my knife, but great in a pack for a long outing.

I am curious about something though and don't take this wrong. I'm all for cheaper, and especially if it is natural or at least more so anyway, and yes if it's free and completely natural even better, and yes I've been called frugal before . Do you think the water might have boiled with the wet fire had you used as much mass of it as you used fire stick? Do you think the water would have still boiled had you lowered the mass of the fire stick used to the size of a wet fire cube?

 

[kgd]

I am curious about something though and don't take this wrong. I'm all for cheaper, and especially if it is natural or at least more so anyway, and yes if it's free and completely natural even better, and yes I've been called frugal before . Do you think the water might have boiled with the wet fire had you used as much mass of it as you used fire stick? Do you think the water would have still boiled had you lowered the mass of the fire stick used to the size of a wet fire cube?

Don't know Mistwalker and I'm too lazy to use up another stick I would have definitely gotten the water to boil with 2-wet fire tabs, that is for sure.

Storl pointed out the same thing also. You are both right that the Coghlan sticks are larger than the wet fire. Of course that would have put me out another $2.25

One thing I did notice was that at the beginning the flame was about the same height on the wetfire and the Coghlan firestick. However, once the wet fire tab started to get charred over its top surface the flame quickly dropped down into a small candle sized flame. There was still a lot of fuel underneath the charring, but that limited the heat output. The Coghlan Stick didn't seem to do this. The flame stayed strong all the while it was burning. My guess that is why it not only got the cup of water to boil, but got it to boil faster than the wet fire tab.

 

[mtwarden]

Yeah, it is cool. It has the large ferro rod sparker and emergency tinder all in one relatively compact piece of kit. Still a little bit bulky for short day hikes and I'd rather just have a firesteel and my knife, but great in a pack for a long outing.

I am curious about something though and don't take this wrong. I'm all for cheaper, and especially if it is natural or at least more so anyway, and yes if it's free and completely natural even better, and yes I've been called frugal before . Do you think the water might have boiled with the wet fire had you used as much mass of it as you used fire stick? Do you think the water would have still boiled had you lowered the mass of the fire stick used to the size of a wet fire cube?

I've got a Strike Force too, mine's been gathering dust lately- the thing works great- big rod, good striker- throws a lot of spark- the tinder appears to be very similar to the wetfire (if not identical?), like you said a little on the bulky side though

 

[pitdog]

Great test Ken, handy stuff to know !!!!

 

[Mistwalker]

Don't know Mistwalker and I'm too lazy to use up another stick I would have definitely gotten the water to boil with 2-wet fire tabs, that is for sure.

.

Oh come on...don't try to be polite and mask disinterest with laziness ...we already know you're not really lazy.

I noticed the crusting over too. At least they're honest and market it as a tinder and a not fuel.

I've got a Strike Force too, mine's been gathering dust lately- the thing works great- big rod, good striker- throws a lot of spark- the tinder appears to be very similar to the wetfire (if not identical?), like you said a little on the bulky side though

Every Strike Force I've bought...and having supplied my whole family and most of my friends with them I've bought several...has had a cube of wetfire included. The first one I bought about a decade or so ago came with one and I tried it and liked it. I then asked the guys there if they could get just the wetfire and they said yes and ordered it....it took weeks for them to get it in and I bought two more Strike Forces just to study the characteristics of the wetfire, then when the refill packs came in I replaced the wetfire in those two and gave them as Christmas gifts to my brother and my nephew

 

[midnight flyer]

I am think that what I will take from the scientific tests is that you need to carry both. The Wet Fire since it comes in that clean, packable little water proof envelope that even if crushed, the product would work. Coughlan's sticks because they are easy to find and cheap to buy.

So when you want a cup of joe, start the Wet Fire tablet, then add the Coughlan's stick for cheaper, cleaner, longer lasting heat.

Sounds win/win to me!

Robert

 

[mtwarden]

Every Strike Force I've bought...and having supplied my whole family and most of my friends with them I've bought several...has had a cube of wetfire included. The first one I bought about a decade or so ago came with one and I tried it and liked it. I then asked the guys there if they could get just the wetfire and they said yes and ordered it....it took weeks for them to get it in and I bought two more Strike Forces just to study the characteristics of the wetfire, then when the refill packs came in I replaced the wetfire in those two and gave them as Christmas gifts to my brother and my nephew

I just figured out they are the same company - Ultimate Survival, mine is old as well- branded Gerber, even have some Gerber branded cubes (that look identical to the wetfire ones except the packaging)