Survive! Skills, Tips, Tricks and How to's

That absolutely works, it's very easy with a 9V battery. You can do it with the rod-shaped batteries, but you can burn the heck out of your fingers, too! If you use a piece of foil or wire, etc. to jump it over to the steel wool it's more finger friendly. You can pinch the battery/wire between a couple of pieces of wood so that you don't have to hold it there with your fingers, stick-wire-battery-wire-stick.
 
pjandyho said:
I am wondering if this will work in wet weather since it is so battery dependent?
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This should be verified by an actual trial. My GUESS is it would still work because 1. the direct electrical short is traveling through the wool, 2. the wool produces a hot ember, which with the conductive qualities of the metal should dry out the rest of the wool bundle quickly.
 
AdamFuzzyballs said:
I just learned about this, steel wool will burn very hot and will catch a spark as easy or easier than cotton. Supposedly it works best with very fine steel wool, and does not require much oxygen. The biggest difference between it and cotton is that you can use a battery to light it even if it's wet!
Here's a site that shows it.. http://www.practicalsurvivor.com/firesteelwool
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AdamFuzzyballs. (haha, not gonna ask!)

Steel wool. Very true. Did it as Scout life time ago. Even cooked bacon and eggs in paper bag over open fire - I kid you not. Wasn't gourmet but for a hungry little snot like me at the time ..... (I'm a big snot now, BTW.)

Problem w/steel wool is ya need keep it dry all the time and sealed from oxygen - it'll rust, after all. Cotton you get wet/dry/wet/dry as often as you want.

Re: wet weather. Not sure if it'd work. I doubt it. Reason is water will both cool the heat to the metal and conduct electricity away from the steel wool to whatever else is wet/damp. UNLESS you had a big power source like a car battery. (Which introduce other issues like safety in wet weather.)
 
I am in the tropics. I will try to source for a very fine steel wool and try. Thing is I have yet to see one which is very fine. Those I've seen here are rather coarse.
 
I agree with RJ. The 9v batteries don't even seem to get warm doing this.

I'm probably not going to pack these particular things in order to start a fire. To me it's more a matter of having the mental knowledge (and practice/field trials) to know I could start a fire with these things if I were in a tight spot. Or whatever else is available. That mental toolbox is valuable.
 
Hard Knocks said:
I agree with RJ. The 9v batteries don't even seem to get warm doing this.

I'm probably not going to pack these particular things in order to start a fire. To me it's more a matter of having the mental knowledge (and practice/field trials) to know I could start a fire with these things if I were in a tight spot. Or whatever else is available. That mental toolbox is valuable.
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I agree. I made a couple altoid tin fire kits last night and really I felt dumb because In each tin I had 5 or 6 different methods of starting a fire,despite the fact that I always carry a bic lighter that would almost certainly work fine in 99.99% of survival situations. Really, survival in most places today isn't hard if you learn the basics and can use your wits to use any and all available resources. Especially with technology available to us. I believe the biggest reason people are killed in survival situations is that they are simply underprepared and under knowledged.

Edit: to clarify, I'm not saying survival is easy per say, what I mean is that much too often a situation happens totally preventable. For example, hunters get lost every year because their flashlights or GPS dies. They end up spending the night in the cold. Now, how much effort does it take to pack an extra AA battery or even a backup flashlight? Even with very limited survival knowledge if you have even a few items you can survive for at least a few days or even better avoid the situation altogether.
 
I would only add one concern, foul weather. Gotta have a way of starting a fire when the wind blows hard and/or raining/snowing. Fair weather is, to me, not a real concern.

Shielding elements with your body in order to start a fire may not be enough. And BIC lighters and their kind won't work/work well in that scenario, hence the high wind lighters I've seen but not tried.

Some people have nodded their Zippo lighter to make a torch lighter, which many claim will do the trick.

Can never have too many options in mind, but main tool is, as mentioned, is your brain (and past experiences).
 
AdamFuzzyballs said:
I agree. I made a couple altoid tin fire kits last night and really I felt dumb because In each tin I had 5 or 6 different methods of starting a fire,despite the fact that I always carry a bic lighter that would almost certainly work fine in 99.99% of survival situations. Really, survival in most places today isn't hard if you learn the basics and can use your wits to use any and all available resources. Especially with technology available to us. I believe the biggest reason people are killed in survival situations is that they are simply underprepared and under knowledged.
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Man, don't feel dumb about that. I do a lot of wintertime predator hunting and the biggest amount of material/tools I carry is for firemaking. I got in a tight spot one time precisely because I was under-prepared and under-knowledged/lacked skill. You said it very well.

Ronin_Jedi, charcloth is great in the wind. And I agree, you can't have too many options.
 
Brake fluid and chlorine is a great option but it can kill you. That stuff will light damn near anywhere but it can cook your lungbags.
 
Haha it's crazy how it works! I haven't tried it yet because I keep forgetting to buy fluid. I think the chlorine gas will scar lungs and ruin taste and smell. It's nasty but it's good to know if stuff ever hits the fan. There's a lot of chlorine and brake fluid out here with all of the pools and vehicles in this state.
 
Hard Knocks

Agree on char. Any experience in wet conditions?


Standard

What was the ratio used? How easily ignited Wonder if corrosive. Question is how to safely carry. My chems rusty in that department.

Do have an idea for a new easy to carry/use firestarter. Been mulling it around now for sometime. More innovative than altogether new. Need get materials together and find the time to make some.
 
I don't believe there's an exact ratio to get it to work. The videos I've seen just show a pile of pool chlorine and a person pouring brake fluid on it. The reaction takes a while, then there's a big cloud of nastiness and fire. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the gases coming off of it.
 
Ronin_Jedi said:
Hard Knocks

Agree on char. Any experience in wet conditions?
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A lot in cold conditions, less in wet, as in snow vs. rain. Standing dead fuel is usually less soaked than anything laying on the ground in the rain. Also, the underside of any leaning dead tree is more apt to produce dry(er) tinder. This is a situation where I would baton to split out dry kindling if I had enough shelter to keep it dry. I think shelter would have to come first in the wet, and I would hope I had been well prepared as to have brought good, dry tinder like fatwood, and not rely on finding some when conditions are really adverse.

If you come up with something good on the firestarter, let us know. I always like weighing out new ways to get it done.
 
chlorine,
brake fluid
batteries,
steel wool
burning your lungs,
...

I'm sure the Tin Hat police are watching us now, guys. Way to go.;)
 
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