Wetfire failure

C

candlelight001

Joined
Jun 3, 2008
Messages
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Have been playing around w/ wetfire in my backyard. Have found a couple things:

1) Can't light it w/ firesteel, need lighter.

2) Big chunks don't stay lit

3) No way does it burn ten minutes as claimed in their promo video.


Mind you, these are ideal conditions I'm testing under... No wind, warm, concrete floor, dry, etc.

Is it my technique that's off? Or is the product overhyped?

What are your experiences? For those of you who have had successful experiences, pls share technique. Thx!
 
Ill be watching this thread for your experiences, ive been thinking about getting some WetFire starting tinder myself...
 
candlelight001 said:
Have been playing around w/ wetfire in my backyard. Have found a couple things:

1) Can't light it w/ firesteel, need lighter.

2) Big chunks don't stay lit

3) No way does it burn ten minutes as claimed in their promo video.


Mind you, these are ideal conditions I'm testing under... No wind, warm, concrete floor, dry, etc.

Is it my technique that's off? Or is the product overhyped?

What are your experiences? For those of you who have had successful experiences, pls share technique. Thx!
Click to expand...

It never burned quite ten minutes for me either, the best I ever got was about 8.5 to 9. But as for the rest of it they have either changed their formula, you got a bad batch, or something because I have always been able to take the tip of a knife, or tip of the striker on a strike force, to scrape the top of the cube a bit to create a little pile of dust on top of the cube and ignite it with a firesteel, and then have the whole cube burn in mass. I just recently did this with the original wet fire cube that came in the strike force I gave my nephew over eight years ago.
 
candlelight001 said:
Have been playing around w/ wetfire in my backyard. Have found a couple things:

1) Can't light it w/ firesteel, need lighter.

2) Big chunks don't stay lit

3) No way does it burn ten minutes as claimed in their promo video.


Mind you, these are ideal conditions I'm testing under... No wind, warm, concrete floor, dry, etc.

Is it my technique that's off? Or is the product overhyped?

What are your experiences? For those of you who have had successful experiences, pls share technique. Thx!
Click to expand...
I have not used the wet fire, but the weber charcoal lighter cubes are similiar if not the same only bigger. I can light them easily with my ferro rod. Use your scraper to loosen up a pile of dust on top of the cube. Point your rod at the top of the cube and pull it back quickly holding the scraper as close to the cube as possible. Nice shower of sparks, usually lights the first time if the dust is fine enough. Lit my hibatchi last night with this technique.
 
You must crumble it into small pieces to create more surface area for a spark to catch.
Maybe this tells you to always carry a bic as well.
 
I'm glad you posted this thread, it may have saved me from a very cold night. I've had some Wetfire tinder for the last couple months with me for emergencies but didn't use any until now - I didn't want to waste it.

Only now I've discovered this may as well be a fire RETARDENT than tinder. I couldn't get the thing lit even by pocking it into the gas flame on the stove. It went black around the edges a looked a little melted but it wouldn't hold a flame.

This is appalling!
 
I too have had very bad experiences with wetfire tinder. You need to break it up into almost a fine powder for it t work. To be fair, the Blastmatcb seems to work better for this.
 
Trioxane. Remember its toxic though, so don't touch it directly or wash afterwards. PS: it's cheap. I buy in bulk. PSS: I never used wetfire but I read somewhere it works better wet, maybe its dried out?
 
On a recent camping trip I used a Wetfire cube to start a fire one morning after a heavy rain. Everything was either wet or damp, and it was still drizzling, but I lit the cube under my tinder pile with a Bic and it burnt for a long while. Without the Wetfire there might not have been a fire so fast that morning, or at all. I think I broke it in half to get a nice right angle to catch the flame, and the little crumbs light right up.
 
i was able to get one going by itself w/ a ferro rod

i did prepare some small shavings a set them on top.didnt try to light the whole thing as 1 solid piece

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left a nice black spot on my driveway...wife wasnt impressed
 
Last year I compared wet fire and coglans fire sticks (the little brown paraffin/sawdust sticks). I had no problems with the wetfireand it burned under my testing conditions which were pretty close to ideal aside from the soaking. I was not able to get a cup of water to boil with a wet fire cubes. If left alone the cube burns itself out by charring the edges but you can help it by breaking it apart after awhile.

However, I tended to favor the coglan sticks. They are more versatile to store and can be cut down to size. Like wetfire, they are fully waterproof (I did immersion tests of both), as easy to scrape and a whole coglan's firestick burns longer than 2 wet fire cubes in sequence. Finally, Coglan's firesticks cost $2 for 8 of them compared to wet fire which is $9 for eight tabs.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=702987&highlight=wetfire
 
VANCE said:
i was able to get one going by itself w/ a ferro rod

i did prepare some small shavings a set them on top.didnt try to light the whole thing as 1 solid piece

016.jpg

018.jpg

019.jpg

031.jpg


left a nice black spot on my driveway...wife wasnt impressed
Click to expand...

Why - is she the one who has to shovel it???:D
 
hmmmm- have never had any problem w/ wetfire, as mentioned above you do have to scrape/crumble a small portion to light (I found this helps even w/ a lighter)- found the same thing w/ Esbit cubes that I use to cook backpacking w/ as well

10 minutes is a little optimistic, 8 minutes is closer to what I've found

the stuff will burn floating in a cup of water (^ or snow as posted above)

it's my "last line of defense" for fire building when the chips (conditions) are really down
 
I've used it a little, and it burnt out in around 8 minutes. Although I don't use it anymore because as Ken said above, I prefer the Coghlans fire sticks. They burn longer and work better for me.
 
nope those are from back during the winter
its about 97degrees & 90%humidity here right now
 
Yeah, I grew up around in the south. Thats why I was wondering. Though maybe hell had finally frozen over :D I was getting ready to call in all those unanswered favors.
 
I have a package of them from back in the days when they (and the Strike Force) were still sold under the Gerber brand name as "Fire Starter Cubes". They're at least 15 years old. Just for kicks a couple of weeks ago I pulled one out to see if they still worked - the occasion being that my ESEE Fire Kit had arrived in the mail. I crumbled it up a bit and had no trouble getting it started.

That said, that some folks have had problems with them goes illustrate why we don't put all of our eggs in one basket when it comes to firestarting materials. :)
 
Wetfire and Trioxene can both go bad over time if the package has been perforated. I won't keep either of them in a long term storage kit. On the other hand I have used Vaseline treated cotton ten years after packing it and it lights right up.

Wetfire and Trioxene can both be a lifesaver and I have both of them here at home. I don't hesitate to pack either one of them. I have actually saved myself from hypothermia using a Trioxene bar to light a very much needed fire. If you are going to use either of these make sure the packaging is protected and the product is fresh.

In any of my long term storage kits I pack Vaseline treated cotton and inner tube rubber, these two stand the test of time.

Mac
 
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