whats in YOUR fire kit?

L

lobodelanoche

Joined
Feb 7, 2012
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424
I was shaking the rust off of my fire kit and got to thinking about what yall carry and how you carry it. I have a unhandled fero rod and striker and a book of military matches, and my tinder is some store bought paraffin soaked cotton tabs and petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls. I carry these in a altoids tin.
 
I all ways have a lighter plus a extra in my edc bag If I am not at work I carry a fero rod and an altoids smalls tin full of waxed jute. In both my edc bag and bigger bag I have extra cotton balls and a tube of vaseline lip protection in the first aid kits keeping them seperate it makes both items multi purpose
I all ways carry one fire starter of some kind trioxolene bar or some other starter that will light with fero rod , lighter etc and light wet . I can build a fire with most any one , but if you just went through the ice with single digit temps the time it saves may make a difference.
Roy
 
I usually carry a zippo everywhere. In my kit, I have a Bic, a fire rod, some waterproof matches and a small bottle of hand sanitizer.
 
Every one of my knife sheaths has a combo'd variation of the above supplies, either in pouch or taped on in sealed containers. I figure that if I have my knife, I have fire. Fire is so important to me that I usually have multiple starting and fuel resources on every sheath. I'm more for fat wood than PJ balls these days.
 
I am putting a fire kit together as we speak. Good info here, guys. I mean, other than Upnorth's creepy ass avatar.
 
I always have a bic with me, used to be a zippo but i could never make it reliable and i was smoking at the time so i just quit carrying it
I like having multiple ignition sources and tinders, I've been looking into jute and i think I'm going to try it out and see if i can use it reliably, along with fatwood
i like the tin cause everything is in one place and i have lots of experience with those tinders
 
Several pieces of bicycle inner tube, thinner ones inside the tin and thicker ones outside keeping the tin shut tightly.
Also a fresnel lens.
Were I am is very sunny and humid so it makes sense.
Also the super common mini bic, ferrorod and striker, vaseline & cotton balls are included in the tin.
 
I keep various tinders (PJCB, fatwood piece, jute, ranger bands and couple other things I can't recall the names of) a BIC, and a ferro rod. I have various other components on my body, such as a Zippo and another BIC, as well as some alcohol based items, but I don't consider those part of the fire kit, since I keep the fire kit as an emergency plan. (Although I do use it every so often to freshen up the materials)
 
In an altoids tin: small bic lighter, magnesium block, a few pieces of char cloth (in a small ziplock bag), petroleum cotton balls (in a small ziplock bag). I carry a ferro rod with my neck knife, and another one on my belt knife.

- Chris
 
I have a fire steel and some jelly soaked cotton and several bics in various locations. I also carry a roll of toilet paper which could be used for tinder or to make a "prison match" if need be. I also like to grab a bag or potato chips or fritos because they make AWESOME tinder in a pinch. I once spent 20 minuets trying to start a fire on a damp morning with a bic lighter. Then I looked over and saw a bag of chips so I lit one, they burn hot enough to dry out damp tinder and get a fire going fast.
 
Mine are in a altoids tin, Fresnel lense, 4 commercial cotton/wax fire starters ( I think they stand up to water better than PJ balls ), 4 pieces of waxed jute 6 " long, couple small pieces of fat wood as a coal extender, small piece of char cloth, 0000 steel wool, a full size lighter and a LMF ferrocium scout model. Punched a small hole in center of lid for making more char cloth, piece of inertube to keep tin shut placed over hole and to use as a coal extender if needed. These are my EDC pocket kits, I made up 8 of these ,one is always in my truck,the rest I stuffed in the pockets of my favorite outdoor jackets, soft shells, fleeces etc. so I am never W/o a way to start a fire. My main kit that I carry hiking I keep in a 1 quart locking lid cook tin, all of these items but more of them, british life boat matches in a water proof container,items are in a zip lock bag so I can easlily remove them and keep the stuff organized if I want to cook or boil water, also a place to stuff dry tinder I collect on the hike, dry grasses, cattail fluff etc. a cotton bandana to stop the rattle and make more char cloth if I need to.
 
I have a couple lighters, a firesteel/striker, some cordage (to make a bow-drill), pjcb 2x and a couple small pieces of cardboard egg 'crate'. It all fits in 1 little a 6"x4"x3" pouch.
 
I put my tinderbox together in a little waterproof Pelican case.
Some dryer lint.
Some make up pads with magnesium shavings.
(Each in the little round fly fishing plastic fly boxes)
A tube of Vaseline lip balm and a few cottton balls.
Firesteel & Striker.
I also pack in a Bic lighter and some waterproof matches in case I really need a fire. :p
 
Pretty much everything listed above, but I also have some 0000 steel wool, some potassium permanganate & glycerin, and a split pea lighter just in case. I test the split pea about once a year, & it hasn't been filled in 2 years & still strikes flame with ease. A fine investment for the fire kit.
 
I just keep a ferro rod, some jute twine, and a few chunks of fatwood inside the admin pocket of my bush bag. That's all I've ever needed. I keep a candle and a lighter in my first aid kit though, just in case of emergency. I figure a candle is the ultimate firestarter; it burns for hours!!
 
I don't find that a larger firekit works for me. When I have carried all-in-one fire kits, I get too many eggs in one basket, so I carry simpler, dual purpose items spread around more. I do have a slightly larger tin for my main stash of charcloth and stuff that I would probably take on a longer trip, or was planning on using my firepiston, but its not a part of the regular kit.
Right now I mostly just carry a firesteel. My urban kit just has the firesteel, and I'm waiting on one of those little aluminum stash capsules to carry some char cloth in, I'll prob also add lighter of some sort for when someone needs to borrow one, like a permanent match or peanut. My woods kit is just a modified RAT firekit with charcloth in the capsule. I have some wetfire stashed around, but Its not for relying on. I also normally carry burts bees hand salve which can be added to cloth or gauze to extend a flame for a while. I could also add a ranger-band to that, and get an even longer lasting tinder I should think.
I'd like to get a rope/trench lighter just for the cool factor, but any lighter I carry is more for the EDC uses, or loaning, whereas I treat the firesteel as the first go to for any actual fire-lighting. And any fire practice that I do, the odd chance I get to, I try to stick to found tinders, and to try new things. I know the charcloth works, I know the cotton fuzz and fuel work, I don't need to prove those things over and over.
 
To those of you who haven't tried jute twine in a fire kit, I highly recommend it. Pulled apart and frayed it catches very quickly, burns pretty hot and smolders for a long time. Cheap. Weighs almost nothing. Always good to have some extra cordage around too.
 
Butane zippo and some wax & sawdust pellets that burn for several minutes. I've used em to start a fire using damp wood. It was a pain in the rear, but it worked. Eventually. :p
 
1 Ferro rod and striker
1 Mini Bic lighter
1 box Stormproof matches
2 WetFire tinder cubes
4 Tinder Quik tabs
4 Vaseline impregnated cotton facial cleansing pads
 
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