Survival: Firemaking?

[JD Spydo]

I liked some of the answers on my "Survival Sharpening" thread so I just thought I would pick the brains of my Spyderville Brethren ( Sisters too :D) on Survival Firestarting/firemaking methods.

Personally I have the magnesium block which you whittle on to create sparks to ignite kindling. Decent success but you need very dry kindling and tinder to pull it off. So I would like to learn other methods as well. With our economy looking like an earthquake fault ready to give at any time I don't think any of us can know too much about any survivalist knowledge.

I've never tried many other methods as of yet. So I'm curious as to what you all prefer for getting a fire going?

[coltsfan8116]

drier lint and a Flint, Also i have cotton balls coated in vasoline that i wrapped in aluminum foil, When i want to use it i cut a slit in the foil and pull some of the cotton out and lite it, It burns like a candle with the vasoline on it....

[vampyrewolf]

ferro rod and striker is by far the easiest
magnesium block and flint works if you have the time (ie not soaking wet and shaking)
Have a waterproof blaze orange matchcase in my bag with a dozen matches and a striker glued inside the lid for something that should work.

of course I prefer a lighter... :p

[GoMeR]

I am a fan of good old matches, I have some high end wind and waterproof matches in all of my fixed blade knife sheaths that have a pouch. Plus I carry a bottle of them with me most of the time when I am out and about. I believe the ones I have are proforce brand and they are around 10 bux for 2 pill size bottles of 25 each. The heads of them are around 3 or 4 times longer than a normal household type wood match. Once lit they are extremely hard to extinguish, dipping them in water once lit really doesn't even put them out. They burn a reasonable amount of time, plenty to get a fire going if you are ready with a fire/tinder bundle. I also keep regular household matches in waterproof containers with all the dry food storage my family has stored.

On top of that I keep a old kershaw knife strapped with a flint and magnesium striker stick in my most carried backpack.

The way Obama is spending it may soon be cheaper to light dollar bills than waste a match! :D

[Hannibal Lecter]

My Dear Friends,


So I'm curious as to what you all prefer for getting a fire going?

I suppose many years spent caving (spelunking to some of you) caused me to think in terms of "primary light source, backup light source, and backup to the backup light source". I feel the same way about firestarting.

I carry in my EDC bag a minimum of a butane lighter, matches in a waterproof container, and some sort of striker-ignited source of flame (magnesium block, etc.). The aforementioned cotton balls with vaseline are amazing - I have been teaching my 10-year old daughter to light fires and these work very well. I will often carry a Zippo also, at least while camping.

Given the choice I prefer kerosene and matches when I am in a hurry, but that isn't always practical for obvious reasons. :D

--------
Hannibal

[raven]

Ferro rod/Striker, Matches, and Handy Dandy Zippo ;). While on patrol in this area ...many times we're out in the middle of NOWHERE :rolleyes:. Many times it's in very bad weather and the radio communication in the canyons is horrible. Better to be prepared, safe ... than sorry. Take Good Care and Be Safe Always.

God Bless :)


-raven-

[yablanowitz]

My preferred method is a propane torch, but then I have to stack illegal aliens to burn, and they're a bit hard to light. That's the hazard of living where the the Mexican nationals out number the trees. :D

[Tank]

I always carry a lighter and also I used a dremel to shave a bunch of magnesium off and put it in little paper pouches and use a firestarting rod. Just open the pouch and it takes a spark first time.

[Lord vader]

I have used many different methods,The magnesium block is good,i have one of those in conjunction with cotton balls soaked in vasolene stored in a ziplock bag so that they keep a long time untill i`m ready to use them,and if those supplies run out i have back up methods.I also would utilize a magnifying glass on some dry tinder on the sunny days.And if your a real pioneer, and if you know were to look you could find some flint rock and strike against your knife blade and that will give you ample amounts of sparks to start your fire.Thats how i do it.:)

[tkdman41]

Its not the easiest or best method but I like fire pistons because they are cool and need no fuel of any kind.

[duff72]

road flares start even damp stuff on fire pretty well- great emergency item:D

[JD Spydo]

Its not the easiest or best method but I like fire pistons because they are cool and need no fuel of any kind.

I have heard that those fire pistons work great. I even saw an episode of "Survivorman" on the Discovery Channel where Les Stroud used one of those fire pistons and he claimed that there was only one other method he liked better.

I also see those advertised in my bi-monthly magazine I get called the "Backwoodsman". I sure miss the old "American Survival Guide" magazine that went out of business back in 2002. They had many articles on firemaking.

[tigerose123]

Ferro Rod, and a bunch of dryer lint. I usually save a good amount of it in a bag, I keep in my backyard. Then of course I make a good amount of tinder with my Native to really get it going.
I've tried spinning a stick onto another piece of wood to make friction and eventually fire. All I got from it was blisters and really really sore hands ( like I couldn't grip anything the next day), I guess I'm not cool enough for that... :)
But usually when I go camping I just bring the rod, and a zippo :)

[clovisc]

cotton balls with vaseline... sounds like a great idea!

i also like vampyrewolf's tea light idea he mentioned on a previous forum.

lighting fires in zambia... especially during the rainy season... was one of the most difficult parts of my peace corps service. storing materials and keeping them dry was always a serious challenge. i used pure alcohol to help start fires... which cost about 20 cents per plastic bottle. some of my neighbors used diesel fuel, purchased in little plastic bags... only problem is, your fire and food smells horrible if you go that route.

[clovisc]

i've always been a fan of having a tin can with the top and bottom cut out, to be used as a chimney over your fire as you get it going...

[JD Spydo]

I hope to watch one particular re-run of "Survivorman" with Les Stroud on the Discovery & Science Channels. On one episode he used a chemical called potassium permangate along with another chemical but I forgot what the second one is. It started a chemical reaction and a fire very shortly thereafter. I was impressed at how fast he got the fire going with those 2 chemicals.

I had heard that potassium permangate is also used in some fireworks as an ignitor. Also I question the safety of carrying volatile chemicals in your backpack.

[tonydahose]

i just keep this on my keychain.

http://countycomm.com/splitpea.htm

[vampyrewolf]

I didn't mention the tealights for getting the fire set up, since this question was just on getting it going ;)

For anyone that isn't sure what we're talking about... You know how you can make fire starter that burns "like a candle"? (vaseline soaked cotton balls in a mc d's straw works great, or even in a slushie straw)... why not use a candle?

Basically you want to use a tealight candle and build a base around it (I prefer a teepee inside a log cabin all inside a bigger teepee... no way it's getting blown out). Light the tealight and it's gonna burn for a few minutes. Gives you plenty of time to get tinder in there and smaller kindling, rather than try to work with a quickly burning out cotton ball. Best 1 match fire method. Tealights take up little space, last forever and light easily.

If you don't have a match, use whatever you want to start a small pile of tinder and use THAT to light the tealight.

I have used those skinny birthday candles before too, but tealights burn longer and don't break as easily in a bag.

[jzmtl]

Cool idea. When I timed it the tealight I bought from zellers burned for over 4 hours, plenty of time to get fire set up and going.

[shu]

I am another who likes redundant systems... I generally carry 3-4 different ways to start a fire - lighter or two, matches (in waterproof case), ferro rod; as well as 1-2 types of tinder.

The Blastmatch (http://tadgear.com/x-treme%20gear/fire%20starters%20main/ultimate_survival_blastmatch.htm) works great, although I generally carry a Spark-lite (http://tadgear.com/x-treme%20gear/fire%20starters%20main/spark-lite.htm) instead as they are more compact and cheaper (so you can get several).

I used to carry a GI Mg firestarter, until I actually needed it to start a fire on a windy day... bottom line, they work but not near as well as many other methods.

While it pays enormous dividends to practice with any gear you plan to carry, it is even more important to be very comfortable with survival gear.

Just my thoughts.

[JD Spydo]

I am another who likes redundant systems... I generally carry 3-4 different ways to start a fire - lighter or two, matches (in waterproof case), ferro rod; as well as 1-2 types of tinder.

The Blastmatch (http://tadgear.com/x-treme%20gear/fire%20starters%20main/ultimate_survival_blastmatch.htm) works great, although I generally carry a Spark-lite (http://tadgear.com/x-treme%20gear/fire%20starters%20main/spark-lite.htm) instead as they are more compact and cheaper (so you can get several).

I used to carry a GI Mg firestarter, until I actually needed it to start a fire on a windy day... bottom line, they work but not near as well as many other methods.

While it pays enormous dividends to practice with any gear you plan to carry, it is even more important to be very comfortable with survival gear.


Shu the one thing you said that I personally can't stress enough~~ and that is to practice and actually use a selected fire starting method a few times so you know exactly what you are doing if the situation should arise to where you need this knowledge to literally stay alive.

It's one thing to see Les Stroud or Bear Grylls start a fire on one of their respective TV shows but it's a completely different ball game to actually do it yourself. Keep in mind those guys probably have practiced their methods dozens of times before they ever put the information on TV or the internet.

Survival; and I mean literally any aspect of it, is truly a set of aquired skills. Now don't get me wrong because I am very adamant about seeking out information from books, the internet, TV or any other information source; but there is still no substitute for actually doing it yourself.

[jb2009]

....Way back when, in the days of my Boy Scouting I would make my own fire starters. I would gather up real fine jointer or block plane shavings, preferably pine, I would loosely pack them into the bottom half of the cardboardy egg cartons, I would then take 5-6 safety matches or the waterproof ones and press them down into the center of the shavings, leaving the tips exposed. I would then melt parafin wax and carefully pour it into the cup of shavings, being careful not to hit the match tips. After the wax hardened, i would separate the the egg carton into 12 individual firestarter cupcakes as you might call em, leaving the cardboardy part intact with the waxy part. I would wrap them individually with foil and throw them into my backpack.

When it came time to use them, just pull a match or two out of the center for striking, and you could light the remaining matches for a wick. The foil could be used as a prop or tent if need be....They always worked well for me.. John

[Lord vader]

I found this video of a fire making demonstration using sticks to start a fire.http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/content/science-video/friction-fire .This is very interesting.

[Lord vader]

Jd here is something else you might be interested in, U.S. Army survival manual. Click link.http://www.m4040.com/Downloads/FM%2021-76%20US%20ARMY%20SURVIVAL%20MANUAL-Abridged.doc

[clovisc]

when you live somewhere cold and wet, like i do, fire might not always be possible. space blankets and heating packs should be an essential part of your "keep warm" plans. together, they're a winning combination. :D

[Dr. Snubnose]

For me it is real simple.....Steel Wool and rub it against the ends of a Nine Volt Battery....Warning!!!..Do not put both into the same pocket together:eek:;)...Doc:D

[buglerbilly]

i just keep this on my keychain.

http://countycomm.com/splitpea.htm

Ha! I was just watching the videos and reading about the Split Pea and Peanut lighters. They seem pretty ideal for my purposes especially the fact the screw top keeps the fuel in the lighter (and makes them waterproof0 until used without any of the Zippo leakage that occurs if the latter is carried around and not used or checked frequently.

The Peanut and Split Pea are also tiny compared to most.

As people have already mentioned a combo of 3-4 different types of lighting a fire is preferable if in the Wilds, whatever "Wilds" may mean in each individuals case.

Regards,

BRIAN

[OuchThatsSharp]

Colibri CX Tailgater butane lighter (comes with bottle opener for those non-twist bottles of beer, Dos XXX)

BlastMatch

Bic Lighters (several, in vehicle, my mini-BOB)

Medicine bottle with cottonballs saturated with vaseline (works really well)

Wet Fire Tinder (small blocks of fire starter tinder, works even when wet)

[JD Spydo]

Well how timely!! I just saw the re-run of SURVIVORMAN with Les Stroud on the Science channel this evening where me makes that "chemical fire" that I was talking about on one of my eariler posts.

The 2 chemicals are "potassium permangate mixed with glycerin". Those 2 chemicals actually create a spontaneous combustion of sorts and it really ignites a fire very efficiently. It had been a while since I originally saw that show I was very thankful to see it again. I like the show "SURVIVORMAN" a little better than Man Vs Wild. It seems like Les Stroud comes up with some very vital and timely information on many survivor subjects.

I hope they re-run the show where he also uses the "fire piston". It's a great show because he shows how to use the tool very efficiently.