Posted on 05/19/2016 9:57:56 AM PDT by w1n1
For those that hunt or into survival. This may be one of the easiest way to start a fire that I came across. The guy from Stephenson Prepper uses cotton ball, petrolium jelly and a flint with a scraper. See the fire starter video here. So what other easy ways do you all use to start a fire for survival?
Use the gas fireplace remote.
It’s easier to carry matches than Vaseline, cotton, flint, etc.
I like the BIC lighter technique.
My zippo lighter uses a flint
Zippo. Back in my smoking days I always had a zippo and a spare can of fluid, you want a fire I got a fire.
A 9 volt battery and steel wool.
I try to start fires with a hug or a kiss.
Turn the knob.
That’s one of them. I keep a dozen petroleum jelly-soaked cotton balls in an aluminum cigar tube in my ruck. I also keep a Swedish “fire steel” rod/scraper combo, UCO Stormproof matches (the best) and a triple-head cigar lighter. With fire, always redundancy.
BIC
In the Boy Scouts, we would open up a large box of wooden matches and pour wax on them. Made for a large supply of waterproof (strike anywhere) matches.
We would also roll newspapers into tubes, tie with string, and cut the tube into small segments. The segments were dipped into wax. These made waterproof fire starters - just cut them open to find bare newspaper, and the lit and burned like a candle.
There are practical solutions that can be carried/abused/rained on, and still work.
I ditched my Zippo because it is always dry, no matter how often I fill it. And my fuel can invariably leaks.
It helps with the wind and cold thing.
A butane lighter becomes pretty useless below a certain temperature/wind speed. BTDT
Carbide lamp. Still make them for hunters, cavers. Still need a lighting method, but takes very little to light with any kind of spark, as it emits acetylene gas. You can use the flame for light or use its flame to ignite wood or other media.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbide_lamp
Road Flares - Never Fails.
bkmk
That said, just stick an old zippo, a SEALED container of flints and a fuel bottle in your bag if you've got the room. Easier to use, gives you far more flame, and you've got fuel to use to ignite even wet wood, and easily lasts decades in storage.
Never had a problem with fuel can leakage. As for Zippo drying, know your stripes (Roman numeral on the bottom of the lighter, why we always called them stripes I have idea). Most bad Zippo stories are with a III, also known as hunk of junk, never get one less than a VI, if you can find/ afford the XII you’ve a lighter that’ll last forever.
Ditto. The problem with lighters can be the performance of butane at altitude.
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