Hunter63 saying Hey and Welcome
There is a intro section at:........If you would like to say hello.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions
Hunter63 saying Hey and Welcome
There is a intro section at:........If you would like to say hello.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions
Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
Evoking the 50 year old rule...
First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27
Really helpful videos! Already loving this forum. My friends used to always snicker at me for having fire steel instead of just using a lighter... until their BICs failed on a ski camping trip and I save the day/night!
Outdoor survivalist, cook, and fur hat wearer
Also a lightweight camping fanatic and hammock nerd
I'm going to have to try this again. When I tried a battery with steel wool it didn't catch as much as that, probably the type of steel wool.
“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”
http://wilderness-survival.org
If you use 0000 or 000 it should work fine.
Great videos
A good reminder for me to practice different methods!
Sometimes I wander because I’m lost
My preferred manmade tinder is a variant of the petroleum jelly cotton ball. First, I melt the PJ, not just rub it into the CB. Second, I add paraffin or wax to the melted PJ and melt it all. Pour the mixture into a freezer zip top bag with cotton balls in it, squeeze out the air, then allow it soak up the hot liquid and keep it moving until it has cooled enough that it does not pool. At some point in the cooling process allow air in and move it so the balls don't just clump together. You can figure out the finer points. My cost is about 4 cents per PJCB, but you can pull them apart and maybe start 5 to 10 fires with each ball, depending on your kindling.
Recipe is 13oz of PJ, 8oz of wax, 125 large cotton balls. Each ball will burn for about 10 minutes, give or take.
By the way, just in case it hasn't been noted, but steel wool works with a ferro rod as well.
Pardon me if this has already been discussed. I use pitch wood, some call it fatwood. If a coniferous tree is injured it responds by sending sap to the site. This helps seal it off from pathogens and can envelop bugs and trap them before they cause trouble. Another genesis is a strong wind twists a tree to the point of the wood inside cracks. Over time that sap is absorbed into the wood and depending on how saturated it may be waterproof but it acts like wood that has been soaked in turpentine. Very easy to ignite with a match or lighter. Never tried the primitive methods.
When walking in the woods if you see an rotten old pine tree stump with some vertical pieces sticking up check out it out. Especially if they are in the interior of the tree. There is a reason those vertical pieces did not rot and it may be they are impregnated with pitch. Same holds for old rotten windfall Pine trees, very very rotten. If there are pieces of wood that have not rotted it may be pitch wood. BTW I use the term Pine trees pretty generically. Pine trees, Douglas-fir, spruce, true firs like White fir to a lesser extent. The western cedars not so good.
Break a piece off and if it smells like PineSol you have pitch wood. Some wood may be so impregnated that you could soak it under water and it will still catch.I've been in some pretty good rainstorms and got a fire started with this stuff. A few shavings will get dry wood to ignite but if the wood is wet you need to use chunks. And do not cook over it unless you like turpentine as a marinade.
Thanks for the good videos, some methods I didn't know yet.
I pair up my ferro rods with a piece of fine SPAM.
Last edited by crashdive123; 06-18-2020 at 06:38 AM.
Oh, Ru-by, dont take your SPAM to town....(sorry Kenny)
Wilderness Survival:
Surviving a temporary situation where you're lost in the wilderness
The first option is the best one. I have tinder which creates a lot of sparks like this in the first movie at 2:05 minutes. That's the best option. Easily you can start fire :-)
My first technique is: "Honey, get the fire started". After I recover, I use whatever is available.
When Wealth is Lost, Nothing is Lost;
When Health is Lost, Something is Lost;
When Character is Lost, ALL IS LOST!!!!!!!
Colonel Charles Hyatt circa 1880
Heh, yeah. Maybe David Allen Coe isn't the best survival reference in this instance.
True enough, my final home is still out there, but this is most certainly my home range and I love it. I love every rock I fall off and tree I trip over. Even when I am close to dying from exhaustion, a beautiful sunset doesn't lose it's power to refresh and inspire me and that, in itself, is enough to save me sometimes.
Very nice videos Crash. You made me remember one of my vacation days in my hometown. We literally have grated the wood as you have done and spend two hours lightning a fire. but in the end, came out of that expedition with sore hands.
Last edited by crashdive123; 12-04-2022 at 07:25 AM. Reason: Removed Spam
If it's raining, it's 31F or warmer. That's not that cold, IF you get out of the wind and stay dry. Fire's dont keep you from getting wet or stop the rain. So first you arrange for shelter then you worry about a fire, if you need one. Bring the right sleep'shelter gear and clothing and you wont need a fire down to at least 30F I use 1.5 lbs more clothing than cammies and cap, 1.5 lbs of daypack, 1 lb of modified buttpack, and 4.5 lbs of sleep/shelter gear, to include stakes, tape, cordage, 3 drum liners, a couple of bugnet suits, a camo net, a net hammock. If I have dry debris, I can get down to 0F without a fire. If I can have a discrete Dakota fire pit to heat up some rocks, and the UCO lantern, I can dry out enough wet debris to stuff between the bug net suits, letting me handle 20F. and sleep. I can use the hot rocks at 20F and sleep for 2-3 hours at a time, if I cant dry out any debris. It takes quite a while for 20F to freeze the ground so hard that I can't dig a Dakota pit. When you get down to 10F, it's a reasonable risk, ONE night, to emplly 2 Siberian fire lays and some rocks to dry out enough debris to stuff between the drumliners and the reflective Tyvek bivy. In the net hammock, the debris that's under you, inside of the bivy and the "envelope" made of two drum-liners, need not be dry, since it never touches you. The packs get emptied-out and used as sleeping pads, atop the hammock. If I have dry debris, I stuff the packs with same.
Last edited by didnot; 12-26-2022 at 01:50 PM.
Wow, I'm now highly edumacated...
About time!
When Wealth is Lost, Nothing is Lost;
When Health is Lost, Something is Lost;
When Character is Lost, ALL IS LOST!!!!!!!
Colonel Charles Hyatt circa 1880
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