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Thread: What fire making techniques work best for you?

  1. #41

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    Quote Originally Posted by crashdive123 View Post
    Everybody knows that South Florida is all like South Beach in Miami......well......and about a million and a half acres of Everglades. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everglades
    I was going to reply to this with a list of the different areas that make up the actual wilderness area of South Florida. Got the list almost done and I opened a pdf and the computer restarted!

    The 1.5 million acres is only the park. I would say at least 3 million acres in South Florida. Maybe more.

    I'll do a separate thread later on that with a list of each place and its location on a map.

    you would be amazed at what people who live here don't know about one of the biggest wildernesses in the country and what is arguable the last real frontier in the country (not my words).

    As you know Crash, Florida has some pretty great woods.


  2. #42
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Yep. At times I do long for cooler temps and mountains, but they'll do.
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    Senior Member DomC's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sourdough View Post
    None................
    Ditto

    DomC

  4. #44
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    I'm practicing the bow drill method, just cuz it's fun to learn. but if it comes down to a real situation, i will most likely be prepared, i always have a mini survivor kit somewhere in my pack just in case things go bad

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    Junior Member CloudDancer's Avatar
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    Well....we have stored a couple of "glass" magnifying glasses for that just in case of......but they have be glass ones. Got ours on E-bay as all the stores, even the optical stores were all selling plastic

  6. #46
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Plastic lenses will work. You have to be careful to keep it from scratching.
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    Junior Member CloudDancer's Avatar
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    I'd still go with E-Bay...cause the plastic ones are like $14 for one....I got three glass ones for $12 on E-Bay....but i guess you could get plastic ones at like, Dollar tree?

  8. #48
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    It all depends on what works for you. I use something like these in my work, and they work well for a fire starter too.

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  9. #49

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    Well said Batch , and a very good question that maybe didn't get the replies you expected Bill.

  10. #50
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Crash
    they work well for a fire starter too.


    He uses them on ants mostly. He has this thing about insects for some reason.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

  11. #51

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    I'm guessing there is wood , I'll bet there are a few stones. Chip the stones to make an edge, carve the wood to make a bowdrill. Spin the stick to make friction. Friction makes fire with a lot of practice. But if you have nothing else to do, practice till you make it work. Fire makes clean water etc etc. no fire? 1000000 BC. We have to be beter than that. JMHO.

  12. #52

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    Quote Originally Posted by Batch View Post
    Somehow, we get a bunch of folks from everywhere else that proclaim themselves country boys and proclaim us city folks because we are from South Florida.

    A lot of these self described country boys use an accelerant and junk wood to try and start a fire and fail. LOL
    Lol, yep. There are many who would curl up and twitch when working with the mostly damp or totally wet wood and materials we work with down here. Even the dead trees are wet most of the time. If they've never been in a swamp or a subtropical woodland they simply don't know. As far as extreme/tough wilderness, we own most of it down here. We've got more black water, more snakes, more bugs and other critters that will eat ya.

  13. #53
    naturalist primitive your_comforting_company's Avatar
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    Nothing wrong with learning and practicing new ways.....so your question was a good one, I think about that often, but......I haven't found any easy way that is effective all the time, anywhere, in any conditions, with found materials.......a survivor will have had the best options available, JUST IN CASE.


    When all you have is your brain, you better know a LOT about fire.
    A bic and fatlighter in a watertight container. fatlighter will get even wet kindling to burn.

    edited to add: the whole idea is preparedness, is it not?
    Last edited by your_comforting_company; 10-03-2013 at 09:43 PM. Reason: afterthought

  14. #54

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    Quote Originally Posted by your_comforting_company View Post


    When all you have is your brain, you better know a LOT about fire.
    A bic and fatlighter in a watertight container. fatlighter will get even wet kindling to burn.

    edited to add: the whole idea is preparedness, is it not?
    I pull lighter knot aka fat lighter out of the mud all the time. It can be under water and it will burn. You need a way to split it and fine shave it to start it with out a viable fire. Down here it looks like drift wood or rotted wood and you can kick it to tell. Too dense to get water logged.

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    naturalist primitive your_comforting_company's Avatar
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    The container is more for the Bic than the fatlighterd. We find it all over the place here, too, and have used it wet, along with primitive techniques in DRY conditions to produce fire. After two days of rain, I doubt you'd find a dry weed anywhere to START that fire with, so you butter have something or it's going to be a long, long day.

  16. #56

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    Yeah, I agree. I never have less than two lighters (a full size Bic in my pocket and a Bic mini in my Leatherman case) I also have a PJ cottonball in foil in the leatherman case and a ferro rod in my wallet. Each pack has a fire kit as well.

  17. #57
    Senior Member Tony uk's Avatar
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    Its very much dependent on the environment and time of year. In this country during winter for example (Rain!) I've had the best luck with a piece of flint (Plenty of that here) and something used as a striker, which doesn't necessarily need to be a piece of steel. After that its just a matter of finding dry tinder.
    A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.

  18. #58
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Tony - been a long time. Glad to see you back.
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    Welcome back my friend.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

  20. #60
    Senior Member postman's Avatar
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    I always have a Swiss army knife and a torch style lighter in my pocket. When I go into the woods I always have my fire kit, psk and knife on my belt. I do practice friction fire and find the bow drill method works best for me. I find willow on willow to be the most consistent combination. Where willow is unavailable I've also had success with balsam fir, cedar, and poplar. The spinde and hearthboard always being the same material. I've tried the hand drill and fire plow and had no success with either.
    In my fire kit I carry paracord and a bone handhold for the spindle. Now I only practice this skill because I enjoy doing it, and get a great sense of satisfaction from it. Would I want to rely on it to save my life? NO WAY! That's why I carry a complete kit and more than one lighter, even with all I have in my kit, starting a fire in wet conditions can still be a challenge. Practice primitive skills, but carry the proper kit so you don't have to rely on them in an emergency.
    Here is a picture of my fire kit: It contains flint and steel, char cloth, char tin, 0000 steel wool, ferro rod, lighter with duct tape, cotton balls and pads saturated in vaseline, an esbit fuel tab, fat wood, jute twine, a wax/ wood shaving fire roll, para cord and bone hand hold. The ferro rod with the vaseline soaked cotton pads is my go to method for the majority of my fires. The one in the kit is a spare, the one I always use I carry on my knife sheath.
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