or you could use one of these it emits sparks at 1500-2400 degreeshttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...icial%26sa%3DN
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or you could use one of these it emits sparks at 1500-2400 degreeshttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...icial%26sa%3DN
A flint and steel fire is easyer than you think, You must have the right parts to make it work. Agood steel, A peice of flint or chert, And you have to have char.All this info is on U tube.Ive used this for years, And its the most reliable fire making fire method I know of, in any weather any time. I make fire steels, Ill send one free of charge to the first post that wants one. A whole kit!
Sure,why not,I'll take one.:D
RWB - bring one of your kits on the 8th....I'll trade ya a Hawaiian sling for it.:rolleyes:
Nell Pm me where to send it to, And Ill send.Avd Crash Ill bring you bring.
Deal - I'll cut some fresh bamboo this week.
I also use steel and flint. It is easy but the weather can mess you up if your char cloth gets wet. For bad weather I usually resort to Vaseline cotton balls and a lighter. Works first time, every time.
I agree prefer flint n steel to all forms of fire starting
Amen, Brother of the Bush.
gasoline and a bic works for me!
Metal matches are great,just a stick of magnesium damn near the same as flint n steel but you have to be careful because some batches suck and are hard as hell to light
I got one of Runs With Bear's fire kits this past weekend. Very nice. Thank you.
Well I have been going through all the fire making methods I have ever heard of in the last year. I have been lately been trying the bowdrill method and the tree most abundant around me is maple. Maple has proven hard to find a straight enough limb for a spindle. I finally did but it's rather short, less than 10". Anyway I made the bow from choke cherry and the fireboard from maple too. Maple didn't give me much smoldering punk very fast so on the recommendation of a friend I'm looking for somne season sycamore. Apparently of the trees in my area it will work the best. I may also be able to get some cottonwood if I keep my eyes peeled. I don't think the local hedge or rather osage orange will work. I guess what it boils down to is not all woods are equal when you're looking to make fire with fiction. The bamboo saw method worked pretty well but it took an hour to generate enough smoldering punk.
flint and steel is a good way to start a fire the inside pod of a milk weed plant will caught a sprak and hold it but you need a sprak exstender.i collect them in late fall when the pods are open it is the part the seeds are hooked to brake the tip off put on flint like char cloth and strike not real hard or the sprak will fly passed the pod.
I've done away with lighters and matches in my kit. I've found that no matter the weather, I can always start a fire with a flint and steel as long as I have the appropiate tinder. For tinder I carry cottonballs (real cotton) soaked in petrolium jelly for lousy weather and OB brand tampons (you just can't compress cotton that small by hand) for good weather. The OBs I will cut into thirds as needed and fluff up then just hit it with a spark and you got fire.
I would recommend a magnesium stick.they are easy to learn to use and work well.:D
I'd never have the nerve to buy tampons. (It's a guy thing...)Quote:
Originally Posted by SARKY
The 4 for $1 butane's work fine for me.
Also, I can't figure out how to char cloth before you start a fire?
Maybe you do it in advance and carry it with you because no cheap butane's are available?
My expensive butane cost $1.19. It has an L.E.D. built in.
Ricm123 - here are a couple of threads about making char cloth.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ght=char+cloth
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ght=char+cloth
Magnesium Bar For Me!
I don't use char cloth. Dryed fireweed seeds and naava(couldn't find the english word for it, but it is a hair like lichen that grows usually in clean pine and spruce forests). Again, I concider char cloth too high tech for reliable use. If you really have to survive you don't have any charcloth on you, and I for one would not use my clothing to make some in forests. Surviving is knowing what to do when all you have is nature.
Good to know what natural tinders are available to you. What do you use to generate a spark or coal?Quote:
Originally Posted by NCO
Matches, lighter, flint and knife(steel). I use what is closet to me. If I happen to have my matches in my backpack and flint in the pocket I will use flint. If its the other way around I will use matches, unless Im low on them. My matches are always dipped in molten stearin so water won't ruin them.
A bit high tech, don't you think?:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by NCO
I'm a smoker, thus that is an exeption in the rule.
A little cold weather tip. If your hands are so cold you cant operate a lighter, you probably wont be able to start a fire au-naturale either. In case of bitter cold, I always keep some sealed, tear open (with teeth) hand warmers readily available (non zippered pocket). I think I picked this up from one of Larry Kaniut's books. Good bedtime reading stuff :D
Those things are life savers ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Tundrascout
Snowboarding I couldn't even feel my fingers after putting on my boots and bindings in a blizzard had to use those things to thaw out my hands (bad circulation to start). W/out them I wouldn't have been able to continue :(
They CAN burn though so be careful if you are that numb.
there are alternative ways of starting a fire. techniques used are similar to flint striker, that using flint embedded in a lighter. check out this video
Les Stroud Starting fire with empty lighter at Georgian Swamp. Nice Trick :D
Making Fire With Empty Lighter
Lighter Striker
are you talking about a commercial flint product used with a knife or the real kind of flint just a rock because if real kind i dont see how any one gets a fire going with that i tried it on the back of my hatchet but only got about 1 spark per strike and not reliable enough but if commercial kind i have one and like it alot because like stated it doesent matter if it is wet or not and is easy to use with some toilet papper and a knife i like it alot:thumbs_up::thumbs_up::D:thumbup1:
It's all in technique. Both natural and man made are reliable for fire starting. You will, however, get more sparks from a commercial fire steel or mish metal.
Starting a fire with natural flint is relatively easy if you are prepared, and have practiced......I guess I have the same hang up with fire as I do with sharp things and things that go bang. I'll show you once you've done your intro.
I have one thing to say....Ironmatch
Flint n steel fire is actually quite easy , provided we have the right materials at hand. Bow n drill is time consuming and yes difficult even by those of us who have done it several times. Ah but the satisfaction of coaxing a fire from the wood is indeed worth the effort. I am inclined to carry a premaid kit of Red Ceder it works quite well to make a coal and is stored in a dry spot I also carry plenty of shredded Jute and fatwood. When I have this kit in good to fair conditions I can pretty much guarantee a fire in less then 10 minutes. But just in case lol I also carry petro infused cotton balls in a baggie.
I like to use some drier lint or a cotton ball with a little vaseline as fuel to get a fire going with a firesteel.
I have a blastmatch and a vacuum sealed wad of cottonballs soaked in vasoline. Starts a fire every single time. Yeah, it's high tech, but all 5 of us here have the same set up. We can be warm/cook for a while as we are thinking of more primitive means if necessary.
ETA...I just read the post above mine..
I myself just tried a bit ago, and I was out there for a very long time looking up ways to start a fire in the book. I used dry grass, dung, lots of small sticks, matches, coal, lighter, and yet...no surviving fire to last more than one or two minutes. Probably not patience, but I need some help, too.
survivelist, it's all in your prep. make sure ya have your tinder (the stuff that flames up quick), & then in piles next to that, small twigs & other small stuff, next to that little bigger twigs & so on. it's summed up as "pencil lead thick, pencil thick & thumb thick" you just have to be sure not to smother the flame you do have going. oh & don't forget with fire, as well as everything else, 3 is 2, 2 is 1, & 1 is none. redundancy & practice. you'll get it if ya keep trying.
I wonder if the Gerber fire starter is any good?:confused1:
OF course you can use a lighter or matches, which is what I usually do. I can use flint, but I carry a magnesium fire starter instead.
I've tried the bow thing and could never make it work. I can, in a pinch, take on the friction methods but I'm not good with them at all.
my favorite fire starter is the Swiss FireSteel
Lean-tos, low pine branches, etc. Can be used. If you use pine, cedar or other dried evrgreen, it is important to keep fires small and away from it. Otherwise you will find yourself in a whole other situation to survive!