Quest for fire!

**rwc1969** · 08-26-2010, 07:14 PM

Sarge's matchless fire thread got me thinking. I don't use matches, but the cheapo China lighters ain't what they used to be. Seems every time I get one the flint pops out or all the fluid leaks out. Besides, unless kept warm in the cold of winter they are very hard to get lit.

So, in an attempt to get away from the tried and true and experiment with something a little more primitive, and hopefully more reliable, I got me one of them there fancy ferrocerium rods I been hearin so much about and gave it a go.

Here's the results!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8zNGmBhtY4

There is a part one also which shows my failed attempts. And, a part three where I put the fire to use and attempt to boil water in a plastic bottle among other things.

If you can't view the vid here's a summary:

Except for the fire steel, I wanted to use all natural materials and gather them as I hiked, as much as possible. My goal was to take a nice long hike, gather tinder and "some" food, start a fire, cook some food, boil some water, make some tea, and relax, and then hike back of course.

I wanted to try different fire starting materials too, and see which took a spark the best.

So, I used cedar bark crushed up fine, oak leaves done the same, and cattail fluff. None took a spark to flame as I've seen in vids. But, all were somewhat damp from a heavy morning dew and an all day rain a few days prior. The thing that ended up gettin er done was a piece of Chaga/ tinder fungus that I harvested in the upper lower penninsula of Michigan while hunting morels two years back.

I then put that into a nest made of the above materials and blew it to flame. My kindling was birch bark, cedar bark, and tiny pencil lead and pencil sized branches of oak and cherry. My main fire was all dead oak branches and Big toothed aspen.

I had a real hard time getting the birch bark to take a flame which amazed me. It was a learning experience!

I found it much easier doing similar stuff at waist height over my picnic table in the comfort of my yard or at the park. But, after hiking in 3-4 miles in somewhat hot and humid weather, with a pack weighing 20-25 lbs., up and down rolling oak hills and ridges, around swamps and ponds, camera in hand, dressed in a hot bug suit that doesn't breathe to well, well, it was a real challenge, for me anyhoo. Trying to do it kneeled over while the skeeters were gnawing at my ears and flying in my mouth every time I took a deep breath with sweat dripping off the end of my nose made it even more of a challenge.

I think Sarge and others are right. It pays to practice!

Bottom line:

First attempt at making fire this way took me 15 minutes start to finish, but, I learned a whole lot in those 15 minutes, much more than I have by reading books, watching survival shows, and viewing youtube videos for the past year. The you tube vids helped, but nothing beats hands on experience. Up until this point I only thought I could, now I know I can and the next time around it should, knock on dry wood, go much easier.

Tinders that didn't fail me last fall and winter failed me this summer, that was a real learning experience and something I'll remember.

BTW, I still have my eyebrows! LOL!

**Justin Case** · 08-26-2010, 07:22 PM

Well Done !

For a min there I was afraid you were going to pass out from blowing,,

**Rick** · 08-26-2010, 07:45 PM

Hard to argue with success. I gather my tinders as I go so when it's time to start fire I already have it. May I suggest that you close your "birds nest" in a bit tighter around your ember. If the tinder in the nest can come in contact with the ember it will ignite much quicker. Otherwise, you are blowing on the ember until it burns down to meet the tinder. Same thing happens just a bit quicker when you close the nest in.

Great job!! Nice vid!!

**Erratus Animus** · 08-26-2010, 07:56 PM

Kudos for challenging yourself and working at it till you achieved it!

**COWBOYSURVIVAL** · 08-26-2010, 08:01 PM

Enjoyed your post! Good work!

**Sourdough** · 08-26-2010, 08:03 PM

"Boots in the field, Boots in the field". Well done.

**crashdive123** · 08-26-2010, 09:46 PM

Well done RWC.

**rwc1969** · 08-26-2010, 10:55 PM

I'll keep that in mind Rick, thanks. Thanks everyone!

FYI! since this firesteel sends out good sparks with the included striker, I thought I'd try the striker on the rod that is attached to my mag bar that I bought last winter from walfart. It will not spark! I think I got a dud or something.

Is that possible?

**Rick** · 08-26-2010, 11:10 PM

Make certain to scrape the finish off the steel. You'll see the difference in the metal once the finish comes off.

**crashdive123** · 08-26-2010, 11:13 PM

Originally Posted by rwc1969

I'll keep that in mind Rick, thanks. Thanks everyone!

FYI! since this firesteel sends out good sparks with the included striker, I thought I'd try the striker on the rod that is attached to my mag bar that I bought last winter from walfart. It will not spark! I think I got a dud or something.

Is that possible?

It should work. The steel on the Strike Force is pretty good. As Rick said, make sure the coating is removed.

**your_comforting_company** · 08-27-2010, 05:52 AM

Mine gets corroded from sweat in my pocket and gets a green "film" on it besides the normal finish the factory puts on. A few scrapes to get down to the fresh metal and you get sparks galore. Of course my FerroRod came from safezone instead of WM, and that might be why??

I made one from recycled bic lighter flints. Still gotta waterproof it and add a "tinder" side. Once I finish it, I'll post pics.

**SARKY** · 08-27-2010, 10:56 AM

Was that a paper birch? If it was, crumbling up the bark into a fine powder and hitting it with a spark should give you fire.

**rwc1969** · 08-27-2010, 11:14 AM

The mag bar came from Canada, it's ferro rod is scraped down to almost nothing from me trying every material known to man to get a spark from it. I think it was just a dud. Maybe the wrong mix of metals or something. I save the mag for scraping piles, but the ferro rod I'm relying on is the one in the vid. It sent sparks even with the coating on it. You can see in the vid that I scraped the coating off and did a few test dstrikes beofre hitting the woods.

Sarky, that was yellow birch, I believe. The bark was coarse and thick and curled away from the tree on one side. Paper birch is hard to come by this far south in MI. However it's abundant up north and that's where I found the Chaga growing on. White birch/ paper birch, same thing??

I have use white birch from mid-state and it lights up much better.

Thanks all for the tips and such.

**Batch** · 08-29-2010, 05:59 PM

I almost gave up on certain tinder. I learned that I have to scrape certain tinder into a fine dust. Also crushing and rubbing it to expose maximum surface area helps. I always tried to rush the fire to the tinder. But, a little time working the tinder will save time and effort on the fire.

Good job on getting fire with ferro. I carry ferro rods in all my kits. Plus in my wallet.

I get mine from firesteel.com and I hand then out to people when they first camp with us and learn to use them. They always grin ear to ear. Mine are just raw ferrocium rods so they are easy to carry and come in various sizes. I use my knives for strikers. But, not all knives are good strikers.

**rwc1969** · 08-29-2010, 11:08 PM

Thanks Batch! i noticed I was rushing it today and didn't take time to make a fine tinder as the skeeters were eating me alive. As soon as I slowed down it worked.

The humidity and amount of wind does seem to have an effect too, high humidity and no wind make for sucky fire starting.

**beetlejuicex3** · 08-30-2010, 01:10 AM

Sparking firestarters are harder to use than people think. Alot of outdoors experts still recommend two methods of firestarting one of which is supposed to be a sparking device. I have to admit I don't know the reason for that. If anyone else does I'd be interested to know.

Personally, I'm better with matches and fuel gel.

GB

**Rick** · 08-30-2010, 08:54 AM

The fire striker is just a great method to use. Simple, not much to break down, and it works.

Redundancy in case the first method fails. The other thing to remember is that under the right conditions your motor skills can deteriorate rapidly. Even striking a match can be a challenge when your hands are cold and numb. When it comes to the basics, I like to have more than one backup that utilizes different methods. Injury should also be a consideration. It would be hard, for example, to strike a match or use a fire steel with a broken hand where a lighter could easily be used.