Printable View
How do you make fire in the woods? Without matches or nifty little gas powered wands?
I'll have to take/post some pics, but I have a Swedish Fire Steel that a Swedish friend actually made and sent. The handle is a cool piece of antler. Striker is the universal: hacksaw blade. Have another ferro rod that a knifemaking friend made. One thing that interests me are fire pistons. Anyone else have any firemaking goods? What do you use?
I didn't like the titanium piston. It is simple, but a striker rod is too.
I have a little mag rod with a flint on the other side. I have some cotton tinder to go with it. I also carry a few hurricane matches, a small candle and a fresnel lens. All this goes in my Altoids tin survival kit.
That should do it.
But I also carry a little Bic and my stove has a piezo starter.
Fire, if you are prepared, not a big deal.
Be prepared.
Matches in a K&M matchcase(great product) and a RAT firesteel. Both work really well, but preperation is the key to a good fire. A lot of dry kindling and tinder are the hardest to find. After that it just takes a lot more wood than you think you will actually need to keep it going.
http://www.kmmatchcase.com/
Dry. I guess that is the key word. What if you are not, wood is not, tinder is not, and best laid plans and preparations are shot to you-know-where? I'm talking about taking a serious dunking and/or having nothing cause it's gone downstream, at the bottom of a lake or now in Davey Jones' possession. I'm talking about doing it caveman style. I've watched the TV guy (Grylls) do it - looked way too easy, and then watched the other guy in the kayak (forgot his name) in Alaska struggle to do it, then resort to steel/flint and nearly burn down his driftwood shelter. I think his ordeal was on the order of what I was thinking. Like Ernest's experience he related as a kid in the other thread.
I understand being prepared. I'm curious about the experiences and techniques of fire starting without "modern stuff", like being totally jacked in a bad situation with just your two pink, shriveled hands and a wild, worried look in your eyes.
MikeM
I've been jacked in two elements.
Neither required fire, it was being prepared that got me through it.
But I'm interested in your question too, I doubt we will get anything more than, "there I was, cold" and that's about it.
Fire is not an almost thing the way I see it.
You are prepared or you are not.
im old school,maybe a bit too old,i like flint and steal,steve
http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/IMGP1500.jpg
http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/IMGP1499.jpg
stevekiley - nice setup. appreciate the old school factor. nothing like survival with style!
you can't beat a fire piston as a crowd pleaser & conversation starter,But for anything other that a backyard patio show nothing beats a zippo lighter, mine has never failed me .
9 volt battery and a ziplock worth of #oooo steel wool
will work I have been told
Sage
I carry several ways to start a fire in a small survival kit that resides permanently in my daypack.
waterproof container with self striking matches that have been dipped in wax
several stubby candles(the kind that fit in votive cups)
A bic lighter
0000 steel wool in a sandwich baggie
small flint and steel
a 2" diameter magnifying glass(only good during the day when the sun is shining,obviously)
As Adam said,a fire is not always necessary BUT it can in some circumstances be the difference between life and death.If you are wet it only takes 1 night in the dead of winter to succumb to the effects of hypothermia! In addition to that a fire and smoke makes your position easier to spot by rescuers,not to mention that a fire lifts your spirits and gives you a sense of hope.
Be Prepared----- There is a reason this has been the official motto of the Boy Scouts since their inception!
Will