Firestarter stuff - product recommendation

[wecsoger]

(maybe not a good subject line for you folks out west!)

Was looking at some of the Swedish firesteels (they're pricy!) and during research found this website:

http://firesteel.com/

For those of your not familiar, firesteels are a metallic ceramic rod. You drag a hardened piece of steel down the side, done correctly you get a shower of sparks. If you have a pile of good tinder, or (my favorite) a dryer lint ball or cotton ball soaked with petroleum jelly (Vaseline), it's very easy to get a fire started.

I do not know this guy or have any association with him.

He has the firesteels in any size you want. He also has a lot of other goodies like magnesium blocks, and other fun stuff.

I ordered two three inch rods, a magnesium block, a mag rod and two scrapers.

Everything came packed very securely in a mailer tube with a lot of extra literature too.

The firesteel rod has a black oxide covering, but once you scrape past that, you get a wonderful shower of sparks. Lots of sparks. Sparks that awe your cats and impress your dogs.

So saying, I probably shouldn't be scraping these things indoors!

My order just came today so I haven't time to play with it outdoors. But I can see it will be easy to use this as an alternative fire starting option. I'm going to give it a try on my camping stoves too.

I like this guy's product. Browsing his website he seems a straight up guy, one of us. I will order from him again.

And you can get a discount code on your order but I won't tell you what it is......you will need to look through his website to find it.

[piller]

I have a couple of firestarter things. I have gone back to just carrying a cheap butane lighter and some dryer lint with vaseline. For my Coleman stove, I have this little flat pistol looking thing that uses a flint from a Zippo lighter and it just sends a shower of sparks. My parents gave it to me, and they had it for over 40 years before that. It still works, but I have no idea if anyone still makes them.

[Blaine]

I have a couple Zippos, several Bic lighters, and a couple softball size lint balls....In these woods around here, the little sap bubbles on the Doug Firs burn like gasoline....

[L_Kilkenny]

We've tried all sorts of primitive type fire starters over the years as back up to lighters on our canoing/camping trips. Best we've found?....... a handful of additional BIC lighters. Can't have too many of them boogers and decided it was time to stop acting like it was 1870. Today for my primary starter I carry a long, wind resistant butane torch intended for starting grills and the like. For tinder? ......... Cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly (leave a corner dry for easier starting).

[walks with gun]

I had one of the boy scout fire starting kits like that about 40 years ago, I think they can still be found for a reasonable price.

[jeepnik]

I have several setups that are a piece of magnesium laminated to flint. They have a steel scraper attached via a thong. Scrape off some magnesium, the hit it with sparks from the flint and your tinder is lit. Nice thing is you don't need a lot of fine motor control to use it. Heck, shivering probably helps.

[Don McDowell]

Flint and steel with a good chunk of char cloth or fine steel wool is about as dependable as anything. You can also carry a few rocks of carbide in an airtight bottle, drop a few of them under the tinder add a few drops of water and it's amazing how well raw acetylene sparked with a match or lighter will start a nice warming/cooking fire in wet conditions.

[AJMD429]

Flint and steel with a good chunk of char cloth or fine steel wool is about as dependable as anything. You can also carry a few rocks of carbide in an airtight bottle, drop a few of them under the tinder add a few drops of water and it's amazing how well raw acetylene sparked with a match or lighter will start a nice warming/cooking fire in wet conditions.

[dumb question mode ON]

You mean the fine steel wool actually will burn...????

[dumb question mode OFF]

[DPris]

Yes, been used that way for years.
You can also ignite steel wool with a strong enough current passing through.

The ferro rods are offered by many suppliers & the basic idea works very well, IF you have a good striker steel.

The cotton balls you buy at WalMart or your drugstore ignite very quickly & easily, so does most clothesdryer lint.
Add the Vaseline if you want either to burn longer, not needed just to ignite.

There are some situations where a BIC won't work, but the rod & steel pretty much always do.
Denis

[2571]

We've tried all sorts of primitive type fire starters over the years as back up to lighters on our canoing/camping trips. Best we've found?....... a handful of additional BIC lighters. Can't have too many of them boogers and decided it was time to stop acting like it was 1870. Today for my primary starter I carry a long, wind resistant butane torch intended for starting grills and the like. For tinder? ......... Cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly (leave a corner dry for easier starting).

Have a source for free bic /butane lighters (confiscated @ entry into security area). I find they are reluctant to work when it gets below 10-15 degrees & worthless below 0 .

[DPris]

Temperature, altitude, and getting wet can all affect the bic.
None of those affect the ferro rod.
Denis

[BobM]

I like the ferro rod/cotton ball combo, and I'll probably buy some more from the firesteel site.

[DPris]

I carry at least two & often three fire sources out in the boonies.
I like backups.

There are more expensive re-fillable gas lighters around $20-$50 that can provide a hotter & more directional flame than a BIC if needed, too. Can be useful in starting tinder inside a kindling "teepee" or with damp materials.
Denis

[Gobblerforge]

I hand forge my own Steels, and with a piece of flint or chirt and a piece of char cloth, I start fires regularly. I even got in the habit of lighting the fuse on the cannon with char cloth just for the spectical.
Gobbler

[dogngun]

I learned to do all that stuff back in the scouts...I carry a Bic and a little old newspaper...It ain't authentic, but it ALWAYS works, and if I really need to start a fire, I will REALLY need to start a fire, and not worry about the correct method...


mark

[DPris]

There is no "correct" method.
I carry matches in a waterproof case & a lighter as minimum.
The goal is to get the fire going, not to be traditional in how you do it.
Usually also have a rod or two along, too.

The BIC can fail, as mentioned, and the newspaper can get either soggy or separated from your body. Carrying a ferro rod in your pocket and knowing how to find & use available natural tinder types can keep you warm if you get separated from the supplies carried in your vehicle, if you lose your pack, and so on.
It'll always run, at any altitude in any temperature extremes, even wet.
Excellent backup to matches or lighter. Doesn't have to be your primary method, if others work in the circumstances easier.
Denis

[wecsoger]

Yeah, I'm a form over function guy also. If it moves you toward your goal, then it's good.

But face it. Anyone can flick the little lighter. You scrape a black metal rod and get a huge shower of sparks, now that is way cool.

I have bought the little magnesium blocks from wally world, camping stores and even harbor freight. As far as the last, they seem to be cheapest. But the stuff I got from the firesteel guys outshines them all easily.

Fun tip: next time you're out, try using a couple crushed up potato chips as tinder. I think you'll be amazed. (or disgusted!) I haven't tried any different types, ruffles vs. regular to see if any are better than another. And I've never got around to other snack foods. I'll bet something like the Fritos corn chips or maybe the cheeze puffs might work equally as well.

[Batman1939]

We've tried all sorts of primitive type fire starters over the years as back up to lighters on our canoing/camping trips. Best we've found?....... a handful of additional BIC lighters. Can't have too many of them boogers and decided it was time to stop acting like it was 1870. Today for my primary starter I carry a long, wind resistant butane torch intended for starting grills and the like. For tinder? ......... Cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly (leave a corner dry for easier starting).

Have a source for free bic /butane lighters (confiscated @ entry into security area). I find they are reluctant to work when it gets below 10-15 degrees & worthless below 0 .

Sounds like you have a friend who works airport security?? Just guessin'

[2571]

We've tried all sorts of primitive type fire starters over the years as back up to lighters on our canoing/camping trips. Best we've found?....... a handful of additional BIC lighters. Can't have too many of them boogers and decided it was time to stop acting like it was 1870. Today for my primary starter I carry a long, wind resistant butane torch intended for starting grills and the like. For tinder? ......... Cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly (leave a corner dry for easier starting).

Have a source for free bic /butane lighters (confiscated @ entry into security area). I find they are reluctant to work when it gets below 10-15 degrees & worthless below 0 .

Sounds like you have a friend who works airport security?? Just guessin'

Big city courthouse. But, shhhh! They throw them in the trashcan & I take them out.

I don't know if airports get them, but I see some regularly with the carburetors tampered with. Sure sign the bic has been employed with cocaine use.

[Nath]

I use a fire stick and cooked cotton cloth. Dry tinder can be found anywhere.

I cook my cotton in an airtight tin on the fire. When it starts smoking like mad and the gas burns it's done. Leave it to cool before opening.

You probably already know this

N.

[gamekeeper]

What Nath said!
Those magnesium blocks are fine as long as there's NO wind, the tiny flakes just blow away before I can get a spark near 'em.

[Ben_Rumson]

Right handy fire starter...Has other uses too

[DPris]

You can buy little "pack-along" rolls of duct tape, or use electrical tape, too.
Shave the magnesium bits onto the sticky side of a short strip of either & they'll stay put better, unless the wind's strong enough to blow the tape strip away.
Spark onto the thickest concentration & you're off.

I don't recommend those much for the same reason, though.
Denis

[Udy]

I spose its easier on the dry side, but on my side of the hill Its hard enough to start a fire with a gallon of gasoline and a flare, but that usually works.
Seriously though I have a terible time trying to get them sparky things to do any thing for me. What I think works best in my pack is dryer lint packed into the little cups of egg crates. Pour wax on them and then light with a match from a water tight container, carry a bic also. At least its water proof tinder that puts out good fire for a while to try and get somthing of size ignited well enough to burn.

[bdhold]

pricey?
yeah, but...



but OK, I still carry strike-anywhere matches in a Marbles match safe.

[wecsoger]

Sorry, I was so tired on original post (just got back from nine days in San Jose) and obviously forgot a picture.

This is the two rods, two mag blocks and two scrapers I got. As far as the latter, yeah you can use your knife. But these scrapers are *very* hard metal and produce an impressive shower of sparks.

The egg carton/lint firestarters are awesome. If you can't find any more of the old paper style egg cartons, there's also the small two oz. paper cups you can get in the bathroom supplies area at wally world.

Dryer lint or cotton balls, no problem. As far as the paraffin or candle wax, check out yard sales for the fancy "smelly" candles. You can get them cheap and when you have a couple firestarters like this, it makes your backpack smell _so_ nice. (don't think I would be carrying those in bear territory!)

[KCSO]

I've carried a belt pouch with a flint and steel with me now for over 40 years. For casual use, pipe lighting and such I use a tinder tube, but I use char cloth and regular tinder for starting camp fires and such. If you need a cheater HOT fire quick steel wool is THE thing.

[Gobblerforge]

Any one else here try and or practice fire making with a bow drill? I have and when you get the hang of it, it really isn't that hard, under the right conditions.
Gobbler

[L_Kilkenny]

Have a source for free bic /butane lighters (confiscated @ entry into security area). I find they are reluctant to work when it gets below 10-15 degrees & worthless below 0 .

All depends on where you store em at. Being a smoker I always have one or two bics on me. If I keep em in a jacket pocket they don't like to fire up when cold, kept in my pants pocket they work pretty good. Regardless, they don't take more than a few seconds to warm enough to work if you wrap your hand around them (inside your glove) or get them close to your body.

Any one else here try and or practice fire making with a bow drill? I have and when you get the hang of it, it really isn't that hard, under the right conditions.

You are correct but unfortunately very few of us here in the U.S. have the right conditions. Watched an episode of "Dual Survival" (I know, I know) with the ex military guy and the barefoot desert monkey. Barefoot desert monkey started fires just fine in the arid SW but when moved to the east he was cold. And he is a guy that teaches primitive survival and has started thousands of fires with a bow and drill.

I used to read/watch all the wilderness survival stuff I could get my hands on. Took a couple years but I soon realized it's all pretty much bunk and a waste of time. Instead of trying to learn skills that are only really usable if practiced and used often I prefer the Boy scout way...... Be prepared. And if you aren't prepared I suppose natural selection fits in there somewhere.

[L_Kilkenny]

Doubled up, my bad.

[jeepnik]

Any one else here try and or practice fire making with a bow drill? I have and when you get the hang of it, it really isn't that hard, under the right conditions.
Gobbler

Yea, as a kid. It will work eventually if everything is dry. Fortunately we have better ways of making fire today.