I have several ways, the serious one is to carry Potasium Manganate 8g and Glyserin 2g BUT DO NOT Keep them TOGETHER (Seriously). Safer and easier, Keep a ferro rod, Lighter, Collect about 5 g of White birch bark and seal it in a straw, attach to keyring. People confuse silver birch and white birch. Dont use silver birch bark as it emits toxins and black smoke. People confuse the both. There are 15 types of Birch i know of but white Birch is best to cook with. I make rocket straw rods 5cm x 11mm with cotten dipped vaseline and a little of melted way, let it set in a straw then add a match surrounded with match sulphur heads. Cut open Lay tinder on top light match and fire yeahy yeayh. Almost 100% no mater what weather.Was trying to come up with a way to carry a little tinder on a keyring or necklace. Not sure I'm to up carrying a tampon on a necklace.
Keep Potasium promanganate in your neck chain but never with any fuel like sugars. It is good as it can sterilise wounds etc. But be warned Potasium Promanganate can be agitated by any glycerine product including brakeclean etc. Be careful.I have several ways, the serious one is to carry Potasium Manganate 8g and Glyserin 2g BUT DO NOT Keep them TOGETHER (Seriously). Safer and easier, Keep a ferro rod, Lighter, Collect about 5 g of White birch bark and seal it in a straw, attach to keyring. People confuse silver birch and white birch. Dont use silver birch bark as it emits toxins and black smoke. People confuse the both. There are 15 types of Birch i know of but white Birch is best to cook with. I make rocket straw rods 5cm x 11mm with cotten dipped vaseline and a little of melted way, let it set in a straw then add a match surrounded with match sulphur heads. Cut open Lay tinder on top light match and fire yeahy yeayh. Almost 100% no mater what weather.
To steralise you only need a few crystals, pink water. Purple will burn the skin.Keep Potasium promanganate in your neck chain but never with any fuel like sugars. It is good as it can sterilise wounds etc. But be warned Potasium Promanganate can be agitated by any glycerine product including brakeclean etc. Be careful.
Warning, Before you try this be really careful. Its a life saver but it can be very dangerous if you dont use it properly. There are 3 main usages (Its a very old chemical) Your Grandma probably used it)) Main usage in order was Dissinfection, Clean water (Not recomended as the body retains it and it builds up) and third, you can start a fire with it.To steralise you only need a few crystals, pink water. Purple will burn the skin.
Woody Girl
One of my tinder kits, cotton wool, birch bark, waxed tinder card, a wood wool flamer, and natural resin wood, underneath is a pack of military matches, plus lighter
Hells bells - If none of that lot worked my exasperation would boil water!!!!
My go to guru from 1908 used to pour candle wax into a full box of matches and pull them out of the wax as needed. He used to canoe the Great Lakes in Canada.
Yes carrying chemicals is not a good thing and can get you in serious trouble. But if you have a good excuse to carry items that include kits like camping, bushcraft, survival etc could still get you in trouble but in a situation of survival anything and everything goes. Besides Bicarbonate of Soda can be just as serious, many other household goods too but at the end of the day it depends on the intention and usage of materials. You can still get plastic straws and plastic biodegradable. After all they are manufactured from oil products. What comes from the earth goes back to the eart but the issue is concentration and how fast they break back Lol your lighter would take much longer than a straw to break down. But saying that it is always best to be prepared. I think my idea of the craft is to be clever, safe and prepared. Your kit looks great.Chemical firelighting is fun, but get caught by the police with these items, and you could be on a terrorism charge.... Just saying.
If you can't light a fire on the wet using bushcraft techniques, and you should always have more than one way on you, then it's something to take a bit of training on. Mostly, the problem is damp tinder and wet wood, so you need to know how to keep tinder dry, or find it and dry it with body heat, and split wood down so that you can catch it alight, and dry the outside as it burns. Voila! A nice warm fire.
I always have a lighter, aswell as ferro rod, and flint and steel, and waterproof matches, along with waxed cotton wool pads, cotton wool and birch bark in a waterproof tin.
I can't be bothered with putting stuff in plastic straws, and unless you have a stock at home, you can't buy them now..
..or at least, you shouldn't be able to.
I try to be plastic free in my bushcraft, as much as possible.
One of my tinder kits, cotton wool, birch bark, waxed tinder card, a wood wool flamer, and natural resin wood, underneath is a pack of military matches, plus lighter
View attachment 84850
I learned in the past that with only a few items it is very easy to improvise. Ability to start a fire easily in any weather, Birch bark and Sproose Amber and fern twigs, a tin you can seal and a knife all helps, You can make tar, seal your canoe or boat, bind logs, repair clothing or kit. but most of all to find food and water. As kids we went on an 8 month trek with SAS handbook and a knife. If it wasn't for the information we would have dumped the book lolHells bells - If none of that lot worked my exasperation would boil water!!!!
My go to guru from 1908 used to pour candle wax into a full box of matches and pull them out of the wax as needed. He used to canoe the Great Lakes in Canada.
Yeah i agree, I usually make several options as if one or more fail i always have a posibility. I do the same with data but in a different way. Backup your important data, store more than 20 meters apart and on 3 different media. this way it is very unlikly to lose it or fail. In fuel and fire lighting i have 5 choices for immediate fire and 7 combinations to mix if needed. I like to experiment.Not a problem. There is a skill to using any tool, even a match - ask a cigarette smoker.
Bushcraft is fun or it’s not worth doing. Cold and wet (and knowing how to get warm and dry ) is part of the satisfaction of doing it.
If you enjoy the more tangential ways of doing things that’s great. I use a three meter tipi as my shelter. I freely admit that it’s no less ridiculous than carrying explosives to light your fire.
In fact I use a ferro rod to light my kettle but outside of the bushcraft community matches are used in every situation you can think of and in every corner of the world. The first wilderness travellers and the voyageurs, the Hudson Bay canoe porters, are reported to use both flint and matches.
Matches can be kept just as dry as your KMnO4.
Enjoy your craft but it’s not a religion
Yeah that works too but a litte more work, Glycerin is much faster, a few drops of water can accelerate the process. You can also use break cleaner, Windscreen wash and other glycerine contents. I am thinking about adding starch or other combustable ingrediences to keep the fire to last longer rather than using too much Potasium Promanganate.Yeah, have seen it done with potassium permanganate and a single use sachet of sugar. Little pressure and grinding and it'll go up.
Thank you.Yes carrying chemicals is not a good thing and can get you in serious trouble. But if you have a good excuse to carry items that include kits like camping, bushcraft, survival etc could still get you in trouble but in a situation of survival anything and everything goes. Besides Bicarbonate of Soda can be just as serious, many other household goods too but at the end of the day it depends on the intention and usage of materials. You can still get plastic straws and plastic biodegradable. After all they are manufactured from oil products. What comes from the earth goes back to the eart but the issue is concentration and how fast they break back Lol your lighter would take much longer than a straw to break down. But saying that it is always best to be prepared. I think my idea of the craft is to be clever, safe and prepared. Your kit looks great.