Emergency Tinder

[Quixoticgeek]

Am putting together an emergency kit, and would like to have some tinder in it. As well as some normal tinder types (vasalined hemp rope), I am pondering something as an "If all else fails". Right now I'm weighing up the pros and cons of "Wet fire tinder" and AMK's "tinder quik". Are there any other similar products people would recommend? I'm looking for something that *WILL* light a fire, even if I have just fallen in a river and got everything soaked.

Any thoughts?

Julia

 

[GGTBod]

Fatwood (Pine heartwood), buy in sticks and take one with you, shavings will ignite any fire and grind from the stick with the back of your knife to make maya dust for real difficult conditions which ignites from the lightest of sparks if you need help to get your shavings ablaze, even the shavings light from a firesteel when wet, doesn't need a special dry tub or tin just run a bit of paracord through a simply made hole on a stick it and hang it off your pack

[video=youtube;RNf2TQEYwWI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNf2TQEYwWI[/video]

 

[Toddy]

See if you can get hold of one of the USA pilot's Tinder-Quik sets.
It's a little green box not much bigger than a matchbox, but it contains both a sparking stick (like the top of a lighter) and eight little twists of well fueled cotton twists.
It just works so well regardless of the weather.

http://www.amazon.com/Spark-Lite-Military-Edition-Starter-Tinder/dp/B005HTFJGE

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Mesquite]

Make your own wax fire biscuits from wax and cotton makeup pads. simple, cheap and can be used as an emergency candle as well

 

[Joonsy]

I'm looking for something that *WILL* light a fire, even if I have just fallen in a river and got everything soaked.

a bit of bicycle inner tube will light in any circumstances, even if immersed in water, it is my sole emergency tinder I don’t carry anything else at all, and you don’t even need to keep it in anything to keep it dry, I permanently have a piece of the tube slipped over a webbing strap on rucksack so I always know I’ve got a bit. I combine it with a clipper lighter, the lighter will work in a few seconds after being immersed in water by just shaking excess water from it. I no longer carry a ferro rod at all, though it is possible to light bike inner tube with a ferro rod by slicing it into very thin bits (I’ve done it).

 

[bikething]

As you ride a bike - strips of rubber from an old inner tube

 

[Macaroon]

Not very eco-friendly, but unbeatable for real emergency use - a few bits of inner tube rubber will turn a small bundle of almost anything into a good fire, and burns long enough to ignite even the wettest of stuff.
A bit of Fatwwood and a bit of rubber have never failed me.

 

[11binf]

I don't get exotic when it comes to an emergency fire...if I need a fire (or anything for that matter) in an emergency I need it now ! I rely on man made tinder period...I use U.S. Tioxane tablets ,they can be lit with a match or a spark from a ferro rod and light right now!. they burn very hot and catch fire to damp kindling/wood with no problem...when i'm in the field I carry the longer Trioxane bar with a small ferro rod taped to the foil pouch this protects the foil pouch and keeps things together...2nd to this would be cotton balls with vasiline and kept in a small zip bag or small plastic container with a small ferro rod taped to it...by the way trioxane is no longer issued and is getting a little harder to find,but I have found it at gunshows and some surplus stores...vince g. 11binf

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Fantastic, lots of interesting suggestions. I do like that tinder quik kit with the striker thingy, have added to the shopping list. Along with some bike inner tube...

J

 

[mrmike]

I highly recommend hammaro paper/tindercard, It's another one that doesn't mind getting a bit wet.
Takes up very little space too...

sent from my windswept fell using Tapatalk 4

 

[Joonsy]

Fantastic, lots of interesting suggestions. I do like that tinder quik kit with the striker thingy, have added to the shopping list. Along with some bike inner tube...

J

those ''striker thingy's'' are called spark-lites, they just look like cigarette lighters without any fuel to me just flip the metal guard off the top of a lighter and you can use it just the same as a spark-lite.

there was a guy who used to make something called the ''four-finger-fire- starter'' from cigarette lighters but ended up having a feud with the makers of spark-lite.

 

[Goatboy]

In the vein of the inner tube crowd you can also shred a cheap plastic drinks bottle (pop bottle) and it lights and goes pretty darn well. Not the most environmentally friendly thing but needs must when the Devil rides.
Another thing you can use is cod liver oil capsules. (Depending on what the outer is made of you may have to break open and soak into a bit of pocket fluff or cloth) They used to use the oil in lamps in old Norway. A couple of caps in a wee store are handy and if taken regularly help the joints too.

 

[Hugo]

I use hemp roap soaked in candle wax, easy to make stays dry even if submerged in water as I've tried it out in winter.

 

[Joonsy]

Don’t forget many things from your pack, kit and clothing will burn very well in a real emergency, some of them even when wet, the one thing that really helps enormously is having a flame (much better than relying on a spark) a few sealed matches or a lighter is invaluable and much better than relying on a spark and tinder. Ziploc bags/food wrappers/duct tape/paracord or nylon cord/things in fak/buff if a polyester one/fleece clothing/dry storage bags/nylon webbing straps on rucksack/underwear if synthetic/map cover/etc etc are all things that you are likely to have. Unless you are naked with no kit whatsoever you will probably have at least one of them probably more, and all these things burn well some of them even when wet. All of them can be set alight with a flame however none of them can be set alight by a spark only without tinder (with the exception of perhaps fak).

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

Been really happy with the Polymath products EDC Fire kit.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8uXAxySnVM

 

[Joonsy]

Been really happy with the Polymath products EDC Fire kit.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8uXAxySnVM

i'd like to see that used fumbling around with cold hands i'll stick to the instant flame from a lighter.

 

[Monikieman]

Home made fat wood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTTi2bKo37Q

works really well. I 'cook' some joiners off-cuts in an old Chinese wok with candle wax. Lights well, shaves to powder to take a spark, nice in a pencil sharpener too.

 

[Toddy]

I disagree Joonsy. If I rely on matches I rely on being able to keep them (and their sparker) dry enough to work. Even the phosphorous ones need care...they rot like ferro rods do.
Similarly if I rely on a lighter to get a flame, I need to make sure that it simply cannot leak, evaporate or otherwise lose it's gas or oil.
A spark onto any of the cotton impregnated whatevers will create a flame, it will also catch on a lot of other stuff too. From chaga (I have done that with chaga still wet straight from the tree and it took) to cattail tops.

I'm not saying don't take matches or a lighter, just that the spark-lite is a remarkly effective and very reliable tool and it doesn't need any particular care taken over it either. It doesn't leak gunk over kit, it weighs a few grams (less if you remove the box) and it does make fire quickly.

The addition of rubber inner tube makes for a very good firestarting kit, that again, needs no particular care

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Teepee]

If you've fallen in the river and it's cold, your going to have cold hands. Cold hands will find fiddly firestarting tricky.

That rules out matches, friction and firesteels in my book.

Lighters rule in emergencies, petrol lighters will light in the cold.

I use a waterproof petrol trench lighter kept round my neck, along with a petrol refill for venturing into the colder parts of the world. A reliable gas lighter with gaffer tape wrap (that burns very well too) and rubber wound round of some sort does the warmer parts.

 

[Toddy]

I agree that fiddly when frozen is a problem. But lighting tinder with the spark-lite is every bit as easy as lighting a lighter, and once the tinder is alight it doesn't need to be kept alight, it does that all by itself.

M