Fail safes???
- Thread starter tytek
- Start date
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Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
To be honest, I don't see it as cheating unless you're one of the ultra-purists who choose to take nothing but the clothes on their back. You've taken your firesteel with you, and most likely a knife so why not a backup such as lighter or matches?
As backup I take a couple of small balls of cotton wool soaked in wax. It always lights from a steel on first or second attempt even in really grotty conditions. Some might see it as 'cheating' but for me if it's a choice between hot tea and principles the tea wins every time
As backup I take a couple of small balls of cotton wool soaked in wax. It always lights from a steel on first or second attempt even in really grotty conditions. Some might see it as 'cheating' but for me if it's a choice between hot tea and principles the tea wins every time
Prepare a little better and try again... To be honest with the right prep I've never failed to get a fire going whatever the weather. Sometimes takes longer than anticipated, but perseverence pays off
Preseverence is good,
in that it ensures you do sufficient preparation - or soon learn the hard way that you're not doing enough. But there comes a point when the efforts you are putting into making fire can better be channelled into retaining the heat you already have before a line of exhaustion is crossed, certainly true with friction methods. However knowing when to make the change in direction is a whole new ball game.
Ogri the trog
in that it ensures you do sufficient preparation - or soon learn the hard way that you're not doing enough. But there comes a point when the efforts you are putting into making fire can better be channelled into retaining the heat you already have before a line of exhaustion is crossed, certainly true with friction methods. However knowing when to make the change in direction is a whole new ball game.
Ogri the trog
As far as Im concerned theres no cheats in fire making the need for fire outweighs that ,
A bit of inner tube and a bik lighter for me if all else fails .
Twodogs
A bit of inner tube and a bik lighter for me if all else fails .
Twodogs
my fire making tin (bacci tin) now contains the following items:
LMF Fire steel (previous one was terrible)
two tea light candles
2 cotton wool pads
1 pack of bbq firelighting gel
several strips of bycicle innertube
disposable lighter
many coffee stirers pilfered from work and broken down to line the case (easy burn and featherstickable)
and all the dryer lint i could pack in!
if i can't light a fire with that even in the damp i should prolly go home and sulk in front of the tv... i'd say i like to play the failsafe card.
also as i have a trang i always have meths about me (and usually on me) so a couple of drops of that on some dryer lint or cotton wool and it burns well for quite some time.
LMF Fire steel (previous one was terrible)
two tea light candles
2 cotton wool pads
1 pack of bbq firelighting gel
several strips of bycicle innertube
disposable lighter
many coffee stirers pilfered from work and broken down to line the case (easy burn and featherstickable)
and all the dryer lint i could pack in!
if i can't light a fire with that even in the damp i should prolly go home and sulk in front of the tv... i'd say i like to play the failsafe card.
also as i have a trang i always have meths about me (and usually on me) so a couple of drops of that on some dryer lint or cotton wool and it burns well for quite some time.
3 or 4 matches struck together, straight into the tinder, who cares about style, just get the fire going.
A tealight and a book of matches, I was out in -10 over Christmas and couldn't get the fire going because all the kindling was so cold and frozen. Then when it became unfrozen it was damp, the tealight lit with the kindling stacked around it kept enough heat in it to get the fire going, eventually.
i usually just carry a firesteel. i like to test myself and go beond the comfort zone so keep going at it looking for tinder in the pooring rain. if its getting dark and i still havnt got the fire going i just snuggle deep into my sleeping bag and face a cold night.
am i an ultra-purist? no but it is all too easy to go for the easy option and then you may never progress.
pete
am i an ultra-purist? no but it is all too easy to go for the easy option and then you may never progress.
pete
SimonM
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
No such thing as cheating IMHO.
I can however, light a fire in many ways and find that practice is the key, but if I want a quick brew out comes the Bic and a fire lighter
.
Simon
I can however, light a fire in many ways and find that practice is the key, but if I want a quick brew out comes the Bic and a fire lighter
.Simon
A couple of fire lighter blocks, the hexi type. ALWAYS (and I don't like shouting) carry a good solid way of getting a fire going. If your cold and wet its just not worth messing about and being a 'purist' as that could well be a fast track route to meeting your maker.
To be honest always carry a means of making a hot brew and meal too, a cheap gas stove will do or a hexi stove; certainly in the colder wetter months.
I have a little last ditch pouch which has a couple of plastic wrapped firelighters, a spare firesteel, matches, small pot of vaseline, whistle, button compass etc....
Don't often have to use it though
Almost always get by with firesteel / knife and a small bag of birch bark I re-stock whenever I get the chance.
My worst last ditch fail safe I ever had to use was on an open canoe trip. It was March, cold, raining and very windy. Nothing we tried was working at all. I had chucked a small can of diesel into the canoe as an afterthought and even THAT was proving problematic - I ended up soaking my hanky in diesel and using it as a wick to burn diesel with split kindling on top to dry out in the flames - that eventually worked and we made our brews and cooked our dinner. Got a bit scary though - never had it that bad before or since.
Anyone else had one of those trips where nothing works?
Dom.
Don't often have to use it though
Almost always get by with firesteel / knife and a small bag of birch bark I re-stock whenever I get the chance.
My worst last ditch fail safe I ever had to use was on an open canoe trip. It was March, cold, raining and very windy. Nothing we tried was working at all. I had chucked a small can of diesel into the canoe as an afterthought and even THAT was proving problematic - I ended up soaking my hanky in diesel and using it as a wick to burn diesel with split kindling on top to dry out in the flames - that eventually worked and we made our brews and cooked our dinner. Got a bit scary though - never had it that bad before or since.
Anyone else had one of those trips where nothing works?
Dom.
Yes, and I think if we are honest, all winter campers have had times when its been really hard to get a fire going if not impossible, hence my 'always carry a solid backup including a non wood dependant stove' in colder months. There is no need to be a hero here, no shame in sticking a pot on a cooker and getting hot food and drinks in you.
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as well as my fire steel i carry (for any unexpected injury, bad weather, getting lost ect...)
a z plus butane lighter (about a tenner of the bay and will light almost anything)
a small piece of rubber inner-tube
and an esbit cooker
if I need to use them I'll be past the point where I care a bout cheating
a z plus butane lighter (about a tenner of the bay and will light almost anything)
a small piece of rubber inner-tube
and an esbit cooker
if I need to use them I'll be past the point where I care a bout cheating
And that, I think, is the point in a nutshell - not many of us have been in a situation when a recreational trip turns into a real survival situation, but if and when that happens, your safety is number one priority - there's no such thing as "cheating" when the weather is foul, you're tired, in danger of hypothermia and up against the wall.
Having said that, I do try to do things the "bushcraft" way where possible, just wise to carry a backup in case it all goes mammaries up
Dom.
birch bark and a huge bundle of thin birch twigs - hasn't failed me yet even in torrential rain!
It is a case of prepare well or prepare to fail though! - no matter how many times I try to drill it into the Scouts they ignore and just try to light as soon as they can.....
It is a case of prepare well or prepare to fail though! - no matter how many times I try to drill it into the Scouts they ignore and just try to light as soon as they can.....
P
Pcwizme
Guest
My Fail safes are 3 fold
1. Jetflame Lighter
2. Inner Tube
3. Hexi Stove it if all goes tits up
I havent had to get to the extremes of using it yet. Well the lighter gets well used on occasion but when i am practising skills it doesnt.
1. Jetflame Lighter
2. Inner Tube
3. Hexi Stove it if all goes tits up
I havent had to get to the extremes of using it yet. Well the lighter gets well used on occasion but when i am practising skills it doesnt.
