How many different types of firestarter do we carry/use

[apj1974]

Lighting fires is v important to what we do. So how many different methods for starting fires do you carry with you or use regularly? How many different aids for getting a fire going (tinders, firelighters etc) do you carry or use?

Any really funky methods?

 

[gsfgaz]

i like to use char cloth and the fire Steele , but if the tinder is wet or it's rainy and turning dark , i use a bit of a fireighter or anything to get going quick .. then chill out and get a beer open , sounds good ....

 

[Peter_t]

i usually just carry a firesteel and some birch bark and fatwood. i never feel the need to carry anything else but i guess its sensable to bring backups in case i lose it.

i sometimes use clematis if i come across it, the bark fulffs up and burns well and the downy seeds burst into flames easily which helps light the bark so you dont have to buff the bark too much.



pete

 

[andythecelt]

I have a leather pouch with a bit of just about every kind of tinder I've ever laid eyes on in, wrapped in individual bags with a couple of flints of different kinds. I use it when wet weather keeps me trapped under the tarp longer than I'd intended and practice (read: Play) spark firelighting. For everyday use I have a couple of clipper lighters in my pocket though

 

[John Fenna]

I generally carry flint and steel, firesteel and bic lighter with birch bark and Birch Polypore as well as charcloth.
Mostly I use flint and steel to light my fires!

 

[apj1974]

I guess I should answer my own question.

I generally have with me a firesteel, a waterproof tub with an assortment of matches (strike anywhere, waterproof and lifeboat) and usually i have a cheap lighter of some sort in my pocket or tobacco tin (for pipe tobacco not survival kit). I think I've also got a Fresnel magnifier somewhere in the bottom of my daysack, have never used it but it was a freebie and weighs nowt so i chucked it in.

In terms of tinder, I often have a few Vaseline balls! a couple of hexy tabs and I love my trangia or pepsi can stove so i often might have a small bottle of meths too (as i've mentioned elsewhere i've got a tiny tiny keyring hipflask that contains enough for one boil).

 

[Chinkapin]

I carry a firesteel, some char-cloth, Vaseline cotton balls, some U.S. Army surplus hexy tabs, some clothes dryer lint, and some birch bark. As I have a pepsi can stove as well, so I, like you, also have a small bottle of alcohol, and a match safe containing some lifeboat matches. Last, but certainly not least I have a small Bic lighter as a backup for when/if everything else fails. This sounds like I need a rucksack just for firestarter, but other than the alcohol, it is all in 2 small waterproof containers.

I know this appears to smack of paranoia but I have had tinder fail under adverse conditions, matches run out, lighters fail, etc. I do not want "all of my eggs in one basket" nor all of my "eggs" of the same type. Call me crazy, but I consider this "fire insurance."

 

[BOD]

No matches.

A matchbox absorbs humidity like sponge and is mush in no time. Can't get good matches here anyway.

Not worth the effort to keep it dry.

2-3 disposable lighters and a metre of rubber inner tube.

A firesteel.

Watertight container to keep tinders and extenders I collect on the walk - nests, fungi, punk wood.

cordage for a bow drill should the need arise

 

[tobes01]

Just had a purge of my firelighting kit, since it was getting bigger than my sleeping bag (see the thread on gear junkies)
- Bunker firesteel and wire wool
- Magnesium stick for shavings
- Waterproof matches
- Swan vestas
- Zippo
- Flint, steel and charcloth
- Maya dust
- Bike inner tube, birch bark
- And a really cool antique lighter that uses a saltpetre slow fuse (a bit like Ray demonstrates on Walkabout)

Have now reduced to a pouch with birch bark, a pinch of maya dust and some inner tube; some Swan vestas in a metal container; firesteel; zippo.

Must try the vaseline balls. Wire wool works really well too.

 

[Tiley]

Usually, I have a firesteel, a lighter, some non-safety matches (in a waterproof case) and flint and steel. As tinder, I carry linen tow, charcloth, some amadou, a few sections of bicycle inner tube and, when the weather is utterly, utterly unspeakable, Wet Fire tinder.

I do sometimes include a fire piston (if I feel like a challenge) and a solar dish (if the weather's going to be sunny or sunnier than it has been of late...). If I have any, I will bring along some birch bark in a dry bag.

That's about it!

 

[johnboy]

Cheap chinese firesteel for messing around and lighting gas stoves...

Bic lighter and innertube for simple quick emergency fire lighting....

 

[apj1974]

No matches.

A matchbox absorbs humidity like sponge and is mush in no time. Can't get good matches here anyway.

Not worth the effort to keep it dry.

I dunno what Australian matches are like, but I've tried American strike anywhere ones and they are pants. Most UK people who have mentioned matches have said Swan Vesta, which are great, small, easy to waterproof and propper strike anywhere. England's Glory are exactly the same just a tiny bit bigger (they are all made by the same company now in Sweden).

I like carrying matches as a back up because they are cheap and you can give them to other people because everyone knows how to work a match (ok they would probably fail to light a fire though). Also if you are looking for some matchstick size tinder, they are cheap enough not to worry.

Its such a pity though that most matches now have become "Safety Matches", why on earth are the waterproof ones they sell in shops safety. They used to make strike anywhere lifeboat matches in the past, much more sensible than the ones now.

Of course I never carry my matches in a cardboard box.

I love matches!

Must try the vaseline balls.

Vaseline balls are brilliant - I'm an absolute convert after discovering them.

Some people recommend melting the Vaseline and then droping the Cotton Balls in as it makes them completely waterproof. I find that they are harder to light like that, so I much prefer just rubbing the balls in vaseline for a bit , they take really easy with a spark and burn with a nice bright flame for several minutes. Over here you can pick up a massive tub of cheap petroleum jelly and a big bag of balls in pound shops, so for 2 quid you get about 50 fire lighters plus loads of Vaseline left!

 

[Shewie]

Tinders in my pouch usually consist of tumble drier fluff, birch bark, old mans beard lychen and cramp balls.

Along with those I'll add some strips of inner tube and a spare lighter for truely miserable weather.

I usually have my kelly kettle with me as well so I also carry a nylon bag with pencil thick pieces of pine and fat wood along with some bbq firelighter bricks. I'm also a smoker so I always have my zippo and a couple of clippers with me, nine times out of ten I probably just reach for a lighter. A well prepped firelay with varying thicknesses of kindling and a ready supply of fuel is the key though.

 

[NikDarkwood]

I always take a few tampons in my kit. They are compressed and come in a waterproof wrapper.
They will take fire really well and will work even better with a little vaseline from a lipbalm applicator.

On that note....

Womens handbags are much more usefull than most crashbags. They usually have vaseline type products and perfume for fuel, mirror and files my g/f evn has a lighter a small screwdriver, an adjustable spanner and a discrete swiss army knife.
Most men seem to gave a boiled sweet, a credit card and some loose change when they go out.

Usefull.

 

[armie]

Firesteel, plus two or three matchboxes stuffed away in various pockets;
A few tampons, because of their really compact cotton wool, they 'fluff out' to lots of tinder.

 

[Chinkapin]

There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding the nomenclature of matches. In fact, I'm pretty sure that this has been commented on before. Regardless, here goes: The earliest matches were extremely sensitive and could bump together in the box and flare up the whole box and burn your house to the ground.

In the 1880s or 1890s someone invented Safety Matches. These were Strike Anywhere matches but were much more stable. These remained the match of choice until some idiot invent the Strike Only On the Box matches. Here in the U.S. these damn worthless things have pushed out most of the matches. Whats worse, the "so-called" Strike Anywhere matches have been de-tuned and should now be called Strike Nowhere matches. This all happened due to hazardous material shipping regulations.

The use of the term Safety Matches for modern Strike Anywhere matches is actually incorrect.

I pray that you can get 'real' matches in the U.K. and that if you can they don't get regulated out of existence. Hope this clears things up a bit.

 

[apj1974]

There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding the nomenclature of matches.

I dont think there has been any confusion. But for the benefit of our American friends this is what we have in Britain.

Strike anywhere matches - these are usually just refered to as "Matches" and can be lit on the sandpaper on the box, on a wall, concrete, the zip on your jeans or just about anywhere! The only two makes that I know left are Swan Vesta and England's Glory (Both now made by the Swedish Match Company)

(always used to be labled "The Smoker's Match")

The American strike anywhere matches I refered to as pants are the ones labled "strike-anywhere" that have a little white tip.

I have never come across matches like this in the UK - when I have tried to use them I have found that the little white tip wears off and then the match doesn't light.

Sadly in the UK more and more matches are becoming Safety or Only strike against the box matches, most brands now are made by the swedish match company anyway. So please if you buy matches always buy the ones with sandpaper on the box, so that the Swedish Match Co keeps making them.

Told you I love matches.

 

[hertsboy]

I'm not that keen on matchs - they get soggy, burn your fingers and get blown out by the wind.

I carry plenty of cotton wool balls and a little tin of vaseline. Smear the ball in vaseline and one strike of the firesteel lights it. Then maybe a bit of a bike inner tube or a bit of a hex tablet to give the tinder plenty of time to get burning.

 

[durulz]

I don't bother with matches either. If you're going to take matches you may as well take a lighter, in my opnion.
I tend to have three different firelighting methods on me - flint & steel, firesteel, and bic lighter!
what I use depends on a wealth of factors - what the weather is like, how desperately I want to get a fire going, how bothered I can be to put in the effort, etc.
For example, weekend gone when it was windy and lashing down with rain, I used the flint and steel with char cloth. I did this mainly for practice in using these methods in atrocious weather conditions. I was motivated and I had the time to give it. But sometimes, in the middle of summer, all I want is to get a fire going so I can sit back and relax and enjoy the atmosphere - in the mood for the experience rather than learning. So I'll open a pack of green heat and use a lighter on it.
Like I say, it all depends. But I usually have three fire lighting methods on me.

 

[Dave Budd]

I'm a bit of an oddity in that I don't actually go bushcrafting or normal camping anymore.

When I need to light a fire it is usually when demonstraitng at a show (forging) or workig in my own woods (often teaching). The only time i feel the need to do things in a bushcrafty way is if I'm being an Iron Age person at a show (flint and steel) or demonstrating to somebody how to light a fire).

So I tend to have two or three disposable lighters about, often a small bottle of meths and firelighting blocks too. BUT I do keep my flint and steel with tinder pouch in my box of tools so that when I innevitably find the cheapy lighter has jammed, I can still light my forge!

I rarely use a ferro rod. I think the only times I've needed to have been when at work and found that my lighters are knackered and I don't have my flint and steel around (or is on teh other side of the woods).