innertube ? why ?

[Robbi]

sorry if this is a daft question, but.....

i've seen and heard folks on here talk about a bit of innertube in their fire lighting kit, ..... what for ?, what do you do with it ?

Cheers

Robbi

 

[ex-member Raikey]

burn it!

it wont take a spark, but once its going its nice and hot and works wet too,..

i wouldnt know what to class it as though,...cant really call it tinder can you,...

a "fire,helper,alonger" is as close as i can get to an name mate,...

 

[FerlasDave]

Innertube is awesome, I carry a length rolled down the handle of my knife sometimes. When it burns it burns well, its hot and lasts a while too. Not only that but when its wet it dries out instantly.

 

[Robbi]

Pooo---eeeY !!

smelly or what !!

must be something better than that surely

 

[Shewie]

It takes a flame even in pouring rain and it was the only thing which got me a fire going once after seven days of continuous rain. All the usual birch barks and split timbers were just too wet to establish, we built a pyramid of fine sticks and covered with large pieces of bark. After a five or so minutes the wood eventually dried enough to take.

It's not nice stuff to burn but it really does the trick when everything else isn't working.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

I think you would keep it as a standby, i have a few smaller sections in my firekit that i will probably never use...

But come the day i do need it as a last resort, i will be glad i have it

al.

 

[Robbi]

if it won't take a spark, what do you light it with ?

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Eather a lighter... or from something that will take a spark

Consider it a very small Zip firelighter.

 

[Robbi]

Hmmmmmmmm

very confused now

 

[Toddy]

When there's no other way that's going to burn wet stuff long enough to get it dry enough to burn on it's own, it's brilliant It weighs virtually nothing, takes up virtually no space, doesn't go 'off', doesn't need to be kept dry, it's free for the finding, and it just works

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Robbi]

ok, thats got to be good enough for me then.

thanks guys, i've been wondering about that for ages

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Happy firelighting

 

[dave53]

hi robbi what some of us do is cut it so it is like a rubber band wrap it round tent pegs or whatever you want bingo two uses regards dave

 

[shaggystu]

hi robbi what some of us do is cut it so it is like a rubber band wrap it round tent pegs or whatever you want bingo two uses regards dave

i do something very similar to this, but instead of cutting innertube down to make a rubber band i just use a rubber band!

for those of us with more hair than sense then hair bobbles are a good source of emergency firelighting rubber too.

stuart

 

[alan whelan]

Its not often you start a thread and get all the answers in half an hour. This is a great community. Long may it continue.
Alan.

 

[East Coaster]

Always have a bit of it in my firelighting kit.
And have been extremely happy to have had it on a few occasions!

 

[satosato]

Can i highjack this thread with perhaps a daftest question - are we talking about innertube from the bicycle wheel....?

 

[MartinK9]

Can i highjack this thread with perhaps a daftest question - are we talking about innertube from the bicycle wheel....?

Indeed, pop along to Halfords and ask at their repair centres for some.

 

[kennyboy]

Can i highjack this thread with perhaps a daftest question - are we talking about innertube from the bicycle wheel....?

Innertube from a bicycle/car tyre. To understand what its all about, get a bit and burn it! Its dirty and smelly but when you need a fire it works. If a bit of innertube doesn't light your fire then you're not having a fire.

 

[British Red]

sorry if this is a daft question, but.....

i've seen and heard folks on here talk about a bit of innertube in their fire lighting kit, ..... what for ?, what do you do with it ?

Cheers

Robbi

Robbi

Heres the gen

Importing refined hydrocarbons into the field is okay. If you are going to do that, there is no difference practically between

1) A piece of inner tube
2) A pint of petrol
3) A packet of individually wrapped firelighters

This stuff is for when all the bushcraft stuff fails and it reverts to the tools you carried in with you (aka survival rather than bushcraft)

The same holds true for cotton wool and vaseline - thats called "making a firelighter"

There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of it - nor should you be ashamed to have a pocket with a few sealed zip firelighters and a bic.

Its all camping after all - your level of self imposed hardship is up to you

Red