Myke Hawke survival guy

[David.s]

im sure some of you will know who this guy is, from castaway exposed on bbc3.
i came across some vid clips on the discovery channel with him, and was watching one about a shelter in the rain forest he does it under a tree trunk thingy, he is ex specOps and a trainer etc, and obviously does this thing alot. but i thought sleeping in this way would be a bit dodgy with possible snakes etc crawling down the tree.

this is the link and its clip titled "machatte"
http://dsc.discovery.com/beyond/ind...11706&categoryId=278035962&lineupId=277013944

also some other good wee clips on there.

 

[Matt Weir]

I'm sure the bloke has probably forgotten more than I know but having a cheapo disposable lighter as his means of firelighting seems a bit wrong. Surely a Turboflame would be a better option?

 

[bambodoggy]

I'm sure the bloke has probably forgotten more than I know but having a cheapo disposable lighter as his means of firelighting seems a bit wrong. Surely a Turboflame would be a better option?

I don't think it makes much difference Matt...a lighter is a lighter and as a smoker I can tell you that a standard disposable bic type lighter lasts a fair while longer than a turbo flame lighter, in fact I had a double turbo flame that a mate bought me and smoking 20 a day it was empty of gas in under a week.....the bic will las over a month!
The disposable also weights much less and costs next to nothing.....and if the gas does run out then you could at a push still use the flint striker whereas the turbo flame uses electronic ignition.

Turbo flames look the dogs danglies but my personal choice would be the cheapy one too

Cheers,

Bam.

 

[Silverback]

Turbo flames look the dogs danglies but my personal choice would be the cheapy one too

Yup - I echo that Bam they look the dogs bo**ocks but are in fact total bo**ocks - I hate mine

 

[Matt Weir]

Fair enough but in my experience, when I'm lighting a fire on the allotment (where it is pretty exposed) and starting with natural tinder rather than paper my Turboflame has been very reliable whereas if I use the wifes chuckaway I usually end up with burnt fingers and thumbs and cussing a lot .

One downside could be the electronic ignition rather than the basic flint system of the standard chuckaway.

As they say - each to their own eh?

 

[Silverback]

Fair enough but in my experience, when I'm lighting a fire on the allotment (where it is pretty exposed) and starting with natural tinder rather than paper my Turboflame has been very reliable whereas if I use the wifes chuckaway I usually end up with burnt fingers and thumbs and cussing a lot .

You are lighting natural tinder with a gas lighter oh the horror of it Give it a blast with the firesteel!

 

[Matt Weir]

You are lighting natural tinder with a gas lighter oh the horror of it Give it a blast with the firesteel!

LOL - I know I should more often, it's not like I couldn't do with the practice.

OK, I hereby promise to take the firesteel with me to the allotment and not be so lazy from this day forth!

Just to add: I have been on the lookout for some decent pieces of wood to make a bowdrill set as that's my next aim.

 

[Silverback]

LOL - I know I should more often, it's not like I couldn't do with the practice.

OK, I hereby promise to take the firesteel with me to the allotment and not be so lazy from this day forth!

Just to add: I have been on the lookout for some decent pieces of wood to make a bowdrill set as that's my next aim.

Good Boy

 

[andyn]

Yup - I echo that Bam they look the dogs bo**ocks but are in fact total bo**ocks - I hate mine

Yup and they don't work in the cold or damp.

 

[bushwacker bob]

They dont work when the tungsten filament disintergrates either(usually after a couple of weeks regular use.)

 

[Wayland]

In fact if you come and see me at the Delamere weekend I'll show you how to do it with traditional flint and steel....

 

[Matt Weir]

In fact if you come and see me at the Delamere weekend I'll show you how to do it with traditional flint and steel....

Your on! Cheers Gary (or do you prefer Wayland?)

 

[8thsinner]

I carry my zippo, with a spare fuel carry tube on my key ring, With loads of extra flints inside a straw in my wallet and a few spare wicks. I have also got a inner tube cut to size for sealing in the fuel when in desperation.
Reasons
Spare fuel of course...
Emtpy fuel tin makes a great spindle holder...
Bottom of tin can ground up seeds...
Without wick, stuff cattail on top and zippo still works...
Wicks plus tin plus fats can make a candle...
Tin can be used to carry small amounts of other liquids.

Theres a few reasons for my carrying of a zippo over a bic, but I do aggree that a bic is a great lighter. There are however bic like lighters now which have built in leds, I have seen them only in green, blue and red, but obviously they carry less gas than a regular bic would.

Of course I have a fire steel too.

 

[Silverback]

In fact if you come and see me at the Delamere weekend I'll show you how to do it with traditional flint and steel....

Show Off

 

[mrostov]

For just rambling in the bush nowadays I mostly just carry a disposable butane lighter and a magnesium fire tool. I prefer the small mini-Bic disposable lighters.

I carry a cut-down magnesium fire tool in a pocket on my multi-tool pouch for emergencies and I'll usually have a mini-Bic lighter in a shirt pocket or belt pouch for regular use.

With my food/rations I'll usually have some paper book matches as an extra backup. I'll often toss in with my pack or coat pocket as a 'just in case' thing an extra, waterproof, sealed 'accessory packet' from a US military MRE. This is a small, sealed pouch that comes standard inside an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat). It normally contains moisture resistant book matches, salt, pepper, sugar, toilet tissue, a small mini-bottle of Tabasco Sauce, a couple of pieces of chewing gum, a packet of instant coffee, and some powdered coffee creamer.

 

[Glen]

I keep a mini Clipper refilable, not quite as small as the mini Bic but it has the advantage of easily replacing the stiker mechanism, pull it out drop in the spare that's kept in a waterproof bag and it's good to go again.
This overcomes, what I see as, the main disadvantage of stardard gas flint lighter, a couple of drops of rain in the wrong place and they don't spark until dry again.

An advantage they have over the turbo type is the light given out by the flame can be used to find that battery I dropped while changing the ones in the torch

 

[kb31]

you can put a hole in a clipper lighter about 20 mm under the bit you push down
you can put a keyring on them
also if you duck tape a bit of paracord around the ends so you can still
use the lighter you can wrap about 15-20 yds of fishing line in between
duck tape some hooks etc over the top of the line
i don't really use a survival tin any more but it would only just fit in
when i used one

 

[John Fenna]

I too hve had too many Turbos die on me to trust them.
Now IF I take a lighter along it tends to be a cheap throw away... as a back up to flint and steel, bowdrill and fire steel...paranoid or just prepared?
John

 

[Matt Weir]

In fact if you come and see me at the Delamere weekend I'll show you how to do it with traditional flint and steel....

Damn it, I totally forgot to bring this up at the meet .I'll collar you at the next meet Gary

 

[ddokkum]

In my opinion this whole Mike Hawk guy is dodgy. And I wouldn’t spend a night in the jungle with him. But maybe it is the way how he presents himself. Specops trainer blah blah. I have seen all kinds of US special forces in Norway and they all were special forces ski instructors, SF survival goeroes etc. But they walked away at the end of the day with all kinds of cold weather injuries. Not really impressed.