Need some help with equipment

[Nikolai]

Ok, i'm not exactly the most prepared person in the world... but i need help on what things i need. So far i have:

Firesteel (which sucks, lit 1 fire with and used it countless times with no avail)
Small Stove
Knife
Sleeping Bag
Tent (always carry it around for backup)

And thats about it, might have missed a couple of things.

I also need a good recommendation on walking/hiking boots that arn't too expensive but fairly decent.

Any help much appreciated.

Skal and Hail,
Nikolai

 

[leon-b]

what have you been trying to light with the firesteel as it could be the stuff you are trying to light as opossed to the firesteel
leon

 

[Nikolai]

Silver Birch bark everytime, just stuff i know burns well in general.

 

[leon-b]

was it tissue paper thin ?, try buffing it up in your hands (put it in your hands and rub your hands together) that should help it
leon

 

[spamel]

It should work, it's all in the prep. Have you shaved the surface of the birch bark so that you end up with thinner than paper bits sticking up? They will go up in no time.

Try boots out yourself as people have different shaped feet and one person may love a boot which will cripple you. When you want to search for boots, do it after lunchtime or a couple of miles walk. Your feet will swell up after a bit of walking, it's natural, so you don't want your boots to be too tight a fit. Also, take the socks that you will be wearing with you, there's no point trying on a boot with a thin sock on if you will wear thick wooly socks when you go out in them.

Try surplus stores if you are after a cheap boot that will support the ankle and be pretty much waterproof. Treat them with dubbin and they won't leak. Also, buy some gaiters, they will help keep the water out and protect the lower legs from long wet grass and rogue bramble attacks!

If you want a more expensive boot, try meindl's, lowa's or scarpa's fitted with berghaus yeti gaiters. Expensive but good.

 

[Nikolai]

I made sure they were paper thin, but never tried the buffig up thing, i'll give it a go, thanks.

 

[Nikolai]

It should work, it's all in the prep. Have you shaved the surface of the birch bark so that you end up with thinner than paper bits sticking up? They will go up in no time.

Try boots out yourself as people have different shaped feet and one person may love a boot which will cripple you. When you want to search for boots, do it after lunchtime or a couple of miles walk. Your feet will swell up after a bit of walking, it's natural, so you don't want your boots to be too tight a fit. Also, take the socks that you will be wearing with you, there's no point trying on a boot with a thin sock on if you will wear thick wooly socks when you go out in them.

Try surplus stores if you are after a cheap boot that will support the ankle and be pretty much waterproof. Treat them with dubbin and they won't leak. Also, buy some gaiters, they will help keep the water out and protect the lower legs from long wet grass and rogue bramble attacks!

If you want a more expensive boot, try meindl's, lowa's or scarpa's fitted with berghaus yeti gaiters. Expensive but good.

Ok dude, thanks, i'll keep all that in mind. Never knew prep of SB bark was so important lol.

 

[spamel]

If you think about it, the sparks don't last very long so you need to help them do their job as much as possible. A good back up tinder for you to take along is cotton wool balls soaked in vaseline. They go up really well and last a lot longer than plain cotton wool. Tamp a load into a film cannister and put it somewhere in your kit so that you can get it if you need to resort to it.

If you collect the papery bits of birch bark that naturally sheds from the trees, you can stuff it into your pocket as you walk into your area that you want to stay. You will end up with quite a bit, and it goes up with a good spark. Also, as it has been in your pocket it will dry out and then you will have a first rate tinder.

 

[British Red]

Nikolai,

As a practice, get a pice of cotton wool. Fluff it right apart. Light that. If that works, rub some vaseline into it (seriously). It'll light the same but burn longer. Thenk make some charcloth and try that (see some tips on making charcloth here)

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=13115&highlight=Charcloth

Try holding the striker or knife still and pulling the fire steel upwards. Also increase the striker pressure - you should be able to make sparks that "fizz" for a couple of seconds

After that do the thing with Birch bark. scrape it with a knife or pull apart with your finger nails until it is much finer than tissue paper (thinner than sunburned skin peeling off ) scrumple a bowl full of bits into a loose ball and light that

If all that fails - PM me for a lesson!

Red

 

[British Red]

Great minds Spamel me old mucker

 

[Nikolai]

Great suggestions guys, thank you all very much. I'll be a busy boy tomorrow

 

[Nikolai]

Just tried the cotton wool and vasalene trick - i'm going out tomorrow to buy infinate amounts of cotton wool and vasalene, it works wonders!

Thanks for that tip! :You_Rock_ (just wanted to use that emoticon lol)

 

[Pablo]

If you want to expand on the items on your original list try:

Tarp
Hammock
Laplander folding saw

This will give you a bit more flexibility and if you shop around, tehy aren't too expensive.

Pablo

 

[British Red]

Axe!!!!!!!!!!

 

[huntersforge]

Axe!!!!!!!!!!

Well said Red , I would happily do without Tarp , hammock & laplander as long i had my GB.

 

[big_swede]

Agree with red. This thread maybe could serve as a guideline to some kit.

Remember that you most often get what you pay for.

 

[cyclist]

just back from testing my tiny little micro hatched (a small tree suffered from a recent storm), yes an AXE is what a man needs. Took my small Kelly with me for a tea break, made the tree ready to be transported in the trailer (Bob Yak). Another nolazy day.
Conclusion: hatchets are no toys - they are real tools

What else do you need:
A small stove (as you probably know by now I´m one of those poor ... I´m a stove collector currently fascinated by the Caldera Cone ) and ....

... Imagination & Inspiration

 

[Nikolai]

Im looking around for axe's... found some fairly decent ones at good prices.

Aklso, bought some boots aswell... not exactly pro, but they'll do for now, and they were £25 http://www.summitteam.net/shop_view.asp?id=624

 

[Voivode]

Back to firesteels for a moment, I've had good success lighting wood shavings. If you're like me and end up making a great big pile of them when crafting feather sticks, just gather them up in a mound on a piece of bark. Fling sparks into them and presto! Transfer bark and smouldering shaving pile to your ready wood and you're off.

It goes even easier with a bunch of magnesium shaved into it!