Here's a dilemma I often find myself in. Wonder what you all think.
Now, I love the whole bushcraft thing (a term that still forces a wry smle on my face). I like the idea of practising self-sufficient skills that mean I can look after myself if left high and dry in an environment (temperate, preferably).
But here's a thing: fire.
At my core, if I am to be honest, I feel the only felicitous thing to do is to be able to make a fire from what you find available to you. But I can't do that. God knows I have tried, but I can't. So I, like the vast majority (I suspect), take with me a fire steel and vaseline coated cotton wool. Ignites like a treat.
Because I haven't used a lighter I tell myself that I have practised a skill. Starting a fire with a lighter seems infelicitous (if I find myself in schtum I may not have a lighter to hand).
But that's nonsense, isn't it? What's the difference between starting a fire with a prepared medium (cotton wool) and a shop bought product (fire steel) and starting a fire with a lighter?
None, to be honest. Does anyone else see that irony?
So my question is this: what do you use to start a fire, and why?
Now, I love the whole bushcraft thing (a term that still forces a wry smle on my face). I like the idea of practising self-sufficient skills that mean I can look after myself if left high and dry in an environment (temperate, preferably).
But here's a thing: fire.
At my core, if I am to be honest, I feel the only felicitous thing to do is to be able to make a fire from what you find available to you. But I can't do that. God knows I have tried, but I can't. So I, like the vast majority (I suspect), take with me a fire steel and vaseline coated cotton wool. Ignites like a treat.
Because I haven't used a lighter I tell myself that I have practised a skill. Starting a fire with a lighter seems infelicitous (if I find myself in schtum I may not have a lighter to hand).
But that's nonsense, isn't it? What's the difference between starting a fire with a prepared medium (cotton wool) and a shop bought product (fire steel) and starting a fire with a lighter?
None, to be honest. Does anyone else see that irony?
So my question is this: what do you use to start a fire, and why?