What's in your fire kit?

[Post Tenebras Lux]

I couldn't find one in this forum so I thought I'd make a thread so we can share ideas and experiences.

I'll have to get some pictures taken later when there's hopefully a bit more natural light or my camera is awful.

I am trying to find some more options for sustainable 'products' I can use when I am just out and about when I can just harvest some material as and when to use in the future and ultimately, at least as realistically as possible, moving away from store-bought things.

Part of my enjoyment with camping and bushcraft is the resourcefulness of it and I personally feel closer to the environment when I am understanding better what it can provide.

So, what's in your fire kit?

Right now I have very little tinder. I have some fatwood chunks and I am about to go to the woods where I have permissions and grab a bracket for some amadou that I'll process after Christmas. I haven't managed to find any cramp balls yet but I am looking forward to finding some and seeing how well they keep and what their 'shelf life' is in a kit or if they're basically good to go as soon as they're harvested until they're used at any date.

I have a lighter just in case, a fire steel(quite a large one) and a piece of flint I found that I hope to use with a steel I'll probably grab after Christmas.



Cheers

 

[forrestdweller]

the firekit in my edc bag consists at the moment of:
-home-made leather pouch with #1 metal tin (held close with rangerband- can double up as firestarter...) with magnifying glass, some fatwood sticks, 2pieces of jute twine (emergency use only), 2pieces of flint, raku-raku striker (getting replaced with traditional japanese striker soon!) #2 char tube/rope lighter #3 container with matches (emergency only -been there for years without touching them-- if i can get hold of a good permanent match i'm going to replace them with that...)
- tin of charcloth- punctured on side of lid (holes matching for making , holes not matching for storage)

when out walking i always keep my eyes open for punkwood and other tinder; if i plan to use it i also carry a bowdrill socket in my bag


in my backapck i carry an ""aussie survival tool"" (=ferro rod/magnesium bar combination in wooden handle- gift from a friend), and an "evil magic" (=lighter- normally this word is taboo around me - i have not used them for over four years now...), both only carried in case of serious emergencies...

 

[Goatboy]

I was lucky enough to be given a Hudson Bay Fire Kit a year or two back. (In copper which was my favourite too).
As well as its contents I have a nice Ferro rod in a leather holder (I don't like them attached to my knife sheath and never use my knife as a striker if at all possible.
As well as the magnifying glass on my Hudson Bay Fire I have a small horn folding loup in my possibles pouch. (Also handy for first aid and plant ident.)
Like you I generally carry a conventional lighter as the point of it all is that you survive if all else fails.
In my tinder pouch I carry a candle stub/tealight and an ingot of beeswax. A tin of charcloth, hemp/capok fibers, sulphur matches, fatwood, reedhead down, and thistle down (I'm lucky that I have a profusion of thistle here), amadu, a couple of King Alfred cake fungi (those are hard to come by 'round here) and plenty of pine resin which I regularly go out for to keep topped up.
We did a "Show us your tinder pouches" photo thread a whiles back, started by Clouston98 I think. Worth digging out if you have the time.
I do like using my flint & steel, gives a sense of satisfaction. I have managed with a fire drill in the past but would never claim to be a master of it like some here, it's a whole different fetish. Have always wanted a fire piston but don't have the spare cash. One of my friends is a chemist and we occasionally challenge him to start a fire with collections of random household goods which is entertaining, though can go awry like the time he blew up the grate in his fireplace. He slightly overlooked it due to being slightly under the influence of alcohol.
If you like I'll send you a heap of thistle down next year when it's out again? All I collected this year has already been parceled out to friends I'm afraid.
ATB,
GB.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[copper_head]

Here's my flint and steel fire kit...

My regular fire kit consists of a oilskin tobacco pouch with a ferro rod, Bic, hammaro tindercard and what ever birch bark I've collected.

 

[snozz]

I couldn't find one in this forum so I thought I'd make a thread so we can share ideas and experiences.

I'll have to get some pictures taken later when there's hopefully a bit more natural light or my camera is awful.

I am trying to find some more options for sustainable 'products' I can use when I am just out and about when I can just harvest some material as and when to use in the future and ultimately, at least as realistically as possible, moving away from store-bought things.

Part of my enjoyment with camping and bushcraft is the resourcefulness of it and I personally feel closer to the environment when I am understanding better what it can provide.

So, what's in your fire kit?

Right now I have very little tinder. I have some fatwood chunks and I am about to go to the woods where I have permissions and grab a bracket for some amadou that I'll process after Christmas. I haven't managed to find any cramp balls yet but I am looking forward to finding some and seeing how well they keep and what their 'shelf life' is in a kit or if they're basically good to go as soon as they're harvested until they're used at any date.

I have a lighter just in case, a fire steel(quite a large one) and a piece of flint I found that I hope to use with a steel I'll probably grab after Christmas.



Cheers

Evening. Would you like a large piece of cramp ball? Have some spare...

Snozz

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[SGL70]

....ok...I am cheating....but I am thinking of getting a ferro-rod

 

[Bishop]

I haven't managed to find any cramp balls yet but I am looking forward to finding some and seeing how well they keep and what their 'shelf life' is in a kit or if they're basically good to go as soon as they're harvested until they're used at any date.

Good question! Have spent the last twenty minutes rummaging through my collection of "may be useful" boxes (or junk as the wife calls it) and the answer may surprise you. Daldinia concentrica aka cramp-balls stored in dry conditions will catch a spark from a ferro rod after twelve months. The container these were kept in was not airtight so the outer layer has absorbed some atmospheric moisture giving a crumbly fudge like exterior texture that will not burn but the inside layers are still crisp & dry... and currently stinking out the office.

Main fire kit at the moment is a ferro rod and birch bark. As I have to pass near several of these trees every time I go to town or shopping it makes sense to detour a little and grab a few handfuls each time.

 

[Fraxinus]

Posted my latest fire kit up here
Like many others a ferro rod and birch bark are the go to method but the flint and steel with char cloth is quite a satisfying way to go.