Almost started a fire in my pants once. Had some loose change, a 45-70 shell, and a nine volt battery in my pocket. Noticed my leg was getting really warm.
A pencil lead, two wires and a 9vt battery will also light a fire, or even the foil wrapper from your gum will work in a pinch. (Or for the more scientific among us, several tubes of superglue poured on cotton balls will produce spontaneous fire. Try it. wink )
Might explain some of those incidents where people just burst into flames!
Attention Shoppers! Don't carry superglue in the pocket of your Wranglers!
Google "lightning strike fire starter" made by a guy named Darrell Holland. Expensive but the best I've ever found. Buy ice, cry once.
_______________________ Proud deep sea diver for over 25 years, fairly paid and never once needed a union to do it for me. "if you can't do it-you can't stay"
"All that the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth." – Robert E. Lee
Using the back of a knife blade on those modern strikers might work if your knife is carbon steel. It doesn't work on most cheap stainless steel knives made today. I've found a piece of hack saw blade does fairly well. But I would never rely on those modern type strikers. My modern day fire kit consists of one bic lighter, one Zippo lighter with a tiny tabasco bottle of extra fluid, several storm proof matches and some homemade fire starters consisting of cotton dipped into melted candle wax.
I believe the most reliable primitive method is a bow drill. It doesn't need any charred materials and can be made on the spot with a knife and a good long shoelace. It would take longer to make it from scratch, but it will produce a coal that will ignite any good tender without char cloth.
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"All that the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth." – Robert E. Lee
Young guys don't know this, but years ago when shotgun ammo was a paper hull, a 16 or 20 gage hull would fit in a 12 gage hull amd it was pretty much water proof. Then you put some strike anywhere matches in the inner hull. When a fire was needed ,you sliced the hulls down long ways to the brass to make wicks. Darn good fire starters
Last edited by saddlesore; 08/23/19.
If God wanted you to walk and carry things on your back, He would not have invented stirrups and pack saddles
Problem with trioxane is puncture the foil and the bar will sublimate itself to nothing. Hexamine was better but had a yellow flame - which doesn't matter to mere humans.
The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh
Can you make a fuzz stick? If there's spruce around you have it made with dead branches on a live spruce. Deep in near the trunk where they're sheltered from rain.
A fuzz stick works...until your tail is frozen solid and your fingers and toes are immovable. Then you aren't going to screw with that. You want a fire and you want it NOW. I carry several kinds of tinder and the vasoline soaked cotton balls are the fastest. I also carry a couple commercial starter sticks for the cotton to light.
Yep it is hardest when you need it most. My winter kit includes a large Hot Hands hand warmer, cold weather and hypothermia combined can make you and your fingers clumsy. I try to start a fire w/ the contents of my HPG kit bag every day we hike in country w/out a fire hazard. My latest best thing is the Duraflame starter cubes, lights even w/ a mini bic in a windstorm, stuff a vaseline cotton ball in the open end of the package to start w/ a spark only.
mike r
Don't wish it were easier Wish you were better
Stab them in the taint, you can't put a tourniquet on that. Craig Douglas ECQC
A 9volt battery with 0000 steel wool, carried separated next to your body for warmth on the battery. That baby will glow whether wet or not for as long as the battery has power. It doesn't require fine motor skills either, for the most part.
But no questions asked, a road flare is the best thing out there when you really need it.
Almost started a fire in my pants once. Had some loose change, a 45-70 shell, and a nine volt battery in my pocket. Noticed my leg was getting really warm.
My brother did set his pants on fire, in public, with a 9vt battery, some loose change, and a book of matches. It got hot enough to ignite the matches! (Much to the vast amusement of the many females present as we stripped him.)
An unemployed Jester, is nobody's Fool.
the only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker, is observation. all the same data is present for both. The rest, is understanding what you're seeing.
A pencil lead, two wires and a 9vt battery will also light a fire, or even the foil wrapper from your gum will work in a pinch. (Or for the more scientific among us, several tubes of superglue poured on cotton balls will produce spontaneous fire. Try it. wink )
Might explain some of those incidents where people just burst into flames!
Attention Shoppers! Don't carry superglue in the pocket of your Wranglers!
It's an "endothermic" or "exothermic " reaction. (I can never remember which word is correct., but I think it is exothermic) "It does, however, require 3-4 tubes on 1-2 cotton balls, and a few minutes wait time. Learned how to do it in chemistry class.
An unemployed Jester, is nobody's Fool.
the only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker, is observation. all the same data is present for both. The rest, is understanding what you're seeing.
Cold, stiff, non-working, fingers is the reason I try to find piezo lighters.
Trying to spin the bic wheel and catch the valve trigger is kinda tough then.
For whatever reason those Bic wheels seem to clog up over a short time for me. I thought maybe it was crud from my pack so I checked by setting a couple of new lighters on the kitchen counter and over time it was more difficult to "spin the wheel". So I then checked some older lighters that were stashed for backup and the wheel was locked up tight. I could eventually work it free but if in a real need that might not be an option.
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