Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game starting a fire without matches

I vac pac 10 matches and some dryer lint/vaseline in small packages and then keep one of each in the pockets of my pants and coat. Also have magnesium starter and the sawdust sticks in my pack. I've tested using both, but hope I never need to in an emergency.

GRF;
The little lighter/torch jobs were about $20 at Cdn Tire, but for the life of me I can't find them on their website right now and I did buy the last one at least two years ago.

On a wild hunch seeing one somewhere else, I see Cabelas US has exactly the same lighter.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Turbo-Lite-Lighter/748090.uts?

I've picked up 3 over the years and they all worked quite well at various elevations and temperatures.

HugAJ gave the right name for the string I was trying to describe by the way. I must try waxing some as he suggested. As I said, the stuff we get at the local dollar store isn't much as far as string is concerned, but it does burn easily.

Scott's flare idea is a standard with the Search and Rescue folks here in the southern interior. I've always got a couple in the truck, but must admit to not packing them in my already too heavy day pack.

Thanks again for the interesting reading in this thread and of course thanks to all who've provided such excellent suggestions.

All the best to you and yours GRF.

Dwayne

I just use cotton balls with liquid paraffin and a ronson that has been moded to a torch flame...works every time.

Steel wool will get red hot with a tiniest spark. A 9 volt battery will also get steel wool going.

Try lighting a Dorito or like corn chip.

Birch bark lights easily and burns hot.

Yellow pine will light easily and burn hot. You can light a 4x4 while wet, and the oils in the wood never dries out; I've used 100 year old 2x4s to start fires.

9v battery and steel wool that has vasaline and bees wax, plus wind proof "life boat matches", a small flare and a candle, taking a loaded cartdrige stick the bullet in the muzzle and pry off the bullet and take the powder out of a couple and then put the primed case in the rifle and fire it at the powder, will ignite it and start any good kindling.

Like others, I subscribe to the "carry multiple" methods philosophy. There's usually the water-proof matches, bic, small lantern candle, and my goto option...petro-balls (simply vasoline laced cotton balls) and ferrocerium/steel. I usually take the cheap waterproof match canisters (empty the usually crappy matches) and stuff them with the petro-balls. I've found it more important to have the proper tinder ready (and enough of it) when it comes time to light up. Practice pays dividends as well...who doesn't enjoy the challenge of fire.

Yep, on tinder. Mostly carry 2 vitamin bottles of lint both laced with magnesium dust/shavings, with one vasiline for damp wet condition. Then a third with tinder fungus for the fire pistion. So, firepiston and ferrocerium rod n striker, along with a bic lighter or 2. At least one of either the firesteel or firepiston with enough tinder in a small zip lock is on my person at all times, rather than all in a pack. Just in case I get seperated form the pack. I often thought about getting one of these as well, for backup.
http://store.sundancesolar.com/sospliposiso.html
Really don't need the lighters with either of the other 2. I suppose I really should take waterproof matches as well, just the other 2, I haven't found a need. On the other hand, one can't have too many ways to make heat, as long as it's packable and don't reqiure much space. And speaking of space,,,,also have 1-2 space blankets in the back pocket as well. They by themselves, or to line a quick wikiup, are worth it. And with a wikiup or leanto in mind for emergency shelter, a small roll of clear poly for a front, one can keep a shelter toasty in freezing weather. For the most part, most all of this stuff wouldn't take up hardly room fanny pack, or bellow pockets so it's always with you.
Didn't mean to get sidetracked there! Just when talking fire,,,,heat, shelter, and water, kinda go hand in hand when in need.

Dwayne, thanks for searching that out!

Thanks for all of the great ideas guys. GRF

cotton balls with paraffin wax poured on them in an egg crate. Then cut up for carrying.

I carry a Blastmatch. It can be used one handed and puts out more sparks than anything else I have seen. Blastmatch

I have the earlier version, but it requires 2 hands to operate.

Western Washington is fairly wet during hunting season. I've actually tried to start a fire a couple times in the field just to test my skills, and the big problem I had wasn't a reliable source for flame (all of the above-mentioned items work fine), but rather, it was finding any quantity of suitably dry fuel. Everything was wet through and through.

The best fuel I could find was old rotten stumps. If you tear into them, the centers are sometimes dry. But finding enough burnable wood to last an entire night was next to impossible the two times I tried.

pitch stumps........

Pitch stumps?

A lighter and a can of OFF bug spray works well even with wet tender...a skill learned at scout camp!

Also referred to some as fatwood...

When a Pine tree is burned or sometimes even dies of old age the stump has a concentration of pitch (resin) in it. It almost looks like amber in heavy concentrations. Highly flammable and virtually impervious to water.

I hate wikipedia but this might help http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_%28resin%29


Next time I am out I will find one to take pictures of and cut off a sample.

I have seen these stumps or knots explode when tossed in a fire in a fire place.

Hmmm...I've never encountered a high concentration of pitch in Douglas Fir stumps. Does logging prevent this from happening? Logging is the sole source of stumps in the area I hunt. No fires or trees dying of old age.

Wade;
I trust this finds you and your fine family doing acceptably well sir.

We find what we call "fat wood" or pitch seams in larch more often than Doug fir and even then find it in about one out of ten or so trees. I should note that I have found it in Doug firs on occasion though.

Most often it looks to me like an injury to the tree somehow and around here that's usually a stress crack caused by high winds. We have micro burst storms here quite often - actually we found some fresh blow downs this weekend from a Thursday night zephyr that went through.

Anyway I think it's the trees that stay up but get stress cracks that have the larger pitch seams. They are usually closer to the base and may run as long as 5'-7' up.

The ones you want of course are those in which the pitch has absorbed into the wood fiber and not just dripping out and clogging your chainsaw - such as the last Doug fir our daughter and I tied into did. I will say it absolutely waterproofed my gloves though.

If you ever get up this way Wade, I have boxes - large boxes - of the stuff saved up and you'd be welcome to it.

Hopefully that all made a bit of sense? Thanks for the kind comments on my photo thread sir and again all the best to you and yours.

Dwayne

Pitch stumps (also know as "lighter wood" here in the south) are used in making explosives. Years ago the SCL RR between Jacksonville and Wilmington NC would be lined with Hercules Chemical Co. gondola cars filled with yellow pine stumps left from logging operations, on their way to being used in the manufacture of explosives. We learned in the Scouts to gather lighter wood when we found it and chop it with a hand ax and save for lighting fires. Even years after gathering the lighter wood it would retain a very strong odor of resin. The RR tracks were taken up 25 or so years ago so I don't see the cars anymore, could be moved by truck now if they still are used by the chemical companies, but I don't know about that.

Where is a source to find the road or railroad type flares?