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I carry a FIRE STARTER KIT in a waterproof pouch that contains the following items:
Bic Lighter
Small box of waterproof matches (strike on box)
Small box of strike anywhere matches (not waterproof)
Flint Striker (will start your stove when matches get wet and lighter gets cold/wet)
Hemp Rope (16")
Phone Book Pages (several)
Fire Sticks (sawdust impregnated with paraffin)
Triox cube

I use to carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer (70% alcohol). But never used it, so I stopped carrying it.

If I'm going to be in a coastal rain forest, I carry a couple of small road flares.

When car camping I K.I.S.S. and use charcoal lighter fluid.

KC


Wind in my hair, Sun on my face, I gazed at the wide open spaces, And I was at home.





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The problem with strike on box matches is that the box wears out when 2/3 of the matches are left. Does anyone sell a striker that will light them instead of the box? I'd buy several if I could find them.

The current strike anywhere matches are a joke. They won't. I don't care if the junkies poison themselves making meth from matches. Why should the rest of us suffer because they're idiots? I want our good matches back.

When I'm car camping, I use a propane torch. It also goes along on llama pack trips when I don't have to carry it. It's great for lighting a tent stove.


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I love the film canister stuffed w/ dryer lint rolled with vasoline.

Stuff is amazing, tho my wife asked me one day why I had the gasoline by my work bench and was going through a brand new container so fast...

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[Linked Image]

Two lighters I use above. Both are piezo style, which I much prefer over butane flame. The low cost angled lighter is WAAAAY easier to start a fire with than the expensive Storm Proof orange one. The lid on the Storm proof monstrosity gets in the way of lighting tinder. The angled flame head on the cigar lighter is just right to light tinder and keep thumb and fingers from getting too hot if you keep the lighter going for several seconds.

I've got some Bics around but have had the striker mechanism come apart into tiny pieces in pocket or pack too may times to depend on any lighter of that type, including the angled cigar lighter shown above. My backup and which I use more than the lighters just to keep proficient, is the ferro flint and steel. I have ferro rods stuck in every pack, glove box, etc. With easily ignitable tinder they are as fast as a lighter and I can work them with cold hands better than flicking a lighter. My hands have been too cold to work a lighter but the flint and steel works with larger muscles, not just finger muscles.

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couple Bics & Swedish fire steal.

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Originally Posted by Okanagan
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Two lighters I use above. Both are piezo style, which I much prefer over butane flame.



I have two of those too. They don't work at altitude though. Even a bic has a measly flame at 11,000'. Best thing I've found at two miles high is a zippo.

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bic and a box of matches


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We don't hunt at those elevations here so I've never encountered that problem w the piezos.

We always have newspaper from wrapping things in panniers, but even when trying to keep it dry, it still gets damp enough to be junk for starting a fire.

We've been known to take the gas tank off the Coleman stove and use it as a torch. That gets a fire going pretty well.


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I don't know for sure what part of the bbq lighters that altitude affects but I think it's the butane. I've tried a dozen different brands and it's always the same. We camp above 6k regularly and they won't light. I don't think it's the piezo that fails. Our camper stove has one and it works anywhere but it's lighting propane.


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REPLACEMENT STRIKER SHEETS. I stumbled across this web page. They have full sheets of adhesive backed paper that are supposed to light all matches, including strike-on-box. I haven't tried any yet so I can't say if they work or not.
REPLACEMENT STRIKER SHEETS


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Originally Posted by Rock Chuck
The problem with strike on box matches is that the box wears out when 2/3 of the matches are left. Does anyone sell a striker that will light them instead of the box? I'd buy several if I could find them.

The current strike anywhere matches are a joke. They won't. I don't care if the junkies poison themselves making meth from matches. Why should the rest of us suffer because they're idiots? I want our good matches back.


I too have wondered where the "strike-anywhere" matches of old have gone. I even tried contacting Jarden home brands (owner of blue diamond match) pointing out that they are selling a "strike-anywhere" match that barely lights using the box and got a boilerplate "We have shared your concern with our Quality Assurance and Manufacturing Teams". I was also unable to determine if they were being used for meth - maybe users crush up the match head and mix it. Like an American version of brown-brown. At any rate, the best way to light them is with a bic, so that's what i carry.

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I think it's the phosphorus that the junkies use to make meth. No one has come up with a decent substitute for matches.

I ordered several of the replacement striker sheets that I posted about up above. They're pretty cheap. I'll report on them when I get them. They say they have phosphorus and work on both safety and strike-anywhere matches.


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I keep a bic on hand, but can't say I've used a lighter or match since a dozen or more backpack hunts ago. If I was still in MT hunting late Oct. and Nov. out of a pack that would be different. I use a striker to light my stove and keep an otherwise cold camp 99.9% of the time. Just how I do it.

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Originally Posted by Rock Chuck
I don't know for sure what part of the bbq lighters that altitude affects but I think it's the butane. I've tried a dozen different brands and it's always the same. We camp above 6k regularly and they won't light. I don't think it's the piezo that fails. Our camper stove has one and it works anywhere but it's lighting propane.

Rocky:

I live at 6,400' elevation and regularly camp at elevations between 11,000' and 12,000'. I've never had problems with butane failing to light. It performs poorly below freezing and fails all together below 0°F. If temps are warm, then higher altitude actually improves performance because the low ambient air pressure at high altitude increases the differential pressure between inside the canister and pressure outside the canister.

I think there's some other problem plaguing your BBQ lighters. Are they the kind that have the long pipe? If so, it takes an extra second or so for the pipe to fill with butane. You need to hold down the fuel button for a little while, then pull the trigger to light the flint striker.

The next time that you change the propane tank on your camper, and then use your camper stove, note that it takes a while for the pipes to fill with propane. And the stove won't light during that few seconds. Once the pipes have filled with propane, the stove lights properly every time. BBQ lighters work the same, only the pipe is shorter so the wait time is less.

KC


Wind in my hair, Sun on my face, I gazed at the wide open spaces, And I was at home.





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Originally Posted by Rock Chuck
REPLACEMENT STRIKER SHEETS. I stumbled across this web page. They have full sheets of adhesive backed paper that are supposed to light all matches, including strike-on-box. I haven't tried any yet so I can't say if they work or not.
REPLACEMENT STRIKER SHEETS

This is useful info.

Thanks

KC


Wind in my hair, Sun on my face, I gazed at the wide open spaces, And I was at home.





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I've seen large wood strike anywhere kitchen matches on the shelf at Sportsmans Warehouse. They work fine, just like those that we kept next to the kitchen stove when I was a kid. The newer strike anywhere matches have a smaller head.

You don't need to use the striker on the side of the box, but I do because it's convenient. Of course the striker on the side of the box wears out when the box is still half full of matches. The strikers that RockChuck referenced will be useful when that happens.

KC




Wind in my hair, Sun on my face, I gazed at the wide open spaces, And I was at home.





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For the fun of it, I emailed Diamond Matches and asked what they recommended to light their matches when the strip on the box wore out. I actually got a reply that's as useful as a hernia.


Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us to inquire about strike strips available. We do not provide the strike strip other than what is on the box. We regret to hear that the strike strip wears out. We will share your report with our Quality Assurance and Manufacturing Teams so they can take the appropriate steps to prevent an recurrence of this issue. To complete our report, we would like to gather more information:

· Are the matches kitchen or penny size?
· Production code – This is an alpha-numeric code that is stamp on the outside of the tray where the matches they.
· Place of purchase.

We will be sending you a product coupon to use on your next purchase of matches. We thank you for assisting us in maintaining the quality of our Diamond brands.

Sincerely,
Consumer Affairs Agent


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Originally Posted by Twobucks
I pack a small Bic -- but I usually start fires with a ferro steel striker with cottonballs smeared with vaseline. That will get a fire going in even the worst conditions and I find it far more reliable than the Bic. Not a knock on the little lighter, but wet fingers can cause them to crap out.


Surprised it took this long for someone to point that out. Wet thumb = dead Bic. Take it from a ski bum who's had occasion to light things on the mountain.

That said, I carry a couple mini-Bic's, and a small firemaking kit in a ziplock that has a couple resin sticks and a small box of waterproof matches. I got that from the Department of Redundancy Department.


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I use a Turboflame Ranger and it works fine. It is refillable butane and I never heard of it until I bought this thing but the instructions say you must use highly refined, zero impurity butane.....and they are right. But, if you fill it properly and use the correct butane it works great, in the rain or snow, wet or dry, wind or calm it lights. Amazon sells these things for $71.00, but I didn't buy mine there and I didn't pay no $71.00 for it either. 3" long, 1 1/2" wide at the widest point and has a hole for a lanyard. As long as I have this I cannot get lost in the woods...just look for the lone single hillbilly standing next to the 40,000 acre forest fire because if I don't know where I am I am burning the woods down!!!!! I wont be lost for long...wont be cold either.

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