Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Fire starters

Truth, what are your favorites? I tend to listen to when Northern folk talk about cold fingers. Old age and wrist injuries has resulted in my having trouble keeping my hands warm.



mike r

No brand fave.
I used to get them at the tobacco shop. Now it seems they are all dope shops. Have not been in one yet.

The time I burned down that barn I used Charmin and book matches.

Very effective.

I might as well add my two cents! I make fire starters for all the kids, using empty skoal cans. Cut cardboard into strips that will roll and fit in the can. Take a strip of cotton rag that will also wrap with the cardboard, it's the wick! Melt paraffin wax and fill the can. When dry put two or three strike anywhere matches on top, put the lid on! You now have a candle that will burn hot and kindle most fuel! I have used these on the coast where the only fuel is knots from old dead trees! Even wet pitch soaked knots burn well! In the desert sage works as well!!

Napalm and white phosphorus are quite effective.

(Mic drop, and walk away)

I've never had any trouble finding kindling and fire starter under the thicker spruce trees even in the wettest conditions. That schitt takes off quick too.







Trioxane isn't that bad. It's hexane that'll kill ya which trioxane replaced.






I don't like or trust any butane lighter in the cold. A Zippo or two with a bottle of extra fuel and flints are the way to go. They light at any temperature. I actually use Coleman fuel for lighters and liquid fuel-fired handwarmers. It's cheaper and eliminates the need to buy and carry different fuels, especially if you already carry a liquid-fuel stove on your outings.

Have never heard a negative on zippos. Ive just never owned one. Probably should fix that.

The fuel evaporates...

Does inner tube wrap not solve that?

But you can use anything for fuel, naptha to gasoline. Real Zippos always work, the imitations depend on how your luck is jolding.

That's what an old Athabaskan man up here in Alaska told me.... " Indian method - cuppa diesel works every time!"

Tag for later reference

ZIPPO. You can roll the wheel against your leg, your sleeve, or about anything else to light it. If you can grasp the case at all, you can light it. And, it stays lit without having your frozen thumb on the lever. In an emergency, it's 100X better than a Bic. Yes, it has to be refilled every so often but that's not really an issue. Just fill it before you leave home. I keep a piece of bike inner tube around mine and it slows down the evaporation of the fluid.
If your hands are too cold to light a Zippo, read London's 'To Build a Fire' to see your future.

Just remember to bring extra fuel and flints

For BIC lighters, the first thing I do when I buy one is take off that stupid child safety device. Makes it much better.

Most just use a small length of course hacksaw blade with a ferrocerium stick, it also makes the production of sawdust/slivers easy.

Yup. Read that many times. It strikes a chord after many subzero winters in Fairbanks. I have a feeling for how quickly one can become too cold to function.

Now, I’m far more concerned with wet hypothermia than cold/dry hypothermia.

I guess it would be impractical to outfit the Boy Scouts with a $15.00 butane cigar lighter, but holly smokes does that little pocket-able four head mini blowtorch ever throw a hot flame. Knock on wood, I've never needed to make an emergency fire, but if I did, that Firebird lighter is in my back pack at all times. In the driving wind, snow or rain isn't the time to discover that your $.99 cent Bic lighter won't work in the wind and rain. Back in Boy Scout camp we tried rubbing sticks together and what we made was a blister and a warm stick.

Sure does. Guarantee it.



L.W.