I'm an assistant scout leader. We do a lot of survival stuff and a good part of it is fire starting. Every boy carries an emergency striker of some kind which has led to an interesting conclusion.

In using 10 or more brands of strikers, we've found that some work FAR better than others. Some will throw an inferno while others won't hardly throw any spark at all. What we've found is this. Almost all strikers have the same ferrocerium rods. However, the steels are dramatically different. If you have a good steel, it will throw good sparks from any rod. If you don't, you won't get a spark no matter what rod you use it with. At least half of the strikers on the market are made with soft, inferior steel that can't throw a spark. Any $5 pocket knife will get a much bigger spark than those will.

example: I have 2 strikers made by Strike Force. The big one, the Strike Force, will light up a forest. The small one, the Spark Force, is supposed to be a sized down version but the steel in it is useless. The high quality steel of the Strike Force will throw excellent sparks from any ferrocerium rod we tried it on. The soft steel in the Spark Force won't throw a spark no matter what rod we tried it on.

Try yours. If you don't get a spark like the one in this pic, try your knife on it. You can get a good steel from Amazon to replace yours for very little money. I just carry a small, cheap folding knife that I don't mind using for this.
The Chinese have found a bunch of suckers in the American outdoors and they market a lot of worthless crap. This is just one more.

to be honest, I carry a BIC lighter to start fires. Works much quicker than strikers. That said, I always have a good ferrocerium rod in my fire starter kit. For a striker, I use a bit of hacksaw blade. Never found anything better as a striker.
My kit has dryer lint and fat wood in it, waterproof matches, a ferrocerium rod, striker, BIC lighter, and the essentials for a fire drill. I can start a dang fire anywhere.

I use a small propane torch.

I ain't no scout, dats fer sure.

Diesel works well too. 😂

A little motor oil will get even wet wood burning.

Virgil B.

Grown ups use gasoline

Drier lint: works good if you collect it after drying 100% cotton, like towels. Polyester lint won't light nearly as well. Also, federal regulations require childrens' clothes to be fireproofed. Lint from those won't light at all.
The best tinder I've found is the good old Vaseline covered cotton ball. Coat the outside but keep the inside dry. Pull it apart and throw the spark inside. It will light instantly and take off, no blowing needed.

lighter: I've found that a good old Zippo is better than a Bic, even if you have to refill it periodically. For 1 thing, you can set it down while it's burning. With a Bic, you have to keep your thumb on the lever. If your hands are frozen, you can light a Zippo on your sleeve, pants, or whatever and you don't have to keep a frozen thumb on a lever to keep it lit.
A Zippo will light at any temperature or altitude. A Bic can give you problems.

hacksaw blades: They're made of very hard steel, the stuff that a striker's steel SHOULD be made of. Most of them are cheap, soft steel. That's the whole point of my OP.

RC, I have been doing this stuff for 65+ years. I pretty much know the ins and outs. My kit, as is I am sure, yours, is tailored to my AO. When I travel and camp in more northern climes, I adjust the kit.

Indian fire starter for me. Yep gasoline


Indians were a practical sort, they’d have used gas if available to them.



But the op makes a valid observation, not all fire starters are born equal.


From tents to tits, best to try out all your gear before taking it on the real deal.


These woods almost make it too easy, spruce pitch and birch bark, even when wet make for great fire starters.

If you can forge something use an old file. Or have someone help you with it. Most of my muzzleloading gang would help anyone out if they ask. Be Well. Rusty

The blast match has a helluva ferro rod in it as well as the steel, but the steel is attached with a flimsy hinge & can be prone to failure. If that was improved it could be the best out there. But the strike force is great, & I like the little storage area.

When looking for butane lighters, check out the flat, translucent looking ones. Calico is one brand. In my state they are adjustable, & the child proof feature isn't adult proof. I much prefer them over a Bic for a couple things; the translucency allows for quick ID of fuel level, &, with a bit of tinkering they can be readjusted to obtain a 3" flame. This comes in handy in some situations.

Yep, I could build a fire in a car wash.

A cut short jig saw, or sawsall blade cut down works on my mag starter.

I'm aiming this at the guys on here who don't have the experience. I've been outside for more than 50 years and have never had to start an emergency fire...yet. But practice makes perfect.

Same here with the ZIPPO. Easy to use, works in windy weather, and can even work like a candle. Been my "always with me" choice for 70 years.

L.W.

No emergency fires needed in all my thousands of outings. As you said, it’s nice to know you can do if you have to do. 😁

I have one of those fire starters.

Never worked worth a dang.

Know I know why! Thanks.

Highway Flares work good.

I prefer diesel over gas less explosive to start bonfires

Moochelle O'Bummer's book makes for a good fire starter too, so does "It takes a Village".

Yep, never use gas...unless you enjoy being burnt to a crisp.

Diesel only, for bonfires.

This one will last a lifetime, and be passed down. Koa wood handle. 1/2" magnesium rod, 1/2" ferro rod. Works wet or dry.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/galleries/14070930#Post14070930

I have a FC rod that has Mg embedded in it. Scrape that on a VCB and it will almost light from a mean look. It has a ~2" piece of hacksaw blade tied to it.

We needed an emergency fire one time after yet to g in a little jackpot - long story that's best to.d over a fire and cold beer.

We had matches, strikers, Mg, VCBs, lighters. When it's raining, and has been, and everydamnthing is soaked, finding something the next size up to add is the problem.

We had to break apart branches to get the bits of dry wood inside.
Much better experience in retrospect.

I use a map gas torch and striker to start fires, to hell with matches.

When I was a little kid I saw an uncle almost flambe himself with gas on a fire. Sacred the crap out of him and Grampa who told him not to do it.

How many ways to start a fire do you need to carry? I follow the old Boy Scout ideal that if you can't start a fire with one match you should stay in sight of civilization/

Kerry Carver not only makes great calls, but he also makes amazing fire rods too. I like the magnesium type rods to really get a fire going in a hurry.

https://carverpredatorcalls.com/product-category/firestarters/

I have spent a week in a rain saturated then frozen and snow covered forest a couple of times. With temps low enough to freeze two gallon jugs of water solid overnight, inside a cooler chest. And thirteen inches of snow on the ground.

Available fuel was branches cut from a couple of fallen spruce and white fir trees. Kindling was really tough to come by. If it were not for Bic lighters and Coleman candles, we would have had to saddle up and load the pack horses and come home. Or else someone would have found our frozen corpses as well as the horses the next spring.

One year we came home with a good bull elk. The second year, all we saw was wolf tracks.

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.

How many here that use gas, diesel, flares, torches, etc are in tent camps 30 miles from the truck?
LOL.

Me...Always carry flares on snowmobiles and ATV's..Saved my hide more than once...

I had nonmotorized in mind. I seldom take a flare in horse packs.

But, we usually have a Coleman white gas stove. That tank and generator makes a great torch.

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.

matches. bic. fire starter rod

Road flares have never let me down. Matches, Bic Lighters, Fire starters all have. Flares will burn long enough to dry out moist wood and get it to burning.There is a larger one in my saddle bags and a smaller one in my day pack.Don't know why anyone would worry about carrying one in a pack.They won't light until you take the cap off and use it as a striker.

Besides, if you have shirker in camp that won't pull his/her weight, carry along an 8" piece of cannon fuse. Stick it in the flare and it looks just like a stick of dynamite. Light it and tell the shirker to get his sh*t together and throw it between his feet or in his bunk if he tends to go to bed too early while others are doing camp chores.Problen solved

I here 'ya,but it is the fire..

There are so many things I want to take, but available room discourages it..There's only so much room in my small to-go pack that goes everywhere with me..I do have a mag striker/flashlight/pauncho tent combo etc etc..

I looked and looked for a good striker firestarter and got a headache, so I just bought a Swiss Safe striker with whistle and compass..Works well enough..Once we got rid of the horses room became more important when using a Tote-Goat...

Around camp..It's oil first with gas over for instant smelly fires.

Here is the how to on flint and steel fire starting.

http://traditionalmuzzleloader.com/index.php/flint-steel-fire-starting

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.

I, like Sam, carry a piece of a hacksaw blade for the striker. I carry several different fire starters every time I go out. Matches, Bic lighter and a steel striker. When I’m up north I carry fire starters in my backpack AND in my jacket ON MY PERSON. If I fall into cold water I need fire NOW and don’t have the time to dig in my packet as hypothermia sets in and my fine motor movements become impossible. I plan for the worst and hope for the best. Also in my jacket are pieces of sapwood, a medicine bottle packed with lint and sealed with candle wax and a small bottle of hand sanitizer. I have multiple redundancies for fire starters and take wilderness survival seriously. My OCD type planning has never “saved” my life but it has helped others that found themselves “alone in the wilderness”.

I figure that as long as I have planned for every contingency nothing will go wrong but the first time I don’t bring it is when I’ll need it. 😁

Never had to start a fire while out and about. Nevertheless, I carry at least three fire sources while in the woods. Of late, one of those is UCO Stormproof matches. They claim that once lit, they will stay lit even after being plunged into water or snow, relight when pulled out. I tried it and it's true. I also usually carry a couple disposables and a firestick. I like the Blastmatch because you can work it one-handed if you are injured.

I bought one of the plasma lighters a while back and it works well too. The one I bought was pretty big, so I need to pick up a smaller one. Mine claims 1000 lights on a charge.

YouTube has oodles of videos from folks like Survival Lilly on this stuff.

A bow drill can be made nearly anywhere trees grow, but they are very slow, and no where near as easy as most people think. If you intend to go that route, practice a lot at home, until you have them well figured out.
I've built a few, and thought others how. I keep a simple fire kit in my bag with a couple of simple preps, such as magnesium block shavings ground off the block with a belt sander, and stored in a small piece of pipe with one sealed end and one loose cap. Deodorant (old spice) was a great fire starter, but they changed the formula. I have not found a SINGLE deodorant that is still flammable. Cotton dryer lint soaked in wax burns long and well, and I keep emergency candles in each vehicle, and my pack.
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. )

I was a Boy Scout, too. Eagle Scout. This was in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Our scoutmaster was a former paratrooper with the 101 Abn. Div., an had jumped in at Normandy, Marketgarden, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

He would conduct firestarting classes, using matches, flint and steel (real flint, no ferro rods then), magnifying glass, and then he'd pull out his old ZIPPO and say, "Good to know various ways to start a fire, boys, but you'll never catch me without my ZIPPO. Works every time."

I've carried one ever since.

L.W.

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.

Yes, unless you are down near 0 degrees F.
That temp takes the gasoline down to less-explosive tendencies

I have some fat "lifeboat" matches, made in England, that make good starters, if needed.

clic pic for product description

clic pic for product description

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

Excellent azz wipes as well.

US Military Trioxane tabs work well , tho the fumes can be harmfull

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.

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

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.

Hey Slummer--
"Grownups use gasoline".....

So will Boy Scouts if you don't watch them......did my 12 years as an assistant Scoutmaster....

Also have to watch them with lighter fluid.

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.)

Vape pens work well too apparently.

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.

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.

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.

C or D battery and 0000 steel wool. It will glow hot.

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.

Biggest thing is practise with what you have, before you need it.
I think when out camping at least start one fire using your emergency kit.
Will help be proficient and see if maybe you will find a better set up.

Tabasco minis?

Overfill it and stick it in your pocket. The escaping fuel will leave a red, sore, dry spot on your leg that takes some time to heal.

A piece of bike innertube will seal the gap, reduce evaporation, and keep the fluid from eating you.

Yes sir. I can't imagine how many fires one would have to start before a ZIPPO needed refueling, especially sealing the "gap" between lid and body with a piece of bicycle tube ... but I've always carried a couple spare mini-Tabasco bottles in my day pack. Never needed them, but they're there.

Regarding that picture I posted showing my ZIPPO setup, on another outdoor blog, a couple of "Doubting Thomas" outdoorsmen scoffed and wrote, "Well, if your hands are frozen, how you gonna get that big rubber band off your ZIPPO?"

I replied, "If you can hold the Zippo in the heels of your hands, pull the rubber band off with your teeth. If your hands are so frozen you can't even hold the lighter in your hands to do that task ... well, you'd best have your affairs in order."

If there is a will, there is a way ... in a very dangerous survival situation. Mindset counts.

L.W.

If your hands are THAT cold, you should have built your fire an hour ago.

Anti bacterial hand cleanser work great as a fire starter. Get one of the small bottles and carry it in your pack. Lights right up and keeps burning.

I use these:




With a match or lighter, these will start a fire easily..

Here are a few things I've tried while working with the scouts. All of these will work very well with a match or lighter. If you need to use a flint/steel, you'll also need cotton balls or other tinder to get them lit.

STRIKEAMATCH These are 7x10 sheets of match striker paper, adhesive backed. You can cut it and stick it to a worn out match box or anything else to light stubborn matches. Since the demise of the good strike anywhere matches, it's hard to find anything that will light reliably. I took a bunch of tongue depressors and stuck this strikeamatch stuff to both sides and gave one to each of our scouts to put in his emergency kit. This stuff will light your match.

Diamond Strike A Fire sticks: They burn a long time. They have a red spot on the end to strike on any match box. Don't rely on that to light one. Most of time it won't light or just flares out. Break one in half to get a fuzzy end then use a match or lighter.



Coghlands Waterproof Fire Starting Sticks. Like the Diamond sticks, these will burn a long time once lit. It takes a lighter or match to get one lit, though. A flint & steel won't do it. Using these along with a cotton ball or other tinder will work very well. The waterproof claim is very questionable. I poured water on one, broke it to get a fuzzy end, and couldn't light it. It might work ok in rain or snow but not if it gets real wet.



Duraflame Firestart Cubes These are probably the easiest to use that I've tried and they really will burn for 10 min. The wrapper is waterproof. Just light the wrapper with a lighter or match. These would be very easy to light with a striker if you use a cotton ball. You only need to get the cellophane wrapper lit to light it. Walmart has them in sporting goods but if you look in their fireplace/heater section, they'll have a box twice as big for the same price.

I'll have to try some of these things.

My best experience has been with the Wetfire Tinder blobs.

I'm probably like most guys and really only tried to make a fire maybe a couple of times a year.

For me that changed last winter when I bought a Firebox Nano stove. I get a kick out of making coffee and cocoa anywhere and anytime with the firebox. But now I gotta carry water, coffee, and a french press/mug...

The Firebox stove:



Made something like that out of scrap sheet metal for trioxane bars. I like pop can alcohol stoves better.



See Zen Stoves

When hunting, I drink Tasters Choice freeze dried coffee. It's not like real coffee but it's drinkable and is far better than most instants. A small zip lock bag can carry quite a few cups full and weighs nothing. With a folding stove and a metal cup, it'll make it easy to have a hot cup on the trail.

For me part of the fun of winter hunting is a mid day fire and making coffee and a freeze dried meal. The fire is for comfort but I use a canister stove for hot water and use Via instant coffee, french roast. I can hardly wait for cool weather, 108* here today.



mike r