How can you make fire

[Von Rheydt]

Ok, just out of interest and as I collect ways of making fire. How many different ways could you make fire if you had to? And, I do not mean the SAR method of throwing a flare into a petrol soaked pile of branches - nor do I mean using PE, tracer or any other exotic means, fun as they may be.

To kick off, my experience:

-The ever present bic
-Swedish fire steel
-Fire piston
-Bow drill
-chemical fire
-flint and steel - the old way
-electricity thru a broken torch bulb onto tinder
-electricity from a car battery sparked onto tinder
-I have practiced with and managed it twice with a fire drill - thats a bow drill without the bow just rolling the drill with palms of hands, it gives blisters
- lens magnifying sunlight onto tinder

My favourite tinders are self made charcloth and vaseline smeared cotton wool balls. If I'm out on the hills I collect sheeps wool from barbed wire fences and use that as tinder.

[bulbvivid]

Though more of a variation on a theme, folks have made lenses from ice to start fires.

Fire from Ice (http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/ice/rb/rbfirefromice3a.html)

[11Bravo]

Unroll a roll of 0000 steel wool and roll into it a bunch of dryer lint.
Touch 9v battery terminals to it and you have fire.
Just make sure to isolate the battery from the roll in your pack. :p

[6933]

Using/experimented/like the Magnesium sticks. Will light even wet kindling on fire. Realistically, if the AO has had lots of rain for a prolonged period, getting a fire started and keeping it going is almost impossible.

[Von Rheydt]

Almost impossible but not impossible. Two options:

1. Standing timber is dead timber that is not laying on the ground. It could be a standing dead tree, fallen branches that have not landed flat on the ground or dead brances that are still part of a living tree.

Find a piece of standing timber at least two or more inches across. Section it in pieces about 10" to a foot long. Split those pieces lengthways so you get halves, then split those pieces lengthways so you have quarters. Then split off the pointbit that is the centre of the original piece. This bit from the inside should be nice and dry. Make a feather stick out of it, really fine though and then it should take a spark.

Make sure you have enough dry pieces to make a nice fire so that you can dry out the damp wood as the fire burns.

2. If you are in an area of coniferous tree's find yourself a dead one or a large part of a dead one that is laying on the ground - does'nt matter if its wet, the important bit will be just as we want it.

What happens with pine trees when they die is that the resin in them tends to gather in one area of the dead wood. If the tree is still in the ground the resin drops to the base.

Once you have found your dead pine tree kick the crap out of it so that all the dead wood comes away leaving the resin impregnated hardwood behind. You can't miss it as it smells like a pine forest condensed into apiece of wood.

This lump of resin impregnated wood is called fatwood ... google it.

Now then, take the fatwood and carve a pile of matchstick sized pieces big enough to light a fire. It should catch really easy from a swedish steel or magnesium block.

The mountain men of the wild west used to use fatwood all the time. It gives a very, very hot flame, burns for a long time, and gives a white light good for reading by.

Fatwood: http://www.videojug.com/webvideo/how-to-identify-fatwood-to-start-a-fire

[6933]

Van- Agree. Fatwood good. I was just stressing the point for the uninitiated that fire is not possible 100% of the time. Be prepared. I was also thinking of it raining while trying to light the fire. However, I guess M4Cer's can't read minds.:)

[Von Rheydt]

......................... However, I guess M4Cer's can't read minds.:)

Thats not what my wife thinks.:)

[6933]

LOL. Yep. Wife thinks I should know what is going on in her mind at all times. Scary how similar the Yanks and the Tommy's are. Just don't forget that Yank is a four letter word to many Americans born/bred in the South.

[jhs1969]

I currently keep on hand a fire steel, mag. block and lighters and matches. I would love to add a magnifing glass but have only found the wal-mart types that I'm not sure I want. I've also found that dryer lint makes good tinder, it compact easily and starts really well.

[6933]

A water proof "match" container might be a good way to store some tinder. I think I could jam in a good amount into one of those containers. Or just carry2-3 containers if need be.

[jhs1969]

A water proof "match" container might be a good way to store some tinder. I think I could jam in a good amount into one of those containers. Or just carry2-3 containers if need be.

I have two screw top containers about the size of a tennis ball container packed tight with dryer lint. It can of course be repacked into smaller containers if needed for less bulk for transport.

[KYPD]

1. A hot Catalytic Converter.
2. A hot exhaust manifold.

[geminidglocker]

Chlorine pool tablets and Brake fluid. I've never tried it but rather heard it from a Fireman, after these two materials had accidentally come into contact with oneanother at a local retail store, apparently the brake fluid was on a shelf above the Chlorine and some how leaked onto it setting a fire. I would'nt want to stick around and inhale the fumes from it though, that would likely result in bad things.

[6933]

KYPD- If we find either of those in the middle of wilderness, we may just sleep in the car and listen to the radio if possible.:D

Gemini- So it starts a fire but kills you in the process?:)

[Wes1977]

Survivorman used a rifle and ammo on the north pole episode

[Von Rheydt]

Survivorman used a rifle and ammo on the north pole episode

Yup, they did it on mythbusters too. The thing is, as I vaguely remember, they had to find grade A tinder material and specially selected ammo. So, it worked, but only because they made it work - in their workshop, not the north pole.

Belly button fluff is good tinder:D, only kidding.

Here's one for you. lay matches on a sheet of non stick and then drip a wax coating on them. It keeps them dry and useable and the wax helps the burn.

[Mark/MO]

Here's one for you. lay matches on a sheet of non stick and then drip a wax coating on them. It keeps them dry and useable and the wax helps the burn.

We used to do the same thing by dipping wooden matches in melted canning parafin. Worked well.

As a kid I'd never went camping until my best friend's family began to take me. His Dad always gave us one match to start the campfire. One shot or we simply set around in the dark. Believe me, you got fairly good at starting a fire the first time. Of course it wasn't under adverse or survival conditions either.

As to the original question:
Magnesium stick
Flint and Steel (the old way)
Magnifying glass
Battery and steel wool
Bic lighter
Wooden matches from waterproof container.
Railroad flare (long story :rolleyes:)

[Von Rheydt]

A water proof "match" container might be a good way to store some tinder. I think I could jam in a good amount into one of those containers. Or just carry2-3 containers if need be.

Go to the photo processing shop or Walgreens or CVS and scrounge up some 35mm film containers, they make good tinder and match containers.
For long term storage or to make sure the contents stay dry till you need them you can put a thin bead of silicone around the lid before closing.

Here you go, I took some pics:

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/9811/match1.jpg

On the Left: 35mm film container, strike anywhere matches, ziploc baggy with 2 vaseline coated cottonwool balls and strips of bicycle wheel inner tube around the film container.

On the Right: A $1.99 match case from the camping section of Wallyworld, strike anywhere matches, ziploc baggy with two vaseline coated cottonwool balls and and strips of bicycle wheel inner tube around the match container.

Light a piece of bicycle wheel innertube and place it into your fire kindling. It works a treat ........ nearly as good as a flare.

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/9256/match2e.jpg[/URL]

[rso]

A film canister filled with vaseline-smeared cotton balls does work really well. My wife was quite impressed with one little fluffed cotton ball drying our soaked tinder and allowing us to get a fire lit on a camping trip last year.

[varmint49]

Here one for you guys to try , that bug spray that you have with you to keep the bugs away,......just take some dry tinder and give it a spray or to and light a match and you are good to go.

[kihnspiracy]

Save some dryer lint. Fill in the cups of an egg carton. Pour melted candle wax over the cups. Cut the carton into individual cups. Place in ziploc bags. Presto, instant fire starter. Burns really well.

[LHS]

When I was in the Scouts, we used to roll up strips of cardboard into an empty tuna can, then pour paraffin over it. Burns like a sonofabitch for a considerable amount of time. It does tend to be heavier than most of the previously mentioned methods, but it started fires in really nasty conditions.

I was always partial to dry pine needles, pine cones, frayed hemp rope, and dryer lint. Dryer lint does burn fast, so you'll need to have some more substantial tinder to catch the flame. Any of the above will start quickly with a few magnesium shavings applied and sparked.

[Von Rheydt]

A goody for tinder is to make some charcloth and keep it in a small ziploc in your survival kit.

Charcloth only needs a tiny low temp. spark to get it glowing. Once it is glowing you put it into more substantial tinder to get that glowing and then hey presto set up the barbecue.

[titsonritz]

Poke around the online store/fire starting

http://www.survivalschool.com/

[Von Rheydt]

Poke around the online store/fire starting

http://www.survivalschool.com/

Interesting looking site with some nice odds and ends.

However, you can't learn to make charcloth by buying it. It only takes about 2 minutes to learn the theory of making it and about 15 minutes to make enough to last you for a few years.*

I personally like the way I saw the USMC learn fire lighting on their cold weather survival course. Show them and teach them how to make a fire bow/bow drill and when they can make fire with that they get a Swedish fire steel ............. in the knowledge that there is a fall back skill.

*Plenty of sites out there that show how it is done just google. BUT, ONLY USE 100% COTTON..... EVEN 98% OR 99% DOES NOT WORK.

[davey]

*Plenty of sites out there that show how it is done just google. BUT, ONLY USE 100% COTTON..... EVEN 98% OR 99% DOES NOT WORK.
I had a flint knapper show me how to use flint & steel using a re-enactors kit. I bought one. The "mountain men" were much more sophisticated than we give them credit. Some of the steel strikers I saw are very artsy. This isn't caveman stuff.

FWIW, this guy recommended making charcloth from denim jeans. Gotta trust his judgement - spark to flame in about 15 seconds.

[Von Rheydt]

I had a flint knapper show me how to use flint & steel using a re-enactors kit. I bought one. The "mountain men" were much more sophisticated than we give them credit. Some of the steel strikers I saw are very artsy. This isn't caveman stuff.

FWIW, this guy recommended making charcloth from denim jeans. Gotta trust his judgement - spark to flame in about 15 seconds.

Denim is good stuff. The thicker the cotton the better.

One that is used on courses in the UK is to get a 100% cotton (we call them tea towels) thing you use to do the drying up of dishes. I had an old metal pint paint pot with a push on lid that I used to put the cloth in and then stand it in a fire. You can use altoids type tins for small amounts and you can also stand the tin on the barbecue instead of a fire..........DO NOT DO IT IN THE HOUSE..........BAD, BAD THING.

This guy is US based and makes awesome steels, we used to order from him in the UK:

http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/firefromsteel/

There is also a guy who makes steels that are the size and shape of dog tags. Very useful.

[bigghoss]

thermite:D