My thoughts on fire starting per the 1/14/15 NNPG Amateur radio net meeting
Vic, and the other participants of the 1/14/15 radio net meeting covered fire making very well. I have a few thoughts on some of the same things, plus some additional ideas.
The main thing I think should be said is just how important it can be to have the means to make fire. It can literally be a life saver, as well as a major comfort item in times of stress. The standard of always having at least three methods of starting a fire is valid. I think it even a bit understated.
A personal quirk of mine is that I do not carry a fire kit in the sense of having several fire starters together in a single container. I do have one such kit, but it is my demonstration kit that I carry to illustrate the many ways fires can be started. My fire kits are simply the group of items that go together to make one specific way to make fire.
I have these individual fire starters spread throughout my gear, as well as at least three of them on me. This way, no matter what bag, box, or tote I might lose, there will still be other ways to make fire with me. And while some have decided that three Bic lighters are the three methods to make fire, I prefer to have three independent ways to start a fire, just in case the conditions for one fire starter are not ideal, perhaps not even usable.
Some of the things needed to have a fire include a safe place to have an open flame, the fuel for the flame, a means to control airflow to the fire, and a way to start the fire. This last item was the primary focus for the discussion. But a few words on the other aspects.
Even if a fire is a dire necessity, uncontrolled fire can be worse than the situation that requires the fire in the first place. When you get ready to have a fire, make sure that the place you will be burning that fire will safely contain the fire and prevent it from getting out of hand. In the open, anything burnable needs to be cleared away from the fire position, in a circle of at least three feet, for a small fire. More for a larger fire.
When a fire cannot be burned on the ground for some reason such as being on snow, on water, on combustible surfaces, etc., some type of platform or container must be used. This can be as simple as a piece of scrap sheet metal or a layer of sand. Large metal pots, a disk harrow blade, tire rim, or large wok can all be used, preferably with an inch or more of sand as a base. Even a wooden platform, with a thick layer of sand or can be used.
Even if you have the means to start a fire, you still need something to burn. You probably are not even thinking of a fire if there is no wood available. But nice chunks of split firewood are not the only things that can burn in an effective fire. Out here, big game droppings, cow patties, or buffalo patties can be used.
Just about anything that will burn can be used, even items that would not appear to make a good fire can be used. Such as grasses, brush, cattails, and commercial fuels that might be handy. Grasses, cattails, and brush can be bunched and compressed somewhat and tied into bundles or logs so they will burn more evenly and longer than just throwing them loose onto a flame.
Usually, with an open fire, airflow is more a matter of creating a wind break than anything like a chimney damper. But for some types of fires, such as a Dakota underground fire, some type of control may be needed.
And speaking of the Dakota Fire, that is just one type of fire lay that can be used. It is important to match the way the woods is burned in the fire to the conditions and the reason for the fire. Fires to provide light are different from lights to cook on and different from those to produce the means to provide heat for people in the open.
Do some research on fire lays to learn the different methods you are likely to need.
On to the fire starting.
Vic mentioned the two primary components of starting a fire. The means to create a spark or small flame, and the material (tinder) to which that spark/flame is touched to create the small fire bundle that is then fed with kindling to get a large enough fire to start burning the full size fuel.
First the tinder. There are dozens of possibilities. Many natural ones, as well as some manmade items. One of the natural ones is tinder fungus. A good outdoors guide will describe this and probably have a picture. Well dried cattail fluff is another. Fatwood yet another, which happens to be my favorite. Actual dry bird’s nests, and many natural dry materials gathered up into a bird’s nest configuration. Pine needles, some leaves, thistle down, etc.
Of the commercially produced ones there are some made just as tinder, plus some items that can be used, but were not specifically produced as tinder. Vic went over several of these. Wetfire tablets (These can become ineffective if stored for long periods. I no longer depend on them as an emergency fire starter.) Tinder-Quick, Zippo Tinder-Sticks, Life Fire tins, 550 Firecord, Zombie Tinder, and many others are other commercially produced tinder items of varying design and formulation. There are also commercial fireplace fire starting tinders. They come in many shapes, sizes, and forms. Just look in your local shop that carries fireplace logs. Some will ignite with a spark, but many require the use of an open flame igniter.
The various solid fuel tablets used for military and camping stoves, like hexamine, trioxane, and Esbit and similar fuel tablets or bars. A gelled tinder in a tube, called Fire Ribbon is available. Magnesium or a magnesium alloy in bar, rod, or fine shaving form is another manufactured tinder. The bar and rod types must be shaved down finely. Sometimes magnesium bars and rods will come with an attached ignition unit, usually a ferro-cerrium rod that will be discussed later.
Some of the items that can be used as tinder, that were not designed as such are wax, petroleum jelly, and lib balm impregnated cotton balls and 100% cotton makeup cleaning pads; sisal and jute twines; some types of hand sanitizers incorporating alcohol; alcohol prep pads; tack cloth; and various chemical combinations. Then there is char cloth. 100% thin cotton cloth heated in the absence of oxygen to allow some of the components to cook off, leaving behind a material that will accept a spark and then burn with enough heat to ignite other forms of tinder.
Remember that almost all the solid tinders should be kept dry. Store them in some type of container that will keep out moisture.
Anything you intend to use as tinder should be tried several times before depending on them in the field, especially some of the more ‘creative’ ones. Some hand sanitizers will take a spark and catch fire, others will not. Plus, depending on one’s skill with the ignition device, some are much less effective than others. Some of the ignition devices that produce a temporary flame will work with some that a sparking device will not. So, practice, practice, practice. Under varying conditions. Some work in some conditions, others only in other conditions.
Now the ignition methods. There are six primary ignition methods. Creating a mechanical spark of some type. Creating a small, usually temporary, flame, most often with an included sparking device or electrically. Producing a spark or hot metal element with a battery. Producing a hot coal of material by friction or compression. Concentrating solar energy. Chemical reactions.
Similarly to the purpose made versus items not made for that use, but can be used as such tinders, ignition sources fall into the same category. Purpose built and expedient.
Matches are a combination of friction and chemical fire starting. There are several types of matches suitable for field use, with some suited to emergency use in harsh conditions. Regular kitchen matches are fine for normal camping and field use. But for harsh condition, and where you have to start a fire without fail, the water and wind resistant matches are a much better choice, with those made by UCO being my favorite.
DIY water resistant matches can be produced by dipping strike anywhere kitchen matches in paraffin, beeswax, or clear nail polish. Even some combo ignition source/tinder combinations can be made in a similar method by wrapping a strike anywhere match in very light burnable material like 100% cotton and soaking the entire thing in wax. This will create a tinder stick with a striker head.
When it comes to lighters, the Zippo lighters are a good choice, if extra fuel is carried. This is doable with their small fuel canister. Bic and Scripto type butane lighters are a good choice for those that do not use a lighter often and remember to keep a Zippo filled, as they have a much larger fuel supply for the size of the unit. Then there are the torch type butane lighters that are often more wind and water resistant than Bics and Scriptos. They burn hotter and have a directed flame, making them a better choice for harsh conditions.
The traditional flint and steel is an option if one practices regularly. It is not something that should be carried and only brought out in an emergency. They can be tricky to use.
More easily use, based on a similar concept are the various striker rods, such as ferro-cerrium. Using an appropriate metal striker, large numbers of very hot sparks can be projected fairly accurately onto ones tinder. There are many different versions of these available, some really small, some quite large, some designed to be used with only one hand.
My preferred ferro-cerrium rod is a combination magnesium rod/ferro-cerrium rod/strike unit produced by Allweatherfirestarters.com It has the softest, easiest to shave and ignite magnesium I have found. The ferro-cerrium throws great sparks with the included striker.
Another form of the ferro-cerrium ignition source combines tinder, in a different way than a magnesium rod with a ferro-cerrium rod attached. These ‘metal matches’ as they are often called, have a fuel container, with a striker that has wicking material around it, inside a small tube. This match tube is carried screwed into the fuel container that has a ferro-cerrium or other rough metal rod or bar on the outside. To use, the match is unscrewed, and the striker tip run down the metal strip on the outside of the fuel container. The fuel soaked wick burns like a match and one has a few seconds to use it to get other tinder lighted. Many of these are very cheaply made. I would not carry one for emergency use. Daily use where failure is not a major problem is fine.
Next, the solar energy ignition sources. The most common of these is some type of traditional magnifying lenses. It can be either glass or plastic. An alternative that is often easier to carry is a Fresnel lens. (Pronounced ‘fray-nel’). There is one other commercial type ignition device that does not use a lens. It uses a dish reflector to concentrate sunlight onto tinder a few inches in front of the small hand sized dish.
Battery ignition can be of two types. One is to create a spark by touching two opposing polarity battery wires together. This works best with 12 volt automotive batteries. Another method is to heat up some type of metal element hot enough to ignite some tinder. A nine volt battery and some steel wool does this easily. And there are electronic lighters that use a pair of AA batteries to heat a heating element that can be used to ignite a small diameter piece of tinder.
In reality, hot coals can be produced by rubbing two sticks together. The four primary methods are the fire saw, the fire plough, the hand fire drill, and the fire bow drill. With the fire saw, a blade like piece of appropriate wood is rubbed back and forth in a slot cut in another fairly narrow piece of wood. The fire plough uses a blunt end wooden dowel rubbed back and forth in a groove in an appropriate piece of wood.
A hand fire drill has a spindle turned back and forth between the palms that is rubbing in a small pit in a notched fireboard. The fire bow drill is the same idea, only a small bow unit is used to turn the spindle more quickly.
I am not going to get into chemical reaction fire starting. There are several methods, and all have some inherent dangers. I am not willing to accept responsibility or liability of explaining these methods. They are easy to look up on-line.
Now a word about another fire component. They are not really accelerants, but they do something related. The main one is some type of candle. They are used to lengthen the time available to get coarser tinder and some types of kindling started. Most will need to be ignited with an open flame, either an open flame ignitor, or a tinder fire started by various means that is used to light the candle and the candle is then used to ignite more tinder that might not be easily ignited by a spark.
The same goes for feather sticks. These are small sticks with shavings raised up but left attached to the stick. They are good secondary tinder, but will not usually take fire with a spark. They are better used, if available, to extend a limited amount of other easier to ignite tinder.
A couple of additions to fire starting kits. They were both mentioned during the radio meeting. One is a piece of aluminum foil to make a wind break. The other is some type of burn treatment such as aloe vera gel, or a commercial burn jell. Starting fires can burn you.
On to some links that pertain to the above information.
A large cache tube that can be used to carry a small amount of some types of tinder:
http://www.shop.gxproxy.com/Mighty-Mega-Cache-MM000010.htm?productId=1A Sodial Metal Match (This is the best that I have found and it is still a bit marginal. Not for emergencies.)
http://www.amazon.com/SODIAL-Match-Lighter-Lites-Keyring/dp/B008U3KDWO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1398916365&sr=8-6&keywords=metal+matchBrass Zippo Lighter
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Azippo%20brass%20lighterZippo fuel canister
http://www.amazon.com/Zippo-121503-00-Fuel-Canister/dp/B000B589JI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398917431&sr=8-1&keywords=zippo+fuel+containerAllweatherfirestarters.com magnesium bar/ferro-cerrium bar/scraper bar fire starter units
https://secure.survivalresources.com/store/product.php?productid=16594&page=1http://www.campingsurvival.com/mayasticks.html#__utma=44191142.1620737370.1397859360.1398658253.1398658292.9&__utmb=44191142.3.10.1398658292&__utmc=44191142&__utmx=-&__utmz=44191142.1398125943.2.2.utmcsr=yahoo|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=(not%20provided)&__utmv=-&__utmk=106688518
Fatwood sticks are also available locally at Wal-mart (fireplace section) and from Orvis (way down south on Virginia)
https://secure.survivalresources.com/store/product.php?productid=16720&page=1www.allweatherfirestarters.comLive Fire and 550 Firecord
http://www.livefiregearllc.com/Zombie Tinder
http://zombietinder.com/Tack cloth
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Atack%20clothFire pistons
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Afire%20pistonsSolar fire starter
http://www.amazon.com/Solo-Scientific-Tinder-Solar-Starter/dp/B00ETHVNSSFire drills and other primitive fire starters
http://www.primitivefire.com/Deluxe-Bow-Drill-Fire-Kit_p_9.htmlSeveral fire starters
http://www.survivalresources.com/Products/Firestarter.html
3 Replies
1568 Views