Fire starter.

[xtry51]

Dryer lint soaked in vaseline and a bic lighter. Lights regardless of weather, using even just the sparks from the lighter.

I think it's important to know how to use all types of fire starters, but I'll take a gas station lighter over ferro every day. Don't over complicate your life.

 

[xtry51]

Dryer lint soaked in vaseline and a bic lighter. Lights regardless of weather, using even just the sparks from the lighter.

I think it's important to know how to use all types of fire starters, but I'll take a gas station lighter over ferro every day. Don't over complicate your life.

 

[enbloc]

Belly Button lint in a pinch...

 

[Brucewillis4316]

Birch bark

 

[enbloc]

Gas soaked tampoon.
Tied to a stick with safety wire makes an excellent field-expedient tiki torch.
Rip cord doubles as a fuse...

 

[Uzi2]

Dryer lint soaked in vaseline and a bic lighter. Lights regardless of weather, using even just the sparks from the lighter.

I think it's important to know how to use all types of fire starters, but I'll take a gas station lighter over ferro every day. Don't over complicate your life.

The problem with Bic lighters is they won't spark if the wheel gets wet. Unless you have a way to dry it you'll need another way to start your fire. Drying it by blowing on it might work if the vapor in your breath doesn't make it worse.

I've always carried at least three ways to start a fire when out in the woods hiking, camping, hunting. Water resistant matches, Bic lighters usually two and a magnesium block with the flint on one side. I also carry a couple of pieces of birch bark in a ziplock.

 

[Individualist]

REALLY like your son's knife and holster. What are they?

Hi, That one in the leather sheath was my son's Eagle Scout gift. It's a Busse/Swamp Rat InfiDu with two-tone G10. It was a limited run of their Ratmandu 5" knife several years ago using their INFI steel. The ergonomics on it are perfect.

I wanted a really special sheath so had it made by an old timer named Paul Long out of TX. The guy wrote the book on sheath making. I requested rear snaps on the belt loop so it can go on/off easily, along with a protected front snap and the ferro loop. The center is an ostrich leg that Paul picked out to go with his tooling. He's in his mid 80's so I'm not sure how much he is still working. I have contact info if you need it.

I got rid of most of my higher end knives except for a handful of users because the addiction was out of control, but did keep a plainer version of the InfiDu for myself.


View: https://imgur.com/xUpZmM0

 

[Mountain]

Hi, That one in the leather sheath was my son's Eagle Scout gift. It's a Busse/Swamp Rat InfiDu with two-tone G10. It was a limited run of their Ratmandu 5" knife several years ago using their INFI steel. The ergonomics on it are perfect.

I wanted a really special sheath so had it made by an old timer named Paul Long out of TX. The guy wrote the book on sheath making. I requested rear snaps on the belt loop so it can go on/off easily, along with a protected front snap and the ferro loop. The center is an ostrich leg that Paul picked out to go with his tooling. He's in his mid 80's so I'm not sure how much he is still working. I have contact info if you need it.

I got rid of most of my higher end knives except for a handful of users because the addiction was out of control, but did keep a plainer version of the InfiDu for myself.


View: https://imgur.com/xUpZmM0

Absolutely fantastic work. Thanks for the extra pics and names of the makers. Nice for your son to earn Eagle as well. Both of my boys did a few years ago.

So many common 'threads' within the NES community...

 

[hbennett]

I was inspired by this video to try and old file that I bought for 25 cents at a church bazaar along with a piece of local quartz, and some homemade char cloth.
I worked just great. I demonstrated my homemade to the scouts on a campout, the file/quartz setup that cost all 25 cents vs a set I bought on the net consisting of a steel striker
and a hunk of flint that cost $13. IMO both worked equally well. It is also noteworthy that quartz can be found locally, and it recognizable by nearly anyone. Flint, to my knowledge is not native to the area.

Mr. West's channel is gold for anyone wishing to learn the art of fire starting.

 

[hbennett]

On the weekend campout our scouts also learned:
1. How to start fire with steel wool and the batteries from a mini-Maglite.
2. Firesteel (ferrocerium) will ignite steel wool
3. Firesteel will ignite the scraped shavings from inside a piece of birch bark from a mostly rotted birch tree.. and on a damp day
4. Common dryer lint is an awesome firestarter
5. What charcloth is and how to make it.
6. A demo on flint (or quartz) and steel..
how to make a mouse nest out of jute or similar cord
how to ignite that mouse nest using the charcloth
6. The basics of starting a fire with all natural materials.
a. finding birch bark
b. separating their wood into
smaller than a match stick
smaller than a pencil
smaller than your thumb
anything bigger than that
c. how much materials to gather to reliably start a fire.
d. how to arrange them to start a reliable fire.

Interestingly, the biggest problem the boys (mostly 10- 12) had was with striking matches.
They couldn't seem to do it consistently. Most had better luck with the firesteel.

 

[enbloc]

Outstanding H.

 

[hbennett]

The problem with Bic lighters is they won't spark if the wheel gets wet. Unless you have a way to dry it you'll need another way to start your fire. Drying it by blowing on it might work if the vapor in your breath doesn't make it worse.

I've always carried at least three ways to start a fire when out in the woods hiking, camping, hunting. Water resistant matches, Bic lighters usually two and a magnesium block with the flint on one side. I also carry a couple of pieces of birch bark in a ziplock.

I did an experiment a while back with a zippo lighter vs a butane lighter in extreme cold (single digit temps). Zippo worked every time..butane froze up and needed some warming up before it worked. But butane is more convenient, as the zippo requires fuel that evaporates. Luckily when I was a kid, my buddy's dad, a WWII paratrooper, showed us how to refill a zippo with gasoline..safe?..probably not.. but did it work?.. Heck yeah!..

I also carry multiple fire starting methods. Matches, ferrocerium rod, butane or zippo, and cotton balls soaked in Vaseline, and small strips of cardboard that have been soaked in
melted paraffin. I also have a Fresnel lens in my wallet. It can start a fire on a sunny day, and is useful in finding splinters..or reading if glasses get misplaced.