Fire starting techniques

B

bucklover

Guest
It's getting close to our favorite time of year. Just thought I'd share this and maybe help someone with the information. The very best fire starting method I have found is to use cotton balls, (you can steal from your wife) in which I rub vaseline into,(which you can also steal from your wife). I put them into a sealable baggie. Vaseline is a petrolium product, so it burns well in any conditions. The wind even makes it burn better. I've also experimented with Bag Balm and it works well also. Both Vaseline and Bag Balm are great to have along for first aid purposes (stratches, chaffing, butt rash etc,) so they serve a dual purpose. You can carry a bunch, it weighs nothing, can be smashed into anywhere, and catches fire instantly, and they're practically FREE. One ball will burn for 3 or 4 minutes. I use one of the magnesium type rods (ex. Swiss Striker) that you scratch a few tiny flakes from and then strike a little harder to throw a spark. The magnesium blocks w/ a striker along the side work well also, but some are made better than others. Doan brands work well. A few small flakes on the cotton, a spark and instant fire. This method works so well, I have pretty much stopped carrying bic lighters. I'm always afraid they will leak or break inside my pack, or not work when I need them. I know most of you already have your preferred methods, but I hope this will help someone.
 
BL-

Thanks for the post. I always like learning new ways to start fires. I have a few mag bars but have never needed to use them.
 
Fireworks have been popular this year......


I'll tell you who it was . . . it was that D@MN Sasquatch!
 
I used some of my wife's old nail polish and some gunpowder of unkown origin.

And an ice cube tray. Mix and let set. Sorta like watching a mini-jet engine.

Sometimes a bit of drier lint, but only cotton...the nylon stuff just melts.
 
My long time hunting pard brought two of those torch type cigarette lighters and nothing else to start fires with on our high Country Wyoming pack in trip. He said that they were new and he knew that there was nothing wrong with them but they both refused to light once at our camp, just a tad above 10,000 ft. My cheap Bic's, extra matches, and a film canister full of small yellow pine pitch sticks worked fine!

Good tips, Thanks!!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
The cheap Bics don't work very well in cold weather. You can warm them up by putting them in your pocket,instead of your pack.Learned that the hard way while shivering practically to death. The only thing that was warm when I got done was the blister on my finger from spinning the wheel on the Bic.
 
So?

You had to Flic your Bic?

Till your Finger got sore?



[font color=red size=redsize=18"face"]SHOW THEM TO ME![/font]
If You Love Your Country,SHOW THEM TO ME!


I've got Wild Honey Tree's and Crazy Little Weeds growin around my Shack!
These Dusty Roads ain't streets of gold but I'm happy right where I'm at!
All these Perty little Western Belles are a Country Boys Dream!
They ain't got Wings or MM Halo's but they sure look good to me!
 
Cheap lighters don't work too well in the wind either.

The Vaseline idea would be good up at Rugburn's clubhouse. I hear they have a 55 gallon drum of the stuff.

Eel
 
LAST EDITED ON Jul-22-12 AT 08:36PM (MST)[p]>Cheap lighters don't work too well
>in the wind either.
>
>The Vaseline idea would be good
>up at Rugburn's clubhouse. I
>hear they have a 55
>gallon drum of the stuff.
>
>
>Eel


Dickweed! :)


Good info on fire starting...
 
"Cheap lighters don't work too well in the wind either"

lol, no doubt,.. but sure was better than my buddies torches! We had the luxury of time and extra pack horses on our trip in and out so we set up a 3 week camp and had lots of nicety items a couple guys might not usually have along. i got my buck on the first day and my pard took his on the last. So i being the camp biotch, them cheap bic's lit lots of fires for me and my fine bean cooking! :)

I'd like to learn how to use one a them steel-flint fire startin jobbers. I suppose their ain't much to it.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
LAST EDITED ON Jul-22-12 AT 10:55PM (MST)[p]For basic fire building a carry matches and a small lighter. The fuel I choose is dryer lint. It is free and can fit in anything. I also carry a couple of small marine flares from walmart. These flares will start a fire in any weather.
 
I actually have a product we are sending to founder to see if we can sell it on the website. It's an awesome firestarter, works wet, cold, wind, whatever. Basically a cotton ball with a proprietary gel in the center that will burn even soaking wet. Comes in a pack, with a striker. Extremely light-weight.

I bette get'em to founder so you guys can check them out!
 
Just a little follow up. Cotton balls come in cotton disks, also. I rubbed some vaseline into both sides of them, took them outside and lit one with the striker. I then dunked the other in a bucket of water to see if it would light wet. I had to hold it in my hand and slap it on the sidewalk once, but it lit right up, again with the striker, and actually burned longer than the first. I tried to blow them both out. The wind was blowing pretty hard anyway. They burned no matter what I did. they lasted at least 4 minutes.
 
>My long time hunting pard brought
>two of those torch type
>cigarette lighters and nothing else
>to start fires with on
>our high Country Wyoming pack
>in trip. He said that
>they were new and he
>knew that there was nothing
>wrong with them but they
>both refused to light once
>at our camp, just a
>tad above 10,000 ft. My
>cheap Bic's, extra matches, and
>a film canister full of
>small yellow pine pitch sticks
>worked fine!
>
>Good tips, Thanks!!
>
>Joey
>
>
>"It's all about knowing what your
>firearms practical limitations are and
>combining that with your own
>personal limitations!"


I had exactly the same experience on a Colorado trip. I then experiemented with the torch lighter and found they were unreliable above about 8,000 feet.
 
I've been using the round cosmetic cotton pads soaked in petroleum jelly for years. To make them I smear the pj on both sides and then stack them about ten to a pack in zip-lock bags. I keep some in all of my packs, hunting and fishing vests/jackets, saddle bags and vehicles. If you make some in the summer, stick them in a vehicle. The heat melts the pj and thoroughly saturates the discs. I get about seven minutes burn time out of a disc. They can be extinguished and re-used and are virtually water proof. To ignite them in any condition, just pull one apart so that the fibers are separated and use any source of flame or spark. I use an "armageddon" fire steel from "firesteels.com". This is the best fire steel I have tested. I demonstrate this method to my students in H.E. The experienced hunters in the classes with their kids are always impressed with how effective this system is.

Norkal

"INVEST IN LEAD FOR THE TIMES AHEAD!"
 
Calif_Mike, thanks for the report of those torch lighter failures at elevation. I had no other experience with them other than that trip. You should have seen the look on my Pards face when he realized that his fancy torches wouldn't work and he had no other way to start a fire with him. One hell of a big buck hunter and a better friend couldn't be asked for but he's not much for his gear organization! lol

NORKAL, Thanks for the tip on the armageddon fire steel. I'll soon have one or two on the way! :)

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Vaseline soaked cotton balls
Steel wool
piece of rubber inner tube
a chunk of those firestarter sticks from walmart
small square blocks of newspaper cast in parafin
Drier lint
Small can of WD40


All those things work well. Most are free or very cheap. Sometimes you need more than one option for starting a fire with wet wood so I usually have a couple of those. I usually carry waterproof matches and a lighter or two.
 
Doesn't anybody else use Pitch wood sticks?

Mine are from a yellow Pine stump and just oozing with gooey sticky pine pitch. I make mine, cut a disk or two off the top of aprime stump then use a hatchet, about 2-3" long and about a big as half a pencil. They pack well, light real easy, and will burn wet and strongly for plenty of time to get other wood and tinder started. One stick to the fire, two if in a hurry, a handful will last years as you often don't need them.

I thought every mountain man carried/used pitch wood! Something about packing vazsoline and cotton balls just don't set right! :)

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Sage,

I'm sure the pitch wood sticks work great. But unfortunately living in the desert I don't have the option of making my own very often. That's where the commercial fire starter sticks are a close substitute. They are nothing more that wood chips and probably paraffin pressed into a block.

Maybe sometime I'll try to make some like you describe when I'm somewhere where a pitchy stump exists.

I don't really claim to be a mountain man except in my dreams.
 
>I thought every mountain man carried/used
>pitch wood! Something about packing
>vazsoline and cotton balls just
>don't set right! :)
>
Appararently you've never been to the clubhouse.
 
"Appararently you've never been to the clubhouse."


lol, NO! Thanks but no thanks!! :)

NVB, Makes sense to me. they do work great though.

I also carry in my daybag, waterproof matches and a small candle.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
I used to keep steel wool and a 9 volt radio battery (separate of course) in my day pack. To start a fire quickly touch the terminal ends to the steel wool and instant HOT sparks/fire. To make a quick fire I would make a nest out of something that would catch fire easily like juniper bark that was shred fine and blow on the ignited steel wool. I have also heard a cell phone battery will work very well for this. Much quicker than trying to catch a spark in the steel wool.
 
Give me a can of Hormel chili & a match, I'll show you a flame...

41800_110543482301264_2770934_n.jpg
 
Rug, You said you wouldn't tell! :)

Besides, in over 7K posts, Founder has not once replied, commented, or PMed me, good or bad, about one of my threads, comments, or posts. No way he lets me in his clubhouse!

What's that old saying? I don't want to belong to any club that's willing to accept guys like me as a member...sompin like that! :)

Joey
 

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