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Take an empty toilet paper spool and cut it half into (where it is only half as long). With scissors flute one end and bend the flutes so that it will stand upright. Actually it is best to do several so getting them standing next to each other--that way they don't need to be perfectly flat to stand up. I use a paint tray and fill it with spools standing up. Then fill the spools with either sawdust or dryer lint. Melt old candles and pour this into the sawdust and let it soak through the spool itself. When ready for a fire, pull some of those fluted ends loose and set it on fire. Will burn plenty long to get a fire going or start charcoal. It is waterproof. I find it handy to carry in my vehicle and in a pack. You can use carboard egg crate compartments as well--but most egg cartons styrofoam anymore. | ||
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| One of Us |
go to the war surplus store in your area and buy a box of "heat tabs" (trioxane) 100x the beat fire starter out there. screaming wind,thundering downpour, doesn't matter. if you can touch it with a flame, you have a fire. | |||
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| One of Us |
I use egg cartons. cut the individual egg holders out and fill them with sawdust and pour melted wax over them. actually leave the carton intact until you fill them up. then cut them up. | |||
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| one of us |
I always carry strips of an old bicycle inner tube. Cut it into strips about 1/2" wide & 3-4" long. These, along with my extra matches are always carried in a zip lock bag and stashed in my packboard. Use several at a time and they will start a fire even with wet wood. Bear in Fairbanks Unless you're the lead dog, the scenery never changes. I never thought that I'd live to see a President worse than Jimmy Carter. Well, I have. Gun control means using two hands. | |||
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| one of us |
The USGI troixane tablets work great, as do the German ones for their square stoves, cannot think of the name of them right now [Nesbit???]. I like the German ones much better, thier fold up square stove is GREAT. I have used one as my ONLY cooking stove on ultralight backacking hunts hunts up to 5 days... Also the Canadian plastic 223 striper clips from their military ammo, are designed to be uses as heat tabs and firestarters as well. Water does not hurt them at all. And you can carry them on a commercial airplane DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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Moderator |
It's not perfect, but lately I've been using the vaseline & cotton ball + magnesium fire starter. If things are dry and calm you can use about 1/8 of a cotton ball and just a flash of the striker lights it, but if it is wet, cold,windy or you are just tired an entire ball is pretty awesome. Another trick I just read about in an old book is if you ever carry a candle, when you put it out press the wick back into the wax which protects it from damage and getting wet. for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside | |||
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| One of Us |
An old pitch witch poem for when you want to make a fire in the woods: "First a curl of Birch bark as dry as it kin be, Then some twigs of soft-wood, dead, but on the tree, Last o' all some Pine knots to make the kittle foam, An' thar's a fire to make you think you're settin' right at home." Best  | |||
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| One of Us |
This is really neat stuff you guys come up with. I just carry a can of sterno. Pretty light weight, cheap and will burn a long time. When I was in boy scout as a young man, we used to trick people making a fire start on its own. You fashion a cup out of foil and put some smokeless gun powder in it. Then pour some liquid glycern over it. A reaction will begin in about 30 seconds. Stand back, quite a show. Will start most fires without any heat source. Burn rate may be 15 seconds. | |||
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Two years ago in Moz, our tracker would light his cigarettes by the rubbing stick method. It only took him a couple of minutes to get enough heat to do it. After filming him do it, I started using my lighter to assist him. so now he's spoiled. Steve "He wins the most, who honour saves. Success is not the test." Ryan "Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything." Stalin Tanzania 06 Argentina08 Argentina Australia06 Argentina 07 Namibia Arnhemland10 Belize2011 Moz04 Moz 09 | |||
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| Moderator |
Steve if you have any pics or videos of that I'd be really interested in seeing them. Did he keep the sticks or did he just fashion something when he wanted a smoke? for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside | |||
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| One of Us |
Agreed. I like this cotton ball method very, very much. The only downside is that you get your fingers messy. At home, I take a cotton ball and kneed vaseline into it until every fiber of the ball is coated with vaseline, and the ball can be compressed into a solid ball of about marble size. When I want to use one to start a fire, I grab it with right and left hands, pull it apart into 2 parts, each with Don King's hair . I then reassemble the ball with the strands of Mr. King's hair upright. Then, a spark from a firesteel on the hair will ignite it, and it'll burn for 5 minutes or more. (This is the Peter Kummerfeldt method.) Another useful tip — from my friend and mentor Jim NcNutt — would be to use fire starter squares, like those made by Rutlands. Simply roughen up the square's surface with a knife, hit the roughened, fibrous surface with a spark, and it's good for 5+ minutes. (You can divide individual squares into smaller parts if you wish.) These squares are easily carried, and not at all messy. They're also very light. | |||
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If you take viagra and rogaine at same time you'll look like Don King. | |||
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ROFL | |||
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Yeah, second this one. Heat tabs. I toss some votive candles in a ZipLock, never had any problems getting a fire going, but then I got my merit badge in firebuilding.  | |||
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For the life of mee I do not understand what ANYONE would want to use a EM fire starter besides Trioxane bars. I have no doubt that all the other wax and vasaline mixed with lint of saw dust DIY fire starters work, but trioxane bars have these advantages VS all DIY EM F/Ss: <>Come in already sealed water/air tight foil conatainers that will not open up and leak giving you a nasty messy surprise. <>You can controll exactly how much fire starter you wish to use <>You will not get it all over your hands and Trioxane bars are 100% mess free, IOW, you cant accidentally wipe Trioxane bar material in your eyes. <>Trioxane bars store better than and take up less space than any other DIY FS I know of. <>Trioxane bars will litterly burn no matter what, even while floating on watter <>Trioxane bars are the easiest to start on fire of any EM FS I know of <>Im guessing here, but you most likely can back OZ for OZ more Trioxane fulk bars in your survival kit VS any DIY FS. <>In short there are no down sides to using Trioxane bars. Other DIY fire starters work great, but why whould you use anything elase besides Trioxane bars, becuase if your using them while out in the field, I personally would not wnat to bet my life on anything else. I mean what more can you ask for than a 100% fool proof 100% always start fire starter that cames pre-packed in 100% water/air tight small packeges, is oderless, 100% water proof, stores perfectly, burns extreamly hot for a long time, and weighs next to nothing so you can pack lots of them. DIY FS's simply IMHO, dont match all of Trioxzne bars advantages. | |||
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I agree with those in the trioxane camp - cheap, convenient and always works. "There are worse memorials to a life well-lived than a pair of elephant tusks." Robert Ruark | |||
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| one of us |
I know nothing about this trioxane stuff but strips of bicycle inner tube weigh nothing, take up virtually no space, and will start even when wet. They will do anything you've listed this trioxane stuff can do. Then again, I'm not at the level of needing to start a fire on water - YET. Bear in Fairbanks Unless you're the lead dog, the scenery never changes. I never thought that I'd live to see a President worse than Jimmy Carter. Well, I have. Gun control means using two hands. | |||
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Well, I'm on record as favoring the messy petroleum jelly/cotton ball method and the fire square starter method, but I'm rethinking things. I'd been warned that trioxane was toxic, not to be handled with bare skin, breathed or ingested. Turns out that my concern about toxicity may have been exaggerated. While one (obviously) shouldn't eat the stuff, a little bit of on-line searching suggests it is far, far less toxic than I'd imagined. Right now, I'm heading towards fire squares and I'll be giving the "strips of bicycle inner tube" a look-see. Frankly, I feel embarrassed with riches. Thanks, all. This has been a particularly useful thread for me. | |||
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I've used wax paper for 42 years and it does very well with no mess. GOA Life Member NRA Benefactor Member Life Member Dallas Safari Club Westley Richards 450 NE 3 1/4" | |||
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The solid-fuel tablets I've used (trioxane?) work well but can stink to the point of tainting hot water and always leave a scum on cooking vessels. As firelighters to get wood burning they should be OK, though. When using the tablets alone, you don't need the stove, just three stones to sit your vessel on, with the tablet between them. | |||
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After reading this, Guess I'm spoiled too! I carry one of the long scripto grill lighters and a small can of the wax type charcoal lighter fluid. ________ Ray | |||
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Maybe I am to simple...I carry water and windproof matches in one of those little aluminum match tubes with a few pieces of cut up strike strips. I always have a dozen or gun cleaning patches that I keep soaked in hoppes oil and voila dual purpose item in my pack. Mike  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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Could someone tell me how much better those metal spark makers are than gas cigarette lighters? It's a while since I bought a lighter but they last, are cheap and weigh nothing much, so I keep one in my pocket and others in daypack, chop-box etc. | |||
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| Moderator |
A firesteel type of fire maker is a lot slower and much more fiddly than a butane lighter. Plus, a lighter is an easy way to be able to read or see something in the dark. That said, I've worn out or broken quite a few cheap lighters but I haven't even come close to wearing out a firesteel. You can stash one somewhere and it will still work a couple of decades later, and in bitter cold too where lighters struggle, or if they get dunked in water. So, IMHO a lighter is much much handier but if I had to choose only one for any length of time I'd choose a firesteel type of starter. for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside | |||
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guess im too old and fuddy. first off the "lighters n matchs" can and seem to always get wet...then what? the vasoline cotton balls also burn wet ... and burn long enough to get the rest of your fodder burning. birch bark is the natural answer to vasoline balls if it grown around where you have you need for a fire. weight is always a concern when i think about a survival kit. "sparkers"...vasoline balls...good knife.......get er done ---------------------------------- when all is said and done...more will be said then done | |||
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Carrying gun patches mentioned. This wont help for removing an obstuction but to drag a patch through the bore use a doubled piece of weed trimmer line and place the patch in the loop. You can drag a tighter patch than what you can push. If the bore is too small to get a double loop of small line through, You can use a piece of larger trimmer line to push a patch. Either way it is lightweight and takes up little space. I also use weed trimmer line when cleaning guns at the house as you wont damage anything with it. I dont buy patches, I buy cheap cloth and cut my own. Even if you don't cut straight--they work. Using trimmer line you can pull a pretty tight patch which works better. | |||
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One of Us |
instead of working vaseline into cotton balls with your fingers you can heat it up in the microwave for a few seconds and it becomes liquid then the cotton balls just soak it up. I can put a lot of this in a 35 mm film can it doubles as lip balm and is good for skin from wind burn and such. VERITAS ODIUM PARIT | |||
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Thanks Mark, I might get one after all. On the vaseline/cottonball business: would they object to me carrying stuff like this on international flights (in stored luggage)? Anything that works that well sounds likely to raise eyebrows at check-in. | |||
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| one of us |
The Birchwood Casey individualy packaged gun wipes with Sheath gun oil are good for wiping your gun down and the end of trhe day, AND they burn real good. I have never had any problems carrying them in my checked luggage on a commercial airline either... DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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Why are y'all carrying around one of the Magnesium fire starter rods? Talk about simple and it works! Magnesium stick Remember what Magnesium does with water on it? Or one of these? Magnesium Fire Starter Rusty We Band of Brothers! DRSS, NRA & SCI Life Member "I am rejoiced at my fate. Do not be uneasy about me, for I am with my friends." ----- David Crockett in his last letter (to his children), January 9th, 1836 "I will never forsake Texas and her cause. I am her son." ----- Jose Antonio Navarro, from Mexican Prison in 1841 "for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson Declaration of Arbroath April 6, 1320-“. . .It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.” | |||
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Rusty, your top picture isn't a "magnesium stick" ...... it's a "fire steel".  I carry both. The Coughlin combination fire steel/magnesium bar (shown in your bottom photo) aren't bad, but the fire steel sparker has a tendency to become detached from the magnesium bar. This makes it hard to hold that skinny fire steel rod in your hand for use. I carry a dedicated fire steel (the Brunton shown above is a good one) and a small magnesium rod with a hole drilled in it so I can keep it on the same parachute cord loop I keep my fire steel and striker on. I also carry a vacuum sealed pack of pre-shaved magnesium flakes. If you fall in the drink in cold weather, you won't have the time to carve off a goodly supply of magnesium flakes from a bar before you go into hypothermia. | |||
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| Moderator |
No just tell them they are "first aid" balls. The fact is you can use a vaseline soaked ball as a dressing. Or a balm, or a coating for burns (not approved but it has been done for over 100 years) for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside | |||
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Sorry, I guess they mislabeled it. Brunto Striker Magnesium Fire Starter My idea of roughing it is a catalytic heater in a deer stand.  Rusty We Band of Brothers! DRSS, NRA & SCI Life Member "I am rejoiced at my fate. Do not be uneasy about me, for I am with my friends." ----- David Crockett in his last letter (to his children), January 9th, 1836 "I will never forsake Texas and her cause. I am her son." ----- Jose Antonio Navarro, from Mexican Prison in 1841 "for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson Declaration of Arbroath April 6, 1320-“. . .It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.” | |||
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| One of Us |
FWIW — I've found that some strikers create "more/bigger/whatever" sparks, have a better, longer-lasting edge or are easier to use than others. I've settled on the Firesteel Super Striker. I carry several butane lighters as well as several steels and strikers and little caches of starter fuel in a pants pocket, a jacket pocket and each of several locations in my pack. The advantage of a lighter over striker/firesteel is that you can light a fire one-handed. The disadvantage is that if your hands are very cold, it's hard to make the things work because you need "fine touch" to ignite them. With firesteel/striker, you do need two hands, but you can make sparks simply by taking a death grip on each and running the edge of the striker down the firesteel. No finesse required. JFWIW. | |||
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I can use a fire steel one handed. Think about it!  But I agree, redundancy is good..... if it doesn't weigh too much or tke up too much space.  Fire steel is a much better way to light cooking stoves too! | |||
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| new member |
I invented my own fail proof firestarted that I keep in every pair of saddlebags and all my backpacks. The trick is to find a suitable sized, gasket lidded, airtight container. Fill with dryer lint and saturate with white gas (camping gas) Depending on the container will determine how often you need to replenish the gas but just the fuel residue will always light the lint. If any leaks it simply evaporates. You will be amazed at how quickly and in diverse conditions this stuff will light. Cheap, easy to make and will save your hide if you find yourself in desperate need to light a fire NOW! How much you use at the time depends on the severity of the situation. Iceman | |||
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Iceman--that sounds similar to a Zippo lighter (Young guys probably don't remember Zippos--all Bic nowdays) | |||
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I'm amazed at the traffic this post has created! I like to carry at least 3 things to make fire with. I can also make fire with a bow drill. The good thing about being able to make fire with primitive methods is that it trains you well to make fire with "modern magic." I use a good ol' bic lighter and there are usually a couple on my person when I'm out. One in the pocket and one in the pack. I also take strike anywhere matches in a water proof container like a film cannister that can be opened with one hand if needed. The canister needs some sandpaper as a striker. I also carry a flint and magnesium thingy-mine is years old and has started lots of fires. Cotton balls and vaseline work nicely, and so does lip balm worked into some lint scraped off my jeans or picked out of my belly button. | |||
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| One of Us |
for something to stick the spark into: buy the small packs of baby wipes. They are saturated with rubbing alcohol. I had a hard time believing this, but a friend talked me into unfolding one and laying it on top of a full(of water) stock tank and throwing sparks at it with a dead BIC. From an inch away, it lit. Burned about twenty seconds, and was consumed. Rich Cheap, simple, fool proof. What else do you want? | |||
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| one of us |
Be sure and check the label, not all Baby Wipes have alcohol in them. DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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