Come on Baby, Light my Fire!

[Peakbagr]

With Vaseline soaked cotton balls stored in a film container and waterproof matches, be careful you don't set the woods on fire.

 

[sierra]

Best to practice when there is no emergency. Practice making a fire in a downpour and wind or when it's so cold you can't keep you gloves off for very long. If you can do that you can handle any real emergency.

It's fun!

Thats a great point, Im an expert at fires both in the summer and winter. One big misconception about winter fires is that people dont realize you need to make a good base or the fire will put itself out if it lights at all. making a fire in deep snow is no picnic, I would rather go without and just bivi under the snow in most cases and just get out at first light.

 

[NewHampshire]

Those strips can deteriorate pretty quickly in damp/wet weather. I'm thinking about getting that FireSteel thing NewHampshire was talking about.

It is small money for a very reliable tool! I had left it in a stuff sack that must have been damp. When I pulled it out it had a little bit of green corrosion on it. I thought "Hmmm, is this OK or bad?" One scrape, green stuff coms off. Second scrape the thing spit the usual waterfall of sparks. That was when I did my field test on my backpack trip. It was then I knew this thing was the best firestarter I ever used. It is like the show Dual Survival. When they were in the Appalachians the two got dumped in the water and seperated. Cody tried to make a fire in the traditional way. A long time trying and he failed, spending the night cold an fire-less. Dave had fire. When Cody asked him (when they finally met back up) how he started his fire Dave replied "pfft, firesteel dude. I never go into the woods without one."

Brian

 

[IndianChris]

I like the dryer-lint-with-vaseline idea and may add some to my kit.

hmmm...I like that too...dryer lint...RECYCLING!!!

 

[Dave Bear]

Me too when going overnight. Used some recently as I had started the fire but hadn't gathered enough small stuff to keep it going. White gas is considered cheating, but who the flock would care if it's a situation ? Or even if you just want to start the darn fire ?



Cool thing. Obviously you wouldn't want snow or ice as your base without some sort of plan. I carried a decent length of wire for a while that was, like, quintuple purposed. One was to create a net or basket that the fire or my stove could exist on above the snow/ice.

Chip I actually do light a fire on ice or snow with a layer of wood as a base. Haven't you ever been to a nice bonfire on a lake?

Never underestimate the power of fate on the trail to require you to use your head and survival skills. Once on a Thanksgiving weekend my sister-in-law and I were out on Cedar Brook Trail heading in to camp and climb the Hancocks the next morning. Others had passed through over the thin ice with lighter loads and not had a problem. When she went to cross the fourth crossing her foot slipped off a glazed rock and shattered the ice out from under her. She was instantly soaked through when her heavy pack plunged her in the water. I too got soaked to my knees helping her out. Within minutes our clothes were freezing onto us. In about a half hour she was in a dry winter tent and fresh clothes inside two sleeping bags. Within about an hour she was eating eye-of-the-round steak with boiled rice, drinking zinfandel and we were laughing about it!

We were very prepared but still shocked and surprised when it happened. The next day I used my gas cannister stove to start a fire after gathering plenty of wood. First a wood insulating base, then the two aluminum tins I had used for the steaks, followed by small tinder and twigs I gathered and some small sticks. I lit the stove and put it on its side, an advantage with propane and butane stoves, with the breeze blowing lightly across the burner into my wood fuel. It took very little time to have a two foot high bonfire and start drying out the frozen clothes. I would consider the stove a method of cheating to get a large fire quickly but our gray matter is meant to be used on occasion as well!

I often hear people say they would not need the skills to survive the cold because of how or what they do. On the trail you have left security and comfort behind for freedom to be in a primitive and natural place. Nature does not care if you survive, let alone if you comfortable. A small mishap or sudden change in weather can create a largely different adventure. I for one second the notion to practice some of the necessary skills. I also feel that some carry a pack of waterproof matches and find false security. Matches are a start but a long way from having a warm fire when you are freezing!

 

[Elizabeth]

I cant agree with your logic for this reason, if in fact someone is immobile do to an injury, having firestarter material is a moot point because you will be unable to gather wood to sustain your fire.

Actually, I had said "limited mobility" not "immobile." Another example would be if you just got soaked through and are in danger of hypothermia - the time-saving advantage of having firestarter material could be very valuable. I certainly agree that anyone who spends time in the backcountry should learn how to make a fire using what is available naturally. However, in an emergency situation, why not cheat a little?

 

[sierra]

Actually, I had said "limited mobility" not "immobile." Another example would be if you just got soaked through and are in danger of hypothermia - the time-saving advantage of having firestarter material could be very valuable. I certainly agree that anyone who spends time in the backcountry should learn how to make a fire using what is available naturally. However, in an emergency situation, why not cheat a little?

I wouldnt go so far as calling it cheating and some of the ideas listed above are good ones that I think could be very effective for starting a fire. BUT I look at the possibilty of actually having to use it, verses having to carry it around with me all the time and the weight and xtra room is not justified to me, but if you dont mind carrying it by all means have at it, its your pack to haul.

 

[Little Rickie]

I wouldnt go so far as calling it cheating .

The only thing your cheating is death. Well, not really, death has no rules.