If you have been surfing around the internet on this subject you will definitely find tons of info on it. Ferrocerium Rods aka Fire Steel. Some claimed the Chinese made Firesteels are crap while other champion the Swedish Fire Steel which I still own and now she is laying it my pile of outdoor scrap stuff.
Personally I have sold quite a few DIY Fire Starting Kit and also Chinese made Fire Steel. One factor I did not like in most Fire Steel is the fire steel handle and the striker. The handle simply takes up space and as for the striker, almost every outdoor adventurer, survivalist or prepper carries either a Multi-tool or a knife which can be used as a striker. So why carry a striker that only perform one function?
 |
| DIY from smallest Fire Steel 37mm in length dia 4mm |
In my opinion, having a Fire Steel is good but if only using once in a while adventure or preparing a survival kit, I do not wish to carry a full size Fires Steel, instead that will be in our bug out bag checklists
 |
| Tinders: Cotton Straw, Magnesium, Twine, Tinder Quik (not my cup of tea) |
The most important fire starting kit are the tinder no matter the size of Fire Steel. There are many kinds of tinder such as charcloth which I find a waste of time to make it, Vaseline coated cotton or from the nature.
My main concern is tinder has to be lighted fast and at certain point it must be waterproof during wet or snowy seasons. Frankly why waste time searching for tinder in nature (well if you come across it, that is cool) but you if you are doing it, valuable time is wasted when you can to do something else.
 |
| Spark-Lite |
I have been preparing Survival Kit for 30 years, every year something new comes up and it goes into my kit. Recently I got the Spark-Lite, reason is if somehow one of my hand or arm is immobilise, I could still use the Spark-Lite with one hand. Some will tell me why not add a lighter in my kit, I do carry one since I am a smoker, always have a lighter with me all the time, it is when the lighter is out, Spark-Lite is next in line to assist.
I try to keep my Survival Kit light and simple. I will try not to use my butane lighter during camping because I need it for my smoke.....LOL. So basically I have DIY smaller, light weight Ferrocerium Rods for survival kit, hiking and overseas backpacking. Will only use the modified bigger Ferrocerium Rods Dia8 x 80mm during car or bike camping.  |
| Cheap Tinder |
My most favorite tinders are cheap twine and waterproof straw with Vaseline coated cotton aka Straw Tinder. 100 meters of twine cost less than USD1.50, what more can one ask for.
I keep my fire system simple, I have 2 Survival kit now, one for outdoor the other for oversea backapcking. Spark-Lite goes overseas, Mini Ferrocerium Rods goes outdoor and in Survival Kit but most important is still the tinder. No one is going to stop you carrying 100 metres of Twine through the Airport security....LOL (hope you get the drift)
Well hope you guys have enjoyed reading the post and have an idea about fire starting and give you an ideal how to go about.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
No comments:
Post a Comment