Survival Fire Starting
Survival fire starting is a critically important skill for anyone who spends time in the outdoors. Fire starting devices are available in many different varieties. It is generally a good idea to keep several types with your survival kit or camping gear, starting a fire is far too important to be left to chance. Waterproof wooden matches. The simplest means of starting your survival fire is the tried and true wooden matchstick. The best choice is a box of waterproof matches specifically designed for camping, these are available at most sporting goods retailers and camping outfitters. The boxes and striking surfaces are treated with a moisture resistant, wax-like coating. You can also purchase plastic or steel match containers like the one shown below, just be sure to cut the striking surface off the box and keep it in the container also.
Fire Steel. This is my backup survival fire starting method. An artificial flint rod with a piece of steel attached, also available at camping outfitters. Swiftly scraping the steel along the flint rod produces an impressive shower of sparks that will quickly ignite a properly prepared fire starter tinder pile. Not as easy to use as a match, but effective 100% of the time, even when wet. A little more thought is required in preparing the tinder for the fire, as it will need to be fine enough to ignite by spark alone. With a little practice, you will get the hang of it and see how this is an invaluable tool in your fire starting toolkit. You can also get magnesium survival fire starters with the flint rod built into the side as shown on the right below. The idea is to use your knife to scrape a pile of shavings off the block, then use the back side of your knife blade to scrape against the flint rod and the sparks will ignite the magnesium. This is actually a little easier said than done, but once you get the magnesium lit, it does burn very well, and very hot. I have found it easier to dig a little hole in the ground to hold the magnesium shavings when you try to light them, it keeps them together a little better.
Lighters. Why not... Lighters are cheap and easy to use and 99% of the time they will get the job done just fine. But 99% is not good enough when it comes to fire starters, so while its great to keep a lighter in your survival kit, you should have a backup plan. Lighters can leak and are easily broken. If you do throw a lighter in your gear, go ahead and splurge the extra 25 cents to get a quality lighter like a bic.
Fire Sticks and Fire Lighters. Fire lighters from Coghlans are an easy to use option and have the added benefit of being a fire starter with tinder combined. Basically they are little fire logs, with a big sulphur type "matchhead" end. They work well when dry, we have not done a wet test on them, but that is forthcoming, and we'll let you know. There are 20 in the box, each one burns for about 7 minutes. Fire Sticks, also from Goghlans are just that, sticks of firestarter log... they do not include a means to actually ignite the material. We were able to start a fire quickly as long as we had something that would provide a flame... We tried to break one apart to light it with our fire steel but did not have much luck. They will light when wet however, a quick touch of a match is about all it takes. Fire Sticks burn for about 12-15 minutes.
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