Who carries "survival" type fire starters?

[Dave Bulla]

Hi all, a question.

Since we all as bowhunters spend a lot of time in the woods in both remote and non remote areas where it is possible to get lost, stranded, hurt etc and most all of us carry some sort of pack for our stuff, I wondered what was the fire starter of choice for those of you who are "prepared" for an emergecy situation?

I've also got a question/complaint about my recent "fire won't starter" device....    

I love to watch the shows like Survivor Man and Man Verses Wild if only to see if I can pick out the B.S.  Both shows are pretty good overall, just have to realize that there is a certain amount of "dramatization" added ala Fear Factor style.... For effect I suppose.

Anyway, for years I've seen magazine articles touting the virtues of the magnezium block and striker type starters and just a few days ago the survivor dude used one of them and it looked pretty slick.  I actually bought the Coughlan's brand one from Wally World.  I've seen them used on other TV shows and talked highly of in magazines so I figured "Eh, what the heck, for just under seven bucks, I'll throw one in my pack for emergencies."

Well, I tried it tonight and I'm p!$$@d!  There is NO WAY to get a spark off that thing!!!!

I've scraped every knife I own on it.  Stainless to high carbon.  I've tried different angles, different pressures.  I've used the back of the knife (like the instructions say to do).  I've used the blade.  I've used a sweeping motion and I've struck at it like you would a flint and steel.  NO DICE.  The rough grey surface of the little sparker rod imbedded in the back side of the block rubbed off in the first couple of swipes.  I've tried so much that it's getting flat spotted and there are a couple good nicks where I tried the "striking" motion.  This thing is a joke or I'm dumber than a block of metal.

So, end of rant.

Do any of you use one of these things?  Does it work?  If not, what else do you use.  I'm looking for something besides matches or a lighter to carry in my hunting pack.  Preferably small, light weight and reliable.

[RightTrailWrongTime]

Since my mentor, friend, hunting buddy , boss showed me his flint and steel firestarting kit, I was soo impressed that I made my own and carry it all the time. I am sure that in the worst of situations I could make fire with this simple little kit. I took it on a weekend wildman hunt to see if I could indeed make fire and it worked flawlessly. I too have had the firestarter you mentioned and well it sucked! A fellow tradganger sent me the striker shown and since then I have made two other kits and given them away as gifts to pass on the generousity.
 

[ishiwannabe]

I have a magnesium block, and it works great. I had a lot of issues until an Army buddy showed me how to use it. He shaved off quite a bit of magnesium onto some cedar bark, then using the tip of his knife(at 90 degrees to the striking rod) scraped it down onto the pile. Had a fire in about 30 seconds.
Other types are very easy to use. The steel strikers look promising. I have seen them advertised from 10-20 bucks.
One that really seems interesting to me are the "air popper" type. Forgive me, I cannot remember what they are called. They consist of a wooden piece with a hole drilled in it. A striker that resembles a turkey call striker, but the end is concave. You need a tight fit between the two pieces. Add tinder and pop it together. The force ignites the tinder. Actually, one was used on survivorman.
Hope this helps.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

I use one of those magnesium strikers, but I could hardly get the magnesium powder to ignite long enough to get my kindling going.  So..I also carry a film canister with a couple of vaseline soaked cottonballs. I smash the dust into the cottonball, then strike flint.  When the magnesium finally catches, it ignites the gooey cottonball, and that'll give me 2 or 3 minute of flame to get my kindling going.

Its a lot of hassle just to smoke my pipe, so I also carry a zippo!

[ishiwannabe]

Righttrail....that looks cool as all get out. Some sort of srtiker and flint?

[JEFF B]

i carry a fire starter called light my fire it is so simple a kid could use it i aint kidding and it cost about $6 to 7 and well worth the money. it has a round flint bedded in a plastic handle and a cord holding a striker on it and it even tells ya what way to hold the striker and how to use it. bro ya cant go wrong with that one.       . jeff

[RightTrailWrongTime]

I have a separate can that I make my char cloth with and carry enough with me in the can shown to light 20 fires, I also have added a section of jute twine in the case I can't find suitable tinder, steel wool works well too. My can is deer skin lined to avoid noise, a small piece of texas flint and a good stiker are also shown. The whole thing weighs next to nothing and takes up about as much space as a turkey slate call.

[Bill Kissner]

I don't use those. I am into more primitive stuff. I carry a couple throw away butane lighters   :D . Actually when in the Rocky Mountains I always have some home made fire starters. I make them by mixing melted paraffin wax with saw dust from my chainsaw then pouring the mixture into egg cartons. Just tear off a couple "eggs" and light them with the afore mentioned butane lighter   .

[Bear Heart]

I have messed around with it just to see if it was worth carrying.  It wasn't.  I got the best spark going almost parallel to the sparking surface.  I just carry about 5 lighters in different spots.  Each is in a snack size ziploc

[Dave Bulla]

Todd, now THAT is a cool fire starter kit!  You say you make them?  Do you smith the striker yourself?  That is just......dang.....it looks "right".

You guys who have the

HEY!

While I was just sitting here I figured I'd try it again but didn't want to use my knife blade any more (I'm a bit protective of the edge) so I used the tip of the screwdriver in my multi tool..  I tried it on the side of the striker where there was still some of the roughness left and danged if the thing didn't spark!  Tried the blade back, no dice.  {Played around with it some more and figured out it's a "speed thing".  gotta sweep real fast.

Whew!  I feel better.  Makes a darned hot spark too.  'Bout burned a hole in my jeans.

[Widowbender]

I have one of those magnesium/flint stater thingys and I have used it to make fire. Mine is an army surplus, I don't remember the brand name, but it looks just like the one at Wally's... You just scrape off some magnesium onto your tinder and scrape the back of fairly large knige blade down the striker side and it make a hellstorm of sparks...works pretty good, but not as good as a Bic lighter. I still keep it in my tackle box...I keep Bics around everywhere for just in case...car, fanny pack, back pack, pocket, etc.

David

[RightTrailWrongTime]

Thanks Ishi and Dave for the comments, I guess I mistook the word "survival" for "primative" ha ha
I wish I could say I forged my own striker but I wouldn't know how, I made the rest of the stuff though and it only cost a few bucks. I recieved the striker from a fellow Tradganger who so generously had his wife send it out to me while he went in for surgery the next day, another fine example of the people I've met here.

[Roadkill]

anybody tired to use a butane lighter at 8-9000feet?
Mag striker's are pretyy easy to use if you get someone to show you.  Love the old flint and steele deal!

[Friends call me Pac]

Dave did you try holding your knife with the blade's cutting edge pointed towards you and at a 45 degree angle?  

That's how I do it and a flick of the wrist produces sparks for me.  I don't hack at it like you see the folks in survivor do.  (chopping motion).

Every once in awhile I use it to start my fire in my wood stove just to keep in practice.

Lint from your clothes dryer makes an excellent tender.  One spark and it is usally poof.

[twosheds]

I always keep a magnesium striker with me in a Sucrets can full of dryer lint. Seems to work for me. Tripper

[robtattoo]

Dave, there are loads of Ferro rods available & not all are created equal    If you let me have your address I'll mail youone of the good ones bud  :D

The other major thing that a lot of folks don't realise is that the striker is just as important as the rod itself. The carbon steel thing is a myth, any steel will work, BUT it needs to be sharp! The back of a knife is great, IF it's been flatted off to produce two very sharp, 90 degree edges. I carry a ferro rod in my pack at all times & have another built into the sheath of my bushcraft knife. Onceyou get the technique down it is 100% effective & reliable.

Incidentally, forget Survivorman & Man vs Wild! Bear Grylls is a complete fraud! He's been the topic of many debates on the UK bushcraft forums    Do a youtube search for Ray Mears. This guy really is 'The Man' when it comes t that kinda thing & I'm fairly sure he does an online instructional in using a ferro rod.  :D

[Friends call me Pac]

Made a quick video of how I use my fire starter.  Good luck.

 

[rainman]

When using the magnesium striker hold your knife at a 45 degree angle with the tip on the ground.  Pull the striker across the blade fast and generate lots of sparks.  This way you don't knock your tinder around.  You can also shave the magnesium off at home and put into a film canister.  Much faster if you need a fire now.  If you practice you should be able to get a fire started in 5 to 6 seconds.  Fastest I have seen was three seconds to flames.

Semper Fidelis
Dan

[RightTrailWrongTime]

Hey cool video, that worked really well! Guess I'll be saving dryer lint now too!

[Dave Bulla]

Pac,

Thanks!  Do you have anything flamable on the dryer lint besides the magnesium flakes?

I also noticed you didn't seem to scrape off a bunch of magnesium like they say to do.  Heck, the flakes weren't even touching or piled together.