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Firestarters
Even if you never build a campfire you'll need something to light that stove, and it may as well be a survival quality ignition source that won't be ruined by wet weather. Waterproof matches, butane lighters, and any number of reliable or fanciful gadgets do work. You should carry a couple. They don't weigh much and since they are small, they tend to get lost--it's important to have a spare.
In the days when tobacco smoking was popular, nearly everybody had a handy ignition source available at all times. Now that most people don't smoke, carrying fire isn't an automatic habit, but those old solutions are still good ones. Zippos have a nostalgia factor that I enjoy, but those I have owned have always leaked fluid a bit and generally need a refill every week whether you use them or not. If you maintain the fluids and replace the flints regularly a Zippo is a great idea. If you don't, it won't work when you need it.
Refillable butane lighters have class and durability that you won't get in a cheap Bic. The metal versions are noticeably heavier but worth the investment. Good quality disposable lighters have less class but also less weight. One for the pocket, one for the pack, and you're well equipped.
Lighters are excellent fire sources but are very awkward for directly lighting campfires and campstoves. Cigarette lighters were designed to light cigarettes, not campfires. You will need to light a twig (a match) and use that to push the flame into the tinder or fuel. Cranking up the lighter to blowtorch levels may put the flame where you need it, but it will eat up your lighter fuel very quickly.
Practicing primitive firemaking skills is an interesting challenge when you're out backpacking and need a few hours of diversion, but it's much more practical to carry matches. Matches are a marvelous tool. Immediate lighting, lightweight, convenient for placing the flame directly into the tinder -- matches are not cheating. Lighting a fire with a single match is a very respectable skill. Twenty matches is more than enough for a week's outing, especially if you conserve your fire by banking the coals at night. Fifty matches won't light a fire if you build it wrong, but don't blame your tools. I was warned about depending on matches when I began hiking in the Cascades, because the weather there is so constantly rainy. I followed the professional advice, got a waterproof match box and filled it with wax covered waterproof matches, and kept that as a backup for my Zippo. Out of curiosity, at the end of the season I tried out the waterproof matches. Following directions carefully I went through the entire lot without getting a single one to light off. I kept the waterproof match box but filled it with plain wooden strike-anywhere kitchen matches. I used them regularly, in all sorts of weather, and they never failed.
NATO waterproof matches are a much better deal than the waxed fizzlers I bought that year. NATO matches burn hot. As a backup for backpacking they make good sense, but for everyday purposes a wooden kitchen match is just fine. Use the same waterproof container to hold a mix of both kinds.
Primitive firebuilding goes through steps that most of us don't recognize as part of the lighting process. Strike a match, and you have flame. Spin the wheel on your lighter, and you have flame. Primitive methods, the ones that use available wilderness materials, deal with earlier steps. You begin either with a spark or with friction heat, progress to a coal, and if all goes well, from coal to flame. You can make a fire drill easily but success depends on physical exertion and correct technique. Your first friction fire will take about a week to get going.
Sparks are a high tech solution. In nature you'll rarely find materials that produce a good spark. If you have a steel knife and a piece of flint, you may get a pitiful spark by striking them together. It's unlikely you'll make a fire that way. Spark generators have become much more popular since the TV show Survivor focused public attention on them. It still amazes me that few of the contestants on that show bothered to learn how the magnesium bar firestarter actually works. Nearly everyone tries to use the "flint" to set off dry tinder without using the magnesium and many times no one is able to make that happen. If you carve a little pile of magnesium shavings from the bar, the sparks set that off easily, and a bit of tinder thrown on the burning metal will burst into flame with about as much airflow as it takes to make a candle flame bend sideways. Used properly, the system will light thousands of fires. Used improperly, the flint will last about a day, and you may never get a blaze going. You need the magnesium firestarter, a knife and some basic firebuilding skills to actually make a fire this way.
Even if you never build a campfire you'll need something to light that stove, and it may as well be a survival quality ignition source that won't be ruined by wet weather. Waterproof matches, butane lighters, and any number of reliable or fanciful gadgets do work. You should carry a couple. They don't weigh much and since they are small, they tend to get lost--it's important to have a spare.
In the days when tobacco smoking was popular, nearly everybody had a handy ignition source available at all times. Now that most people don't smoke, carrying fire isn't an automatic habit, but those old solutions are still good ones. Zippos have a nostalgia factor that I enjoy, but those I have owned have always leaked fluid a bit and generally need a refill every week whether you use them or not. If you maintain the fluids and replace the flints regularly a Zippo is a great idea. If you don't, it won't work when you need it.
Refillable butane lighters have class and durability that you won't get in a cheap Bic. The metal versions are noticeably heavier but worth the investment. Good quality disposable lighters have less class but also less weight. One for the pocket, one for the pack, and you're well equipped.
Lighters are excellent fire sources but are very awkward for directly lighting campfires and campstoves. Cigarette lighters were designed to light cigarettes, not campfires. You will need to light a twig (a match) and use that to push the flame into the tinder or fuel. Cranking up the lighter to blowtorch levels may put the flame where you need it, but it will eat up your lighter fuel very quickly.
Practicing primitive firemaking skills is an interesting challenge when you're out backpacking and need a few hours of diversion, but it's much more practical to carry matches. Matches are a marvelous tool. Immediate lighting, lightweight, convenient for placing the flame directly into the tinder -- matches are not cheating. Lighting a fire with a single match is a very respectable skill. Twenty matches is more than enough for a week's outing, especially if you conserve your fire by banking the coals at night. Fifty matches won't light a fire if you build it wrong, but don't blame your tools. I was warned about depending on matches when I began hiking in the Cascades, because the weather there is so constantly rainy. I followed the professional advice, got a waterproof match box and filled it with wax covered waterproof matches, and kept that as a backup for my Zippo. Out of curiosity, at the end of the season I tried out the waterproof matches. Following directions carefully I went through the entire lot without getting a single one to light off. I kept the waterproof match box but filled it with plain wooden strike-anywhere kitchen matches. I used them regularly, in all sorts of weather, and they never failed.
NATO waterproof matches are a much better deal than the waxed fizzlers I bought that year. NATO matches burn hot. As a backup for backpacking they make good sense, but for everyday purposes a wooden kitchen match is just fine. Use the same waterproof container to hold a mix of both kinds.
Primitive firebuilding goes through steps that most of us don't recognize as part of the lighting process. Strike a match, and you have flame. Spin the wheel on your lighter, and you have flame. Primitive methods, the ones that use available wilderness materials, deal with earlier steps. You begin either with a spark or with friction heat, progress to a coal, and if all goes well, from coal to flame. You can make a fire drill easily but success depends on physical exertion and correct technique. Your first friction fire will take about a week to get going.
Sparks are a high tech solution. In nature you'll rarely find materials that produce a good spark. If you have a steel knife and a piece of flint, you may get a pitiful spark by striking them together. It's unlikely you'll make a fire that way. Spark generators have become much more popular since the TV show Survivor focused public attention on them. It still amazes me that few of the contestants on that show bothered to learn how the magnesium bar firestarter actually works. Nearly everyone tries to use the "flint" to set off dry tinder without using the magnesium and many times no one is able to make that happen. If you carve a little pile of magnesium shavings from the bar, the sparks set that off easily, and a bit of tinder thrown on the burning metal will burst into flame with about as much airflow as it takes to make a candle flame bend sideways. Used properly, the system will light thousands of fires. Used improperly, the flint will last about a day, and you may never get a blaze going. You need the magnesium firestarter, a knife and some basic firebuilding skills to actually make a fire this way.
Photo by tvirus20
Without the magnesium bar, which makes the best tinder in the history of the world, you'll have to pay
even closer attention to tinder quality. Charred cotton works great if you can get the hang of throwing
sparks onto the charred portion, but it won't burn with the fierce intensity of magnesium. Natural tinder
like milkweed fluff is even trickier. Carrying a tinder box filled with good stuff often works better than
finding or making good tinder at camp.
If you plan on a spark generator as your emergency backpacking fire starter, fill a waterpoof match container with cotton balls and pour in a little alcohol. When you need a fire and conditions are stacked against you, put one of the wet cotton balls where you can throw some sparks onto it, and even with a simple firesteel you'll have immediate flame. It'll burn hot enough and long enough that you have a good shot at getting more stubborn natural tinder going.
If you plan on a spark generator as your emergency backpacking fire starter, fill a waterpoof match container with cotton balls and pour in a little alcohol. When you need a fire and conditions are stacked against you, put one of the wet cotton balls where you can throw some sparks onto it, and even with a simple firesteel you'll have immediate flame. It'll burn hot enough and long enough that you have a good shot at getting more stubborn natural tinder going.
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Copyright: All original material on this site is the sole property of the author and cannot legally be copied or used in any form without his permission. That would be me.
Data Collection of Non-Personally Identifying Information:
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.