Survival fire starting
This is one in a series of survival skill stacks I am working on. I feel this is the most important skills, dressing for summer and having a storm move in is overcomable IF you can start a fire. If you cannot start a fire I don’t care what you have for clothes your life may be in the balance.
The ability to start a fire is a critical part of survival if you are stuck or lost in inclimate weather. At sub 32 temperatures you are only a few hours away from hypothermia and frost bite if colder and wind is blowing. Even if properly dressed for freezing temps you are still going to need to keep warm unless you are constantly on the move.
Their are numerous skills needed for wildnerness survival or even home bound survival if the electricity goes out.
In homewood stove fire starting, many of us already have this one conquered so I’m not going into great detail on it. If you do not have a wood stove you may want to consider one or a generator as these power companies turn to unreliable solar and wind and shut down nuclear and coal we will start seeing brown and black outs in severe temperatures. Sooner or later power comapanies will require the control of your electricity through smart apps or a linked up theormostat so they can slow or stop your usage. While this may seem crazy, this is a very real possiblity.
In home is easy if you have a wood stove you can heat your house and cook on it in a pinch. Their are multiple ways to start a wood stove fire. Paper and matches with small pieces of wood and buildign from that. Many of us no longer get the daily paper so that brings a small problem to the forefront. You will still need small slivers of wood, I have found a small propane torch works really well. You just have to be careful with it as you do not want it to set close to the stove. Or if you live near a corn field as the farmer if you can pick up some corn cobs, they work great.
Survival fire starting:
Their are a multitude of of ways and items to start a fire in a survival situation, you just need to prepare NOW because if you are stranded or get lost you are not going to the local Wally World and picking up supplies.
Ferro Rod starter, sparks are 5000 degrees and will start lint, steel wool, needles, plant fuzz such as cattail fluff. This is spark only. Not my personal favorite due to size and you must have dry material to start the fire. It will spark even if wet and raining.
Waterproof matches. Again not my favorite, will not start wet material, and if its the least bit windy you will use a couple to get things started. So you’d better be good or you will have no fire. If its raining good luck.
Magnifying sheet, or glass very light, takes little room and works. Only problem? you need sun, cloudy days are hit and miss and of course night is a complete miss. Pretty much a fair weather survival fire starter.
Magnesium fire block with ferro rod and striker. Over 5000 degrees and with the magnesium schards green grass will start on fire. This is my go to, I keep 1 of these in each of my cars. I keep 1 in each of my back packs I use when camping or cross country skiing or snow shoeing. It has everything you need to get a fire going in minutes, A hot burning substrate, a ferro rod and in many cases a striker. If not any pocket knife will do. You’ll have everything you need to start a fire, even damp needles. If it gets wet, its raining no problem its going to strike and the magnesium schards you scrape from it as long as it stays put will light, its small, not heavy or bulky.
Onto substrates for getting things going.
Steel wool, intense heat, matches, ferro rod, will all start steel wool. Can be messy in a pack
Lint, catches quick when dry but damp or wet is a problem, can be messy in a pack and takes up room
Wax paper, compact takes little room, not messy. Can take quite a bit to get a fire going with ferro rod. If damp it is harder to start.
plant fluff such as cattail fluff. You must find cattails, the fluff like lint cannot be wet. So if you’re depending upon cattail fluff you better know where their is some.
pine needles, leaves, As long as they are dry they work good.
Cotton balls and some petroleum jelly, again can be messy.
With the ferro rod and matches you are going to need something that starts and burns with a spark. Steel wool, lint, catttail fluff or even crumpled wax paper etcetera. Wax paper may take a few strong strikes.
The best fire starter I have found is the magnesium ferro rod combo. Wax paper while not necessary does keep the shards you scrape off the magnesium from going to the ground or falling into the snow. If the wax paper is saturated with rain it will still keep the magnesium shards from falling to the ground or through snow. With wax paper its pretty simple, lay the wax paper out, and put some needles around and you’ll have fire. Wet, dry, cold, hot, windy they never failed.
Having been in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts with my son was truly a learning experience for both of us. All the above were used to varying success.
This is not an all inclusive list. If you have something you use I and my readers would be interested.
In all cases - KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY! It will make your stay in the wilderness more pleasant. Always prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Most of all PRACTICE, its cheap insurance - mag starters are 5-7 dollars for hundreds of fires. Practice until you have it down pat, figuring it out in a life or death situation can lead to failure. Panic is your enemy - stay calm - if you pratice - you’re going to know what to do and survive. Just keep your head on straight.