# Fire starting kits!



## gaspump86 (May 5, 2012)

just wanted to know what you all have for fire starting. As I am about to put my kit together. 

I plan on using a small dry bag:
-trioxane
-lighter
-storm matches
-ziplock bag of tinder (dryer lint, toilet paper, etc....
-magnesium fire starter

Anything im missing?


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

I really like my petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls for a easy to light tinder that burns long and hot. I have and have used trioxane but it has a nasty habit of getting a pin hole int eh package and all the good stuff having evaporated away and leaving you a nearly empty package with a little dust that won't burn. Just not reliable enough for EMERGENCY fire starter. 

I havent done it yet but I have wondered if maybe grinding up a magnesium bar into small flakes and mixing that in with the petroleum and cotton balls might get you a little hotter starter I need to try that one of these days.


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## Jerry D Young (Jan 28, 2009)

I keep fire starters and tinder spread throughout my gear.

Tinders: 1 oz bottles Purell hand sanitizer, Wetfire tinder cubes, fatwood, magnesiium shavings

Starters: 4 different ferro rods plus 2 Allweatherfirestarters.com soft magnesium rod/ferro rod/striker units, half a dozen bic lighters, 2 Zippos with extra flints & fuel, 3 butane lighter/torches, six tubes of NATO lifeboat matches, 3 UCO all weather matches

Makeshift starter items: leather boot lace & glass shot glass to make a fire bow


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## gaspump86 (May 5, 2012)

jsriley5 said:


> I really like my petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls for a easy to light tinder that burns long and hot. I have and have used trioxane but it has a nasty habit of getting a pin hole int eh package and all the good stuff having evaporated away and leaving you a nearly empty package with a little dust that won't burn. Just not reliable enough for EMERGENCY fire starter.
> 
> I havent done it yet but I have wondered if maybe grinding up a magnesium bar into small flakes and mixing that in with the petroleum and cotton balls might get you a little hotter starter I need to try that one of these days.


Maybe ill put my trioxane in a Altoids tin.


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

Youll have to crinkle the wrapping to get in there and likely cause the holes I mentioned. ONly thing that may help is some kind of airtight container or wacuum pack ing and even that would require additional protection to keep from getting a pin hole. suppose you could carfully duct tape the packages to add some protection against getting holes. I like the trioxane don't get me wrong but esbit and cotton balls are much more reliable. I have some esbit tucked around but is planned more for small batch water heating than fire starter. Also in really cold weather I carry a half of a road flare in my emergency kit. (The half WITH the striker end.) I parafin dipped it to keep it preserved longer and is there for a BIG OOPS lke falling in the creek and getting soaked in the cold a fire will be needed ASAP and the road flare will turn any collection of floatsam into a quick fire in a hurry when you are probably losing fine motor skills due to hyposthermia setting in and need that fire fast while you get out of wet clothes and start drying out. I got mine at wal mart Walmart still has flares but they are bigger now for some reason I haven't seen the little 15 min flares for a while. I keep looking though probably find them on line if I look. Anyway point is one way to start fire really really fast in a emergency is worth considering if it gets really cold where you are and a must if you get near water in cold weather.


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## Rifleman45 (Dec 7, 2012)

gaspump86 said:


> just wanted to know what you all have for fire starting. As I am about to put my kit together.
> 
> I plan on using a small dry bag:
> -trioxane
> ...


Fatwood is the best thing I've come up with. Use it like a magnesium stick starter. I found mine at Lowe's, but it can be found anywhere pine tree's grow.

I posted a video for a friend at


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## gaspump86 (May 5, 2012)

Rifleman45 said:


> Fatwood is the best thing I've come up with. Use it like a magnesium stick starter. I found mine at Lowe's, but it can be found anywhere pine tree's grow.
> 
> I posted a video for a friend at Video Link:
> 
> ...


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## gaspump86 (May 5, 2012)

Anyone consider bringing 1 or two matchlight charcoal briquettes?


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

I have lighters and magnesium. Keep both in a belt pouch. We are surrounded by stringy bark eucalyptus (grow over a fair chunk of the country) the bark is super thick and very fiborous. If you peel some off (easily done even with bare hands) the inner layers are always dry, you can fluff it up in the hands into a nest shape, a spark into that and off you go. I use the bark as kindling everyday and to quicken the fire when cooking. The problem here in the Aussie bush, even in the wetter months is stopping stuff burning not getting it started!


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## truecarnage (Apr 25, 2010)

No one mentioned char cloth either ?
I also like to keep lent from the dryer, I need to try it to see how well it lights, I might just be wasting my time.


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## bugoutbob (Nov 11, 2012)

truecarnage said:


> No one mentioned char cloth either ?
> I also like to keep lent from the dryer, I need to try it to see how well it lights, I might just be wasting my time.


Some people swear by dryer lint but I have never had good luck getting it started


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## TNFrank (Dec 2, 2012)

I guess I'm old school, I like my flint and steel with homemade charr cloth. I have two of em' made up in old Altoids tins.


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## gaspump86 (May 5, 2012)

TNFrank said:


> I guess I'm old school, I like my flint and steel with homemade charr cloth. I have two of em' made up in old Altoids tins.


Im not familiar with char cloth. Pieces of cloth with char rubbed all over it? As joe dirt said "im new. Idk what to do. Im new boo hoo" lol


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## oif_ghost_tod (Sep 25, 2012)

Easy char cloth recipe

Items needed:

Several 1-2" square pieces of old tshirt or other cotton cloth
Altoids tin
Heat source

Cut several pieces of cloth to fit inside the tin, fill loosely.

Close tin and punch a small hole in lid (for smoke to escape).

Place directly on grill burner or lit charcoal briquettes.

Leave it to heat thoroughly, it will smoke quite a bit. 

When the smoke stops, its done!

Remove it carefully from the fire (will be hot!)

Let cool, then place your newly made char cloth into a waterproof container like a old film canister or pill bottle.

To use:

Place a piece of char cloth in a prepared tinder bundle and apply a spark. Char cloth will smolder, rather than flash burn, so blow on it gently to ignite your tinder.

Voila! Fire!


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## gaspump86 (May 5, 2012)

oif_ghost_tod said:


> Easy char cloth recipe
> 
> Items needed:
> 
> ...


Awesome! Thank you. Im gonna make some.


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## bugoutbob (Nov 11, 2012)

Okay, I'll bite. How do you make a fire with a shot glass and a leather shoe lace. Maybe that's old hat for some of you but I've never seen it done or heard of it


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## TNFrank (Dec 2, 2012)

The Altoids tin is what I carry my kit in, not what I sue to make the charr cloth in. I have a 1 qt. molasses can(looks like a paint can with a lid you take off with a screwdriver) that has a small hole in the top that I use to make charr cloth with. Old blue jeans (100% cotton) work great, cut into 3"x3" squares and put it into the can then place the lid on and tap it down all around so it's tight. Put the can on a fire or other heat source(you'll want to do this outside since they'll be smoke) and let it "cook" until the smoke stops coming out the top of the vent hole. Let it cool for a couple hours before you open it or the cloth will be ruined. Once it's cool you can open up the can and you'll have plenty of charr cloth to catch a spark and place into your tinder to blow into a fire.


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## dirtgrrl (Jun 5, 2011)

bugoutbob said:


> Okay, I'll bite. How do you make a fire with a shot glass and a leather shoe lace. Maybe that's old hat for some of you but I've never seen it done or heard of it


Use them to make a fire drill. Find a good stick as the drill. Tie both ends of the shoelace to another stick and wrap the shoelace around the drill once. Use the shot glass to protect your hand and allow one end of the drill to move freely. The other end of the drill is placed in a notch of another piece of wood. Draw the bow back and forth, twirling the stick and rubbing it against the other piece of wood, creating enough friction to catch tinder underneath on fire.

Love the shotglass idea; never thought of that. Two uses!


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## BadgerPeak (Sep 25, 2012)

Lighters and matches will be used up over time so they shouldn't be considered a sustainable survival option. Ferro rods last for decades so a few of those makes you sustainable, and the same skills and methods work with the older flint and steel which can be found in the outdoors.

We use only natural tinder as that's always going to be available. Here's how we do it. How to make a fire.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

Just posted this that might help DIY Fire Starter Wafers Cheap, compact light weight effective fire starter wafers you make from those cotton wafers/pads ladies use to remove makeup with.


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## testhop (Dec 20, 2009)

I like to take those BIG milkshake straws cut to 3 inches seal the end by mashing the end with nettle nose plers and sealing with a bic then take some cotton dipped in wax pushed down the straw about 2 in. then some plain cotton to fill about 1/4in seal the other end to use cut the plain end 
pull some cotton out light the cotton and burnstraw and all will burn for 5 min or more


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## jackpreparednessexpert (Jan 20, 2014)

Great list! You may also want to add these:

1. Lifeboat matches - hey burn for ten or twelve seconds, and that can make a big difference!

2. Ferrocerium - a man-made metallic material that sparks at temperatures at 3,000 °F when scraped with a knife blade or steel striker.

3. strike-anywhere matches

4. Flint and steel - the standard fire-lighter for centuries. Key to successful use is a good steel striker, a sharp piece of flint or similar stone and a ready supply of char cloth (carbonized cotton or linen cloth)


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## Bunnyskinner (Jan 26, 2014)

Small strips of car or bike tyre are good, once light, they burn for a long time

Sent from my LT30p using Survival Forum mobile app


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## Gearhead14 (Mar 20, 2012)

I like all the ideas, I carry my kit in a small pouch, and in it is the following:
bic lighter (can't beat them for the price)
Fire-steel and striker
Waterproof matches
Strike anywhere matches
Magnesium fire starter
Char cloth (with the tin if I need to make more)
Vaseline soaked cotton balls
Cotton wrapped matches dipped in wax (burn for 5 mins strait)

Future upgrades...some jute twine with Vaseline soaked in the fibers, extra bic, and a flint and steel.


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## Zeev_Zwaard (Jan 27, 2010)

Plenty of lighters.
Common matches dipped in beeswax.
Storm matches.
Magnesium bar.
Cotton balls, with some beeswax soaked in, that I make in an ice cubes tray.
Ferrocerium rods.
Magnifying glass (several)
BlastMatch.
Steel wool and batteries.
Alcohol.
Kerosen.
Gas.

Sometimes I laugh at all of it because I’ve never REALLY needed anything else than the simplest and cheapest of lighters and I’m very grateful for that. But it’s nice to have it all close by.

You can light a fire with wood that has been soaking under water for weeks without anything more than a match as long as you grade your stuff carefully and start with some wood dust that you scrape with a knife (or your nails)


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## JMozingo (Mar 31, 2013)

Another good thing to carry is a 9-volt battery and some steel wool. Both can easily fit into you pocket and I get a flame with them every time 


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## dmsdog (Sep 24, 2010)

Instead of petroleum jelly and cotton balls, carry cotton balls and a tube of Bacitracin; burns like petroleum jelly if needed and can also be used as a first aid antibiotic ointment......


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## abeljimenez (Mar 14, 2014)

I usually carry a firesteel with my pocketknife that has a good spine for striking. I carry one or two cotton balls along with some burts beeswax. Though I'm sure there are better ideas


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## Deathdealer (Oct 26, 2013)

If you are carrying a fire steel then another thing to try is jute twin i have a 4' strip of it built into my paracord bracelet along with a 1" fire steel yah it's small as hell but I have started fires with it before! Just an idea for you guys. They aren't that hard to make and if you buy some fire steels off eBay or what not you can get a good hook up on the prices and you can get a ten pack or what not.


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