Fire Starters

FIRE STARTERS FAQS  

• Why is having a fire essential to survival?
  It provides warmth, deters wild animals and insects, serves as a signal, cooks food and purifies water. Starting a fire successfully can increase morale and the light and warmth has a comforting effect that can stave off panic and depression. It also gives a feeling of being productive and focuses attention on a task to calm the mind and encourage rational thinking.
• What do you need to build a fire?
  Starting and building a fire has three components: tinder, material that will easily ignite; kindling, small pieces of twigs, leaves or dry grass; and wood, dry pieces that are gradually increased in size to fuel the fire.
• What can be used as tinder?
  Some examples of good tinder materials include cat tail fluff, dry grass or pine needles and dandelion clocks. If an empty bird’s nest can be found, this is an ideal “tinder nest”.
• How do I start a fire?
  Igniting a fire can be done in several ways, of course, the easiest by using an instant flame. Having a set of weatherproof matches or a windproof lighter is the ideal situation to be in. Investing in a fire starter that can be easily carried or fit on a key chain is also a viable option.
• What is a fire starter?
  There are a few options including a magnesium flint fire starter, which has a strip of magnesium flint and a serrated steel striker; a spark wheel, which is a wheel made of flint that is flicked; and a ferrocerium rod and metal striker, which is a synthetic pyrophoric alloy that produces sparks when struck.
• How does a ferrocerium rod (or firesteel) work?
  Ferrocerium, also known as a firesteel and sometimes as a flint (even though it isn’t) is a type of mischmetal that is pyrophoric; that means that under ideal conditions it will spontaneously combust in the presence of oxygen. By striking the ferro rod with something harder than it (like a scraper or the spine of a knife) and shaving off fine pieces, they create sparks that can burn at several thousand degrees, much hotter than the sparks from a true flint.
• What can I use for tinder with a ferro rod?
  Because ferrocerium fire starters produce such hot sparks, you can use a wide range of tinder with it, including clothing lint, dry grass, wood shavings, and fine plant down. Char cloth is good too since it cannot be blown out once lit.
• Are waterproof matches worth it?
  Waterproof matches offer greater value because they are more consistent in wet or humid environments. Another advantage of matches (in general) is that they can be split so that one match can be used to strike several fires.
• What can I do if I don’t have a commercial fire starter?
  A fire can be started by focusing the sun’s rays intensely on a piece of paper or tinder, using a reflective surface like an eyeglasses lens, the reflector out of a flashlight or a water-filled bottle. Depending on how bright the sun is, it will heat the paper or tinder to the point that it catches fire. The tighter and more focused the beam of light, the quicker it will ignite. You can also practice making fire with friction-based methods, such as the hand drill, bow drill, or fire plow, though these are much harder to master.