You Need A Fire Starter Kit
By Adelia Ladson
The most basic primitive skill that you should know is how to build a fire. It doesn’t matter whether you are a staunch City Dweller that has no love for adventures in the Great Outdoors or if you are a Suburbanite that only lights the backyard grill. Everyone should know how to build a fire just in case a situation warrants needing a fire for survival. Now, I don’t mean knowing how to rub two sticks together or anything like that. All you need is a good fire starter kit.
What You Need To Start A Fire
So that you understand what you need to put together a fire starter kit, you need to understand what you’re doing with it. Here are the basics of building a fire and what you need to build it. Starting and building a fire has four essentials: flame or spark, tinder, kindling and wood.
Tinder And Flame
Tinder is material that will easily ignite like cattail fluff, dry grass or pine needles and dandelion clocks. The tinder is the base of the fire, and you form it into a nest-like form or bundle so that it can effectively catch the spark of the flame. If you can find an empty bird nest, it’s the ideal “tinder nest”. Now, the easiest way to ignite your tinder nest is with and instant flame source like a lighter or matches. The most reliable way, that will never fail you, is with a fire starter like a magnesium flint, spark wheel or a ferrocerium rod. The key with a fire starter is to get a good sized spark to ignite the tinder.
Kindling And Wood
When the tinder is lit and going, feed the flames with kindling, which is twigs, dry grass and pieces of leaves. Use small pieces, being careful not to smother your flame. The idea is to gradually enlarge the fire by fueling it with things that will catch easily. Break smaller limbs from trees to increase the size of your kindling and your fire. Then, gradually, add larger pieces of dry wood, increasing them in size to fuel the fire.
What Your Fire Starter Kit Needs
Now, taking the above information, you can put together a fire starter kit for emergencies or recreation. Here are the things that you can put in your kit to make starting and building a fire quick and easy wherever you are.
Flame Or Spark
The first thing that goes in your kit is a source of flame or spark. There are lots of options out there and you should go with at least two of them so that you don’t have to rely on one source of flame. A lighter is the easiest tool to use but don’t put one of those cheap convenience store plastic lighters in your kit. It won’t work very well if it gets wet or if the wind is up. Invest in a lighter like the BugOut Arc Lighter, which has two powerful arcs of electricity, requiring no adjustment for weather, and a water-resistant, flip-top construction. The lighter’s lithium-ion battery can be recharged via its included USB cord. As a back-up, just in case the battery goes dead, drop a few boxes of Trailblazer Waterproof Matches into your kit. They’ll burn even if they get soaked in water. Another back-up to consider is the Bushmaster Firestarter that will also work in wet or windy conditions. It’s a flint rod that generates a spark when struck with a knife and it has a hole to attach a neck lanyard. You can also use a good old Micro Sparkwheel to create a spark. Just remember that you’ll need a little more patience when starting a fire with a spark instead of an actual flame.
Ready-Made Tinder And Kindling
Instead of wandering around looking for tinder, all you need to do is pull it out of your fire starter kit. The commercial tinder that I really like best out there is the Trailblazer Hemp Cord because it really will light quickly with just a spark, and you don’t have to worry about burning your fingers. It’s a length of hemp cord that’s wax-infused so that it’s water-resistant. An aluminum tube is at one end so that you can snuff out the flame or control the burn rate. All you have to do is just fray the end of the cord and it’s ready to set a spark or flame to. You can also get packs of small pieces of tinder that are basically tightly wrapped and treated fibers that are odorless and non-toxic. You just pull them apart, light them and they will burn for 5 to 7 minutes, giving you time to get your kindling going. A great kindling/match combo, the Trailblazer Fire Starter Sticks light like a match and burns like kindling. A match head caps the end of each and, once lit, each starter stick burns up to 10 minutes. All-natural and clean-burning, these fire starter sticks are made of compressed wood chips and paraffin wax. You can also find starter sticks like the Trailblazer Waterproof Never Fail Starters that are the same concept minus the matchhead.
Black Beard Fire Starter Kit
Now, if you don’t have the time or you’re still not completely sure about putting together your own kit, I’m gonna end with this and make it a complete no brainer! The Black Beard Fire Starter Kit gives you all the tools that you’ll ever need to start a fire anytime, anywhere. The zippered organizer case has slip-pockets and elastic organizer straps to secure four Fire Starters, a Ferro Rod With Paracord and a Rechargeable Arc Lighter neatly inside.
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