I had an issue with a Spark-Lite yesterday that I wanted to share. We just put our boat up for the winter, and I took out the emergency kit for a quick once-over before next season. The kit is kept in a large pelican box under a seat.

Upon opening it, I found some mildew on certain items, so I decided to redo the kit, with more individualized heavy zip-loc bags. I had a spark lite kit and some wet fire in a small zip loc already, so I almost skipped the step of individually inspecting it. Luckily, I did, because when I tried the spark-lite, it looked like the flint had somehow gotten wet and disintegrated. The wheel spun freely, and just a little dust came out.

I'm posting this because I always counted the spark lites among my "safety net" gear -- planning on using them as backups in case my waterproof matches didn't work, etc. I like their size, convenience, and ease of use, among other features. I am a little concerned now, though, since my rock solid backup isn't so rock solid any more -- at least where moisture may be present. I am considering switching to another item, and am looking for input on a comparable choice, in terms of cost, size, ease of use, etc. This would necessitate a switch in probably 6 or 8 kits that I have in various locations, so I want to make a good choice.

FWIW, this experience also reaffirmed my belief in the value of checking EVERY ITEM in my kits on a periodic basis.

Hope others find this experience at least somewhat useful, and I look forward to suggestions from the group.

Merry Christmas

Rod

Too bad about the moisture in the Pelikan box. You may have to add a box of silica gel to the box to keep everything dry. I would inspect the Pelikan box seal ring also and the pressure relief valve (if it has one).


I would also consider sealing a firesteel or the Spark-lite in a heat sealed bag.

Moisture, especially salt water moisture is very damaging to firesteels.

You can't do this with a Spark-Lite, but for a regular firesteel you can paint over the surface with women's nail polish to help protect from oxidation (choose your color for additional flare!) It will scrape right off when you go to use the firesteel.

Thanks for the response.

I'm not sure how the moisture got in, but it was more likely my fault than the Pelican's. I either used something and put it back wet, or there was a leak in my Nalgene bottle of emergency water (although there was no visible moisture around the bottle).

I've now broken down most items and put them in individually sized 4 mil zip loc bags. Hopefully that will work better.

Two thoughts: First, Oak @ four Seasons did have a small run of defective Sparklites get out into the market. I hope you still have yours. It may very well be salt air and moisture corrosion. Whatever the cause, please talk to Oak and if possible he may want to examine your unit.His service is exemplary and the Sparklite a marvelous tool. Something went wrong,somewhere.

Hello rasatter..... Merry Christmas to you!
How old was the Spark-Lite?

smitty

I second Schwert's idea of silica gel packs. I use the one's that come in shoe boxes, pill bottles, etc, but they also have some that change color when saturated with moisture. Might be handy in a marine environment.

http://www.veritemp.com/Products/Packaged+Desiccants/

It had probably been in the kit for about 2 years. Merry Christmas to you as well.

Believe it or not, I actually bought a bulk package of them and there were two of them in the box. In fairness, though, they were probably 2 years old. . . .

I have no sense of how long they're supposed to last. Anyone?

I forwarded your post to Oak Norton of Four Seasons Survival 814-234-0698 and he would like you to contact him regarding the replacement of your Spark-Lite. Please save your old one, as Oak would like it back.

Will see if I can dig it out of the trash. Thanks for taking the time to do that. - Rod

I'm just asking here, but is there any chance that it may have something to do with the chemical properties in the Wet Fire? I assume you were referring to Ultimate Survival's "Wet Fire Tinder".

I had some in a kit in my backpack, I opened it and everything corroded. I thought it may have something to do with the iodine tablets, but I found no leak in the bottle. Just a thought.

Bisc.

If you haven't opened your bottle, odds are pretty good that it wasn't iodine tablets.

"Everything" had corroded? Tell us more- what is everything? Aluminum? Steel? Stainless steel? Copper? Ferro rods? Plastics? If was iodine, it probably would have pitted some of your plastics and left a distinctive smell, and any cloth items that were pale and near the bottle may be stained. Iodine is pretty agressive, it chews up everything but glass, teflon and enamel.

I'm more inclined to think it was just good old fashioned water. Something wet was in there, or you got rain in it, something like that. Moisture will kill a ferro rod if you give it time.

Echo that, I'd go over your box with a fine toothed comb, and maybe make a call to Pelican.

And if you are going to use a Nalgene for long term, get a new lid if you've been using this one for a while. Then fill the bottle with BOILING water, and seal immediately, as tight as you can (use a glove to handle the bottle)- as the water cools, the resulting vacuum will "can" the bottle.

Those two, and the possibility of putting something in wet, are the three culprits that spring to mind.

I guess everything was a bit extreme.

The kit was in a nylonish zippered bag nowhere near water proof. The Ferro rod ( Blast-Match) was corroded, and the plastic handle was toast. The stainless on the SAK appeared okay. My guess was that it was water, but it never hurts to look at all the possibilities.

Bisc.

Water.

If it had been iodine, the handles on your SAK would have been pitted and the toothpick would have changed colors. There isn't a lesson learned about making sure caps are on tight involved, not at all. :P

I've had multiple generic or Bic brand disposable lighters go bad like that. The flint material appears to go to powder or just disappear. A couple were in survival kits, at least one was in a car glove compartment. My solution is to check them occasionally and have at least 2 independent fire-producing methods.

Steve

Hey, Steve, I see you're from NC. My boat was there (at Lake Gaston) when all this disintegration happened. Maybe we've got something in the air, eh?

Great idea on the water bottle. Thanks.

I was re-filling the expirables in my kits, and found the same thing: Sparklites that produced dust but no spark. No corrosion in my kits. I contacted 4 Seasons, and they replaced the units. Mine were about 5 years old.