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.