Don't feel bad samhain, I suck at fire making as well. I have been learning as I go and I have switched most of my fire steel over to Ultimate Survival Technologies steel. What ever they use as there mix to make there firesteel works well with me. I have light my fire steel as well as others but the UST steel has performed the best for me. I guess it's more idiot proof but I can make fires the first time with there steels on a lot more things than I could with other steels (least path or resistance for me). I bought 2 blast matches and I already own a STRIKEFORCE which I had for ages, and one day I was cleaning out some old boxes and found my old STRIKEFORCE and had forgot about the WETFIRE in the handle. It was raining out that day so I said what the heck it had been in the handle for probably 15 years or so and I don't remember them being UST at the time but on a wet driveway and still raining that thing took one spark and lit right up and burned for several long minutes and I was throwing wet sticks to see if it would dry them and catch on fire (which it did). I had been carrying the cotton balls and PJ but in liu of some of the experiments I've been playing with, I cut up my old STRIKEFORCE to get the steel out and used it's old striker to hang off the keychain.

The WETFIRE tender I believe is definitively the way to go for energency tender because you can crush it up in powder and put it in a smaller container than cotton balls and it works wet or dry vs keeping cotton balls dry plus for the price and emergency use you can't beat it. After 15 years it took one spark in a wet environment and i had fire for minutes. I'm sold, I try to set everything up to be as easiest as possible for emergencies just in case I have other needs to worry about(broken legs or arms or hypothermia)and I need a fire now and not to fool around with failed or wet gear.

Sorry as usual for the rant, just speed read the highlights.

Base Gear has a sale on UST products right now anyway.(Ends 12/12/08)

Ultimate Survival Wet Fire Tinder (8 pk)
http://www.basegear.com/wetfiretinder.html
$5.95

Ultimate Survival Blast Match
http://www.basegear.com/blastmatch.html
$17.95

If I recall correctly, I have gotten flame with the cotton ball using a coal. Generally though I prefer to make a light and airy nest for the coal. You could always add the cotton ball to the nest. I carry some jute cord in my wallet along with a small flat square of cotton. The fluffed up jute makes a great nest for the coal you get from friction as well as flint and steel.

Does someone know how to get the Material Safety Data Sheet [msds] for vaseline or petroleum jelly? I think the MSDS probably lists the ignition temperature and other interesting info.

http://www2.hazard.com/msds/f2/bjv/bjvyv.html

If I am reading this correctly, the ignition temperature is 400 degrees Farenheit. Now, what is the temperature of various embers?

For that, I might even suggest two cotton balls- one with vaseline, and one without to catch the first bit of heat. I've found that it is often easier to catch dry cotton than jellied.

After reading on here and other places, I ended up choosing the Wetfire tinder as what I carry as well.

Waterproof, not messy, light, individually packaged, breaks easily into smaller bits, easy to ignite, burns pretty long.

Basically I wanted a waterproof, foolproof option. Typically I carry the tinder, waterproof matches, a Scout Swedish firesteel, and often a lighter as well.

My tests with the Scout firesteel suggest is is easy to light. I like.

-john


Firemaking section of my EDC kit [fulls sized]

Believe it or not, horse hair works really wheel, better than cotton balls. Besides my more "modern" devices, like ferro rods, I still have an old hunk of flint wrapped in a bag with horse hair that I have successfully started fires with.

I like that idea of the length of jute in the wallet. I can put a lot more of that in my fire pouch than cotton balls.

I may play with jute and Vaseline (not in my wallet of course) just to see what the burn times look like.

May go ahead and invest in some of the wetfire tinder as well.

Getting a lot of good ideas from this thread. Cool!!

Cotton balls soaked in Coleman white gas works pretty well - you don't even have to blow on them to get them to ignite with a coal as a single spark will normally get them going. Best to keep these white gas soaked cotton balls kept stored in an airtight re-used metal shoe polish tin though. Using this method of firelighting is useful in snowy, cold and wet conditions especailly in conjunction with a fire log.

Other useful tinders are;

high loft down from a sleeping bag or jacket.

birchbark which has been fuzzed up using a knife.

tinder Fungus or horses hoof fungus again fuzzed up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaHNWaBmNJU

Charcloth. etc...



Ray Mears shows how to prepare a fire log. Use 1 cotton ball soaked in white gas instead of a match..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V4l5St4MyA

The Ray Mears fire log is interesting.

I kept wondering how you put it out so you can safely move on.

I took a bunch of jute, wrapped it around my hand about 10 times, and tied it off, like a bunch of rope. Then I cut the 2 "loops". I then heated a bunch of canning wax from the grocery store in a tomato soup can over an Optimus stove - outdoors, in my driveway (don't have a double boiler). Stuffed the jute into the melted wax, let it soak for a minute or two, then pulled it out, let it cool on wax paper for about 10 min, then repeated it. Now I have a big 'ol jute candle.

To light with a firesteel, pound some of the jute between 2 rocks, it flays open and catches great.

I used some fatwood sticks as tweezers to pull the jute out of the can, now I have a couple of big fatwood candles.

The possibilities are endless.