Guys! Shift the shelter versus fire debate to a new thread, please.

let's limit this thread to a discussion about how to keep the first fire going and how to transport it.

Thanks.

Well, you could add a Slow Match to your kit. Or carry a Calalitic Hand Warmer. The latter brings a lot of other advantages with it as well.

Pat

Pat, some interesting items. Thanks.

Do you know if the hand warmer can be used to start a fire? If it can, how?

Do you know what the rope is impregnated with to turn it into a slow match, for DIY creation of one?

I haven't tried it but if you lightly touch a cotton ball to the burner I doubt that you would damage it.

The Jon-e hand warmer has a wick:



You can Google "slow match" or "matchlocks" and find several recipes. Unless you're into historical re-enacting or matchlock shooing (which I assume you are not), I'd say just order them online.

Pat

One of the older style of hand warmer was a metal case with insulation in it that held a burning charcoal stick inside. They usually burned for about 5 hours.
I think you would get the same effect from embers carried in a container full of ash.
(If you have something like this just to carry a fire it seems to me you might be better just packing a lighter with you.)

Another fire carrier is the bark from Douglas Fir. The embers
(coals) seem to burn into is just like punk and smolder away for a long time.
Oh I just reminded me about punk. Punk is the dozey half rotted but dry cedar you find inside some logs. It is another material that will carry an ember for a long time.

I forgot about those: Charcoal Handwarmer

Still, having a "purpose built" item is in line with being prepared. Otherwise you are relying on finding a field expedient substitute.

And, it is still a hand warmer. Not a bad item to have at times.

Pat

are the sticks for the hand warmer just charcoal or do they have something mixed it to keep them going?..

Everything I've seen just says "solid charcoal".

I've had (and probably still have somewhere) both types. A Coleman lighter fluid type in the '60s and the charcoal type in the '70s. The lighter fluid type was MUCH better. But for the purposes of this thread, the charcoal one is more appropriate.

Pat

Thanks PSM. That is what I was thinking about. It says it burns 10 hours so I was only about half right.
I agree they might be a good item to have handy.
One thing about the charcoal is they can sit on a shelf for ages and still work when you need it.

SFAIK the sticks were just compressed charcoal. The fact they were insulated helped them stay lit. I can remember stubbing the sticks out when done with the warmer and relighting them later.

So called 'fire logs' are pretty common with indigenous populations where the rainfall is high and things tend to stay wet. In rain soaked jungle it can be a major problem to find anything that is dry enough to reliably use to create fire from friction or a limited amount of sparks. In such places, independent of a lighter or other modern means, creating a fire from scratch can be a really big deal. Not an experience you want go through regularly.

Once created the emphasis is on preserving fire. Usually as a glowing coal. The way this was accomplished was to create a fire log. A common form was piece of split bamboo about 3" in diameter that was filled with plant materials that had been carefully selected for their ability to support a coal and dried with the last fire. Once filled and a coal installed the split bamboo would be lashed closed and frequently provided with a shoulder strap. Set up correctly, the methods are an art form handed down from generation to generation and vary widely according to location and culture, they were recorded as being able to support a coal for several days reliably.