The Spark-Lite is advertised to start 1,000 fires. Adventure Medical Kits' new SOL Fire Lite™ is advertised to start 5,000 fires. Can this be verified? Also, is there anything about the Fire Lite I need to know?

Jeanette Isabelle

I wouldn't be surprised if they use the exact same flint. I have over half a dozen Spark-Lites and find them to work well. Can't say anything about the SOL, never actually tried one. TAD makes a brass one that's also really nice. It doesn't really work any better but it's much more robust, plus you can change flints when they wear out. The only downsides are the price (about $28) and the fact that it's round, so it tends to want to twist in your grip.

The SOL seems like it was designed specifically to clip into their "Origin" tool. Otherwise, it wouldn't surprise me if they are the same internally. Easiest way to tell would be to buy one of each and crack 'em open.

I wonder if Doug would know, being he likely has some connection with AMK, since they sell his kits?

I am less worried about the 999 or 499 other fires they start, but I am more worried about the one fire they need to start that one time..

number of strikes matters less to me than reliability.

What is that narrow black line running down the side of the Fire Lite? Perhaps a ferro surface? That would be cool. Or hot. You know what I mean.

Its a mediocre copy that's suited for looks rather then actual thought process for its real use which is packing into survival kits which usually implies everything to be small and compact. Just another way to cash in on other peoples ideas really.

I dunno, both products are made and marketed by the same company, Adventure Medical Kits (AMK). So while I am inclined to agree that the revised design is less than stellar, I don't think it's a case of one company ripping off another's idea.

AMK took over production and marketing of the original Spark-Lite a long time ago, didn't they?

Four Seasons may still make the Spark-Lite.

http://fourseasonssurvival.3dcartstores....ange_p_109.html

Jeanette Isabelle

No.

Looks to me like just a design or rubber insert for grip.



My understanding is that AMK provides a Distribution ability for products to retail stores. In other words they take the product put it in a displayable package for shelf's/racks and Distribute them to stores like Dicks sporting goods and such. They do not own the product or make it they simply provide a way to reatch the stores for products that are mainly sold online and shipped in basic unpretty packaging.

Someone correct me if Im wrong on this.


I forgot to mention this doesnt apply to products they actually do produce. It should be easy to differ them from the ones they do not such as The Fox 40 Whistle and Spark lite. If Im not mistaken The PSK is not produced by AMK either just packaged and distributed.

I happen to have one in my hands right now. The black stripe is for grip, and it is a bit wider. My kids have a much easier time using this one than they do the original. They have trouble holding the thinner one and keeping it pointed in the right direction. It seems to produce the same volume of sparks as the original.

I'd much rather have the metal Spark-Lite which has a replacement flint and can be used forever. The Spark-Lites are a great design with ease of use in mind. However, the plastic ones with the one flint inside tend to oxidize away after being used the first time. The speed that it deteriorates depends on where it is stored/carried and environmental conditions. This makes depending on the plastic Spark-Lite somewhat risky. The SOL version or variation may last longer but for a few dollars more you can invest in the metal Spark-Lite that you can replace the flint in and it will last a lifetime.
I still prefer the Firesteel, I can see what I have, I can make a load of hot sparks and some models are pretty affordable. I coat mine with clear acrylic paint after each trip to prevent oxidation.

for you Scout Leaders.. a good craft presentation would be to let your Scouts do a "Ranger Ricks" modification to a Bic lighter (empty of fuel)..show them how to remove the wind screen and fuel activation lever without removing the striker wheel (did mine with a Leatherman PS4)...it had about 3/8 inch of flint remaining...if you saw off the bottom of the fuel tank there is room for tinder

Ah, I see. My mistake.

Interesting, I didn't know that. I have several and have used them for at least a year with no problems, but then I keep them in a zip-lock-type bag when they're not in use. I've been ogling the aluminum version for awhile, so maybe this will be the excuse I need to get one.

I will say the brass one from TAD is really good, bomb-proof and well made. But even so I find the square shape of the Spark-Lite to be easier to use.

No matter how great one fire starter/method is, I always carry a back up.

Blake

Exactly. There are so many good small and light-weight fire making methods that it's no big deal to carry a few different kinds.

For example, every jacket/coat I own has a Bic lighter or mini-Bic lighter in the pocket (including suit jackets). It costs next to nothing, it weighs next to nothing, and I know that...if I've got my jacket...I've got a way to make fire.

You guys may laugh, but I finally got my first Mini Bic today! I don't smoke so I really have to go out of my way to find a lighter. But there's a dollar store right next to the hardware store I was at so I popped in, and they had 3 packs of mini bics; one of the packs had 2 orange ones so I decided to try them. Stuck one in my Maxpedition bottle holder/PSK right when I got home!

I actually carry at least 3 methods. A large Firesteel, some Uco wind/waterproff matches, which you can light pour water on and they will still be on fire, and I carry a Spark-Lite metal version with allen wrench and spare flint. I also usually have a butane lighter in a pocket of my pack and on my key chain I have a Firesteel "tube" which is a small ferro rod in an aluminum tube that the lid screws on and has a key ring. I also carry 2 waterproof tubes filled with cotton balls saturated with vaseline. So, I WILL make fire when needed

That's basically what I usually do. I don't smoke either, but when I see a pack with all the right colors, I'll grab it. Usually yellow, orange, and/or white. I like the white ones because it's easy to see how much fuel you have left, but on the other hand....in winter they can be hard to find if you drop it in snow.

I ended up with one green one but it's almost a neon green. Should be pretty visible as well.

PSA.

I like the Spark-lite. Have for years. A couple years ago I switched over the the Ultimate Survival Sparkie b/c it provided more spark as its basically a one handed ferro rod.

The only complaint I had for time I carried it was the rod deployed all the time in my EDC bag. (It is spring loaded into the handle and a simple pinch at the base activates.) Otherwise it did a great job of starting dozens of impromptu fires.

Earlier this year, the 'striker' started to skip along the ferro rod causing a progressively worse percentage of spark per use, apparently I was smoothing out the the rod and as the 'striker' is set in place, its become harder to maintain enough contact for ignition.

I have since removed the Sparkie and put the Spark-Lite back in the pack as one of my redundant fire starting methods.

As Izzy stated he liked the sparklite for packing as do I.I had read somewhere (can't remember where though)was designed to take up the same space as four wooden matches.The sparklite can then be kept in a water proof match safe.You know those orange or olive green plastic ones.A sparklite and afew tinder quicks with some fish hooks and line in a match safe was many a soldiers last ditch kit.When it was invented it was during Viet Nam and this was high speed low drag stuff then....

BOATMAN
John

I was at the sporting goods store today, and noticed they had Fire Lites, so I figured I would grab one and compare it with a Spark Lite.

The Fire Lite cost me $10, the Spark Lite I took out of one of my spare DR Pocket Survival Packs (though they typically go for around $8). Both were brand new, unused.

First thing I did was try striking each of them. While I don't have any way to truly measure their performance difference, visibly it didn't seem like one put out a better spark than the other. Then I put them next to each other:




The Fire Lite is a tiny bit larger in every dimension, but it also has rubber applied to each side, which I found made it a little easier to hold onto.

Next, I grabbed my trusty leatherman and broke each of them apart (there goes $20 ):




The Spark Lite has one long ferro-rod, while the Fire Lite has three smaller ferro-rods. When I put them side by side, I noticed that the Fire-Lite's combined ferro-rods were a little longer than the spark-likes single rod. While that means it technically has the potential for more fires, I really doubt it's a huge difference. They're close enough that it's really splitting hairs.

Which would I buy? Well the Spark Lite costs around $8 and you typically get 8 little tinders with it. The Fire Lite costs around $10, and you only get 4 little tinders with it. Therefore, I feel the Spark-Lite is likely the better deal. Otherwise, I didn't notice anything about either that makes me feel one is significantly superior to the other. In fact, I replaced my Spark-Lite with another Fire-Lite that I bought with this one, just because it was available.

Paul, thank you for sacrificing the sparkers and sharing it with us. It's good to know how things are put together.

JI, what characteristics about these two models has your interest... the size... one handed spark capability...
something else?

If it's size only, you can get a ferro rod and striker combo with about the same size package and get a lot more spark per strike.

With the UST Blastmatch, you get an enormous amount of spark with one hand. The rod rotates in the casing so you don't wear out one area.

I've got a few of the TAD Survival Sparks and like them for what they are, I also have several BlastMatch firestarters and others. Just wondered why you are limiting choice.

Including what's in the PSP, I bought three Spark-Lites over the years. I lost one when I dropped it in the fire. I know it is advertised to start 1,000 fires. I recently saw this new product which looks a lot like the Spark-Lite but it is advertised to start 5,000 fires. I wondered why there was such a huge difference between two similar looking products.


By the way, the TAD Survival Spark looks interesting but I can't find much information on their web site.

Edit: I found the information on the TAD Survival Spark I was looking for. In case you are interested, I wondered how the flint could be changed and where to find replacements.

Paul, you did not have to spend money to do so but your post is very informative. Thankyou.

Jeanette Isabelle

No big deal, the money is well worth it for the knowledge gained.

I'll say thanks also. Posts like Paul810's are why the forums are a great resource. Now I don't have to go spend ~$20US to find that out.

I don't have any experience with the AMK product, but I will say that bigger is not always worse for PSK supplies. Small packs easier, but can be harder to manipulate, especially with cold, numb hands. I've had my hands get so cold that I couldn't squeeze the brake levers on a mountain bike, and that takes a lot less dexterity than turning a tiny metal wheel on a piece of plastic. I'm not sure that the added size, makes that much difference here but it is something to think about.

Now if we can just talk Paul810 into soaking his hands in ice water for several minutes and comparing the two products...

I'm wondering whether the rubber strips on the Fire Lite are extractable for tinder purposes.I wrap a few rubberbands around my Spark-Lites as my hands are a tad large,& the rubberbands make xlnt tinder making the Spark-Lite, duo-purpose!I also Thank You for the breakdown of info,Regardless!

As Anyone who owns a zippo would say to this, There is a major issue I have with haven't the multiple smaller "flints". When a zippos Flint is "finished" it still has the potential to make quite the few sparks, The only issue is it becomes small and jams/spits out From the zippo. This means your loosing A decent amount of sparks per individual flint when it pops out around the end of its life. This is just my observations hopefully Im not to wrong lol.

I took one side off and tried lighting it with a Bic. It does burn pretty readily, but it stinks with that typical burning plastic smell. I doubt you could get it to light with the sparker alone, but it will burn if you need it to.

Thanks for the comparo and the great pictures!

A good trick to improve the Spark Lite's grip is to put a chisel tip in your soldering iron, then CAREFULLY melt VERY SHALLOW horizontal grooves on the fore & aft grip surfaces. Use common sense and don't make the grooves too deep. It's not rocket surgery.

I did this on some 'Light My Fire' firesteels and strikers with the plastic grips and it works great; the improvement with wet/cold fingers is substantial. I will try to post a pic later.

As long as the stuff burns,that makes it duo-purpose,Thank You for that!

Paul, since you have already done us service by dismantling these and if you haven't tossed them already, I wonder if you could check one other thing for me?

I have drilled a hole through the end of a Spark-lite before to put on a key chain but I don't know how long the solid portion of the Spark-lite "handle" is. Can you check for me?
I'm looking for the dimension from where the spring butts up against solid plastic to the end.

Thanks much

jenks

Sure!

On the Spark-lite, the spring actually doesn't go very far in. Only about an inch (or 3cm), leaving the last 3/4" (or 2cm) solid. It has a plug in the base, but it's held in very securely. I cut the spark-lite into two pieces towards the bottom, and tried to knock the plug out of both sections with a punch, but it held secure. Putting a keychain hole into it should not be a problem.

On the Fire-Lite, the spring goes nearly all the way to the bottom and the bottom plug is significantly smaller; therefore I would not try to drill a keychain hole in it.

I've never seen the Fire Lite. Probably b/c no good outdoor shops near me that I know of.

One thing I really hate about the Spark lite (I carry the brass one) - the bloody wheel! I've played with it for a while and really torn my thumb up. It IS rather sharp. It's also just a touch short for my taste - maybe another 1/2 would be great to hold it better.

That being said I wonder if "1000 fires" should be replaced with "1000 sparks" or something similar. I mean, if you can't make a fire at all, this little guy won't magically do it.

The Spark-Lite is MADE in the USA, anybody want to guess where the Fire Lite is made?
The Spark-Lite has been standard military issue and included in many US military sutvival kits for several decades.
If I had to stake MY life on either of them, I will go with the orgional.
Borrowed Computer, keyboard sucks.