ILBob,

Don't be amazed, it just means that Hikermor has spent a lot of time in the woods.

I a completely with Hikermor, the many (I haven't counted) times I have NEEDED a fire (for myself or others) a kitchen match was sufficient. For tinder I have used (and still carry) a 3" square of old t-shirt cotton soaked in wax. It has worked many times (summer and winter) in the Rockies as well as a few times in Coastal and interior Alaska. In western Canada I lit one at 35 below that way (a dog sled driver with hypothermia). Glock-A-Roo is right though, keeping it going is the tough part. It takes practice, but it does work. A saw and axe (or just the axe and more work) are often needed to make burnable wood in those conditions, but it is usually available, even in the worst of conditions (except of course on the tundra and the other treeless regions of the world.

Like Hikermor I have upgraded my carry gear, but I still rely on matches as the start of it all.

Respectfully,

Jerry

I agree on the keeping fire going part. I like cotton/vaseline
plus some large chunks of pine pitch to give me more time for
the kindling to catch.

The kitchen matches I have purchased recently, are nearly strike
no-where. Its seems like they have changed the formulation
and even sandpaper or the perfect rock won't work. Do I have
just bad batches?

These are good points. Fire STARTING is one thing but fire KEEPING is quite another. Most of us carry probably more than one fire starter, but I'd guess fewer of us routinely carry very much in the way of tinder, and especially not kindling or anything to reliably feed and keep a fire going. I don't.

I also like cotton balls in petroleum jelly for compact and lightweight carry. I've used corrugated cardboard strips rolled up inside a small empty cat food or tuna can and soaked in paraffin for campfires, and I have found a road flare to certainly be a reliable source of fire in wet and windy conditions. However, flares are a bit much for routine carry afield. Hmmm, I wonder what could be made of a cut-up road flare's constituent parts for a lighter weight, more compact tinder source?

Supposedly, the heat from a small candle will help dry out tinder before lighting it, but I've never actually tried it in field conditions of cold, wind and wet myself. Generally, I've found a splash or two of Boy Scout Holy Water from my stove (Coleman fuel/white gas) sufficient to get things going well enough and long enough so that any damp fuel stacked next to the fire had time to dry out enough to light and burn.

"Fire Starters in FREEZING CONDITIONS"

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Hi,
Although I have haunted these pages for some time this is my first post. Please bear with me if I do it wrong. I carry a disposable lighter, a magnesium fire starter and matches in my pocket when in the outdoors. I also carry some tinder cubes of my own design which burn extremely hot and high for several minutes. A trick I use is to dis-assemble a chap stick tube, discard the cup and snip off the stem just above the retention knob. This can easily be waterproofed, but use waterproofed large kitchen matches. It holds several matches around the perimeter with the heads alternated up and down. A trick or regular birthday candle in the center, and in some cases a compressed cotton ball under the lid. I hope this helps.

That is one of my favorite stories.

Nice!

But I thought you were going to say you use the chapstick wax as fuel. Burt's Beeswax makes fantastic fuel inside a cotton ball. In fact, it's probably better than petroleum jelly because Burt's Beeswax doesn't run as easily. However, it is more money per volume and is not as versatile as PJ.

thanks for the compliment.

i keep this in the pocket of my PFD.if i go over board from my canoe and have to swim for shore without the canoe and packs i would use this canned heat and a Bic to start a fire.

the cord is attached to the back with a bit of JB Weld and would be used to pull open the can if i had cold hands.the cord on the pull ring is attached with Super Glue so it won't move when i yank the cord to pull the lid off


once lit it's just a matter of putting whatever is around that will burn over the flaming can.

Excellent reminder Glock. Fuel for the fire can be a big challenge and one you'd best be proactive about.

My preference is to use dry wood but I keep a tea light candle in most of my kits and esbit tabs in my GHB and BOBs, and am just starting to experiment with sterno.