Taurus, what brand of road flare are you using? Sounds like just the thing after an accidental swim in a cold river.

What has been your experience lighting the end of the cut flare?

I don't.

I cut it in half and keep the end with the igniter. This is just to save space and weight. The hot glue keeps the insides from falling out.(Yellow sawdust like stuff) I get rid of the other half as its near impossible to ignite otherwise.

The vacuum seal is to keep the igniter dry. If that gets wet you are stuck with plan B.

Sorry Doug, Didn't see this till just then.

I use the Canadian tire brand you gets in packs of two. (made by CIL I believe ?) The ones with the strike igniter like a big match anyway. There are some that require a lighter to get going. I never used those before.

Fell thru the ice once. Only up to my junk but still it was not a very happy day for me. I was really glad to have one of these along for the ride.

Thanks. That makes sense. I am now wondering how a rolled up piece of magnesium strip layed on the cut end of the flare and sealed in hot glue would work. At two minutes per inch burn rate, a two inch chunk should start most fires. If those light reliably, even one inch long chunks with 1" of magnesium sticking out be adequate.

Ponder,

I have tried my Storm lighter to light the other end with little luck. They are Very hard to light. It takes half the fuel in the lighter to get it going and it dosen't burn with the same intensity for some reason. I have yet to find a reliable way to create my own igniters so I gather the useless ends and toss them into the fire pit in the back yard when I am out having beers.

They only cost a few bucks each anyway.

I've gotta pick up some road flares. My go-to emergency ignition source is potassium permanganate & glycerine. Burns pretty fiercely, wind and water seem to have no effect. Also, you only need enough fine motor coordination to unscrew the lid of the Baby Soda Bottles!

Thanks for the flare tip, Taurus. I think I'm going to have to try that!

I took a dunk in a frozen creek once when I was younger and I never want to be that cold again. I was lucky to still be within sight of my grandparent's farmhouse, and with my cousin, so I was out and dry within (what seemed like days) a short time. My teeth still chatter when I remember it though.

Hey Phaedrus,

If this stuff were to freeze and thaw a whole bunch of times does it still burn the same or does it degrade? Is it good over a long time period or does it expire quickly?

I never really played around with this combo only because everything in my pack tends to freeze solid in winter. (that and I never really found this stuff for sale anywhere)

But it burns and I like fires.
My interest is now oficially perked on this stuff and I may have to pick up some to fool around with.

On the other hand, my last emergency fire starter experiment was with home made gasoline-gel stuff and that didn't really go well. Maybe I should just stick to my road flares. Easier on the eyebrows.

Taurus- I haven't used PP enough/long enough to say definitely. As such it's never my only tool (of course, only a fool would rely on just one). I've seen videos of it being burned in the snow so I guess it's not affected overly by cold, but I find the glycerin gets too stiff to pour when it's really cold. Supposedly anti-freeze works, too, but I've yet to test it.