<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>BTW, every month the BSA has a recomended theme and next month's is Wilderness Survuval!<br><p><hr></blockquote><p><br>Sure is! A nice coincidence for us, but timely. And let's see... the feature article in Boy's Life this month is a true and recent account about a lad who got lost from his unit - one of those real life "it could happen to you..." things. I wish more Scouters stressed and enforced "Be Prepared" kit and the buddy system...<br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>I still think that the more compact one in the PSK makes sense as the I view the PSK as a true emergeny item that should not be raided routinely[<p><hr></blockquote><p><br>I agree about not raiding a PSK and that the Spark Lite is perhaps more compact (depending on how one configures everything, it may or may not be). However, I think there is value in frequently practicing with equipment that one may NEED someday, so duplicate every-day gear for "regular" use (like on campouts and hikes) is a way to build and retain skills. I have found first hand that un-practiced/un polished skills can be VERY difficult to manage in real-life stressful situations - no surprise there. The tendency is to revert to what one is most familiar with, and if resources for that are not available... at best there is considerable wasted time and effort, and at worst, things go badly. We are such creatures of habit - at least, I am.<br><br>And... I'm sensitive to the costs involved for kids who are ACTIVE in Scouting. So - how about a Spark Lite type gadget for about $1.00 instead of $7 or $8 for the real McCoy? Simply assembling the personal 1st Aid Kit that all Scouts must do as a Second Class requirement seems to be "costly" enough that I practically have to fist-fight parents to keep them from disassembing it into familiy medicine kit componets the second the kid gets "checked off" on the requirement. <br><br>On your next campout, make some formal time in the woods to have all your 2nd Class and above Scouts layout and SHOW you that they have "the Outdoor Essentials" (which includes the personal 1st Aid kit) pages 207 - 210, 11th Ed The Boy Scout Handbook. All "official" packing lists in the Handbook include the essentials as an item. It hardly matters if you tell them weeks in advance that you are going to do that, but make it a surprise the first time anyway. I will predict that to be a very sobering experience - you'll also find out that most of them are not dressed well and do not have the proper clothing items with them to do so. If I'm right, I ask that you resolve to do something effective to remedy it - don't holler at them; they are products of our modern times, especially the urban kids. (And I would not be too smug about rural kids, either - in my experiences so far most of them are just as bad off, with noteworthy exceptions).<br><br>One thing I'm not estatic about in our TEMPERATE climate is that the BSA essentials list is pretty much the same one the climbers in Seattle came up with two eons ago - substituting personal shelter for map and compass would be my number one change (or adding it, although most of the young and/or inexperienced boys won't effectively use map and compass anyway). Tch! I'm wandering off-topic again - sorry!<br><br>Getting back on track - Using the same tools, a new butane lighter, and a straw scrounged from a fast-food place, I can show how to make a "poor-mans" Spark Lite that is very close in size (small) to the real thing. Why new lighter? To make SURE there are lots of uses left on the flint and that the wheel is not about to come apart. That's the $1.00 component. Nit pickers can correctly point out that this is not quite as "good" as the real McCoy - I will totally agree! I would make two - one for the PSK, and a second one put up into a plastic dental floss box to go into a pocket (those cotton balls are gooey). In that case, add a second lighter and an empty dental floss box - one could go so far as to purchase a box of dental floss and toss the spool into other gear as thread, expedient fishing line (it works quite well - no surprise, as old timey lines were often linen), etc. Total cost, all new components, for two "tinder lites", would be in the neighborhood of $3 - $4.<br><br>My origional post was meant to give Scouters one idea about how to "spark" some useful creative thinking and solicit other ideas. I'm using your remarks to extend into other territory <grin> - hope you don't mind!<br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>I suspect the liquid jelly coats more evenly and is easier to ignite. <p><hr></blockquote><p><br>I'm far from the first one to think of that! I had the idea on my own and then - like many ideas - found that others had "been there, done that..." Use a double boiler for safety (like for melting wax). Use tongs or pliers (Leatherman works fine) to fish the cotton balls out. Squeeze the bejabbers out of them to get rid of excess jelly. If you're doing it bare-fingered, there is a fine line between "Ouch! Hot!" and "Darn! I waited too long!" An old leather glove on the squeezing hand helps avoid that. It is amazing how much jelly accumulates on your hand/glove - this is much messier than doing it cold - and much faster.<br><br>I find that the lads need a little more coaching on fluffing out the soaked cotton balls VS the cold method - fluffing up is really critical. They work first time, every time if fluffed up. And they DO burn longer than than the cold method, near as I can tell - more jelly.<br><br>I also found it interesting to see how little jelly one can get by with, and how little a tuft of cotton ball. You may be surprised - it does not take much to beat a match. Consider a cotton ball as a multiple use resource if conservation is important. Nearly anything with petroleum jelly works (try some of the ointments to see what I mean). Also, SnoSeal works GREAT (go figure - it's at least half BeesWax), albeit a bit spendy. OTOH, there is always surplus SnoSeal in the creases and welts of my leather boots in the Winter time - enough to scrape up with a knife and saturate a bit of fluff of something. Experiment around a bit some evening and let us know what you discover.<br><br>General question for anyone: I have had very little success lighting a candle wick with sparks - none, to tell the truth. I tried again last night - not much to "fluff", and I started with a previously lit candle so the wick was waxed. Yet the old-timers did it that way if there was not another way. Is it the wick material, the wax, or the way I'm holding my mouth? I'd like to learn the "secret" of that - manmade "flint" for now - I'm not accomplished enough with chert and steel to do much more than beat my chest and roar if I get a spark into some char.<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Tom