One Sure Fire - Emergency Fire Bundle

Okay, let's say it's about to get dark, you are cold, wet, and tired, and you need a fire NOW, in less than optimal conditions. You have scraped together some tinder and kindling, but damp may be a generous description of it. What do you pull out of your pack do will light this mess that you have total confidence in? Often we use tinder that can be coaxed and coddled under optimal conditions, but what do you use when the chips are really down?

My favorite solution in the good old days was a carbide lamp. It did indeed light a fire for me on several occasions in precisely the conditions
you describe. Now I would just pull out my cartridge stove and fire it up. In really cold conditions(zero or below), it would be a liquid fueled stove or maybe just the fuel (AKA Boy Scout fire starter).

For a long time on SAR missions I carried a Trangia alcohol stove. It worked flawlessly on several occasions in nasty weather.

I haven't tried this, but the first thing that came to my mind is a road flare.

What I have used successfully in this situation is fire gel. To be completely transparent, though, everything was wet and I wanted the fire but my car was only about twenty yards away and I could have warmed up there.

Petrroleum jelly cotton balls (PJB's) and a big piece of fatwood wrapped in wax paper and aluminum foil.The aluminum foil provides a shield from the dampness in the ground and the wax paper keeps the fatwood from sticking to the foil. It also burns hot.I split and shave the fatwood down to make a small hot fire to get damp/wet kindling going. I do try to scrape the wet outer bark if time permits. Hasn't failed me yet....

BOATMAN
John

Road flare. I carry LED flares in my truck rather than a real road flare (being in CA I'd really hate to start an inadvertent fire), but for starting a fire in the rain (a problem we don't have in CA) it seems that something designed to burn hot in virtually any weather should do the job.

I have used road flares and they work well. I keep some of the newer Orion flares that are smaller than DOT or USCG approved but still very effective. They're around 4" long but otherwise like a full sized flare. Just shorter burn time and smaller to pack.

I've been thinking about this exact problem. My preferred tinder is cotton balls soaked in PJ. I realized that fluffing up the PJ is definitely in the "fine motor skill" territory.

While I am hoping that striking the ferro rod with the back end of a knife likely is "gross motor skill," I need a better tinder.

If it is damp, it is no longer tinder. I keep dry tinder, and then chunks of pine pitch, then magic sticks from the bottom of trees, and then lots of fanning with a hat or pot lid to keep larger pieces of wet wood going.

Forgot about pine pitch.That stuff is nature's NAPALM...

BOATMAN
John

Boatman
If you're cold you're probably shivering. Is that the best time to be using a knife to whittle wood?
I use tinder cubes made by a friend. About the sze of a sugar cube they burn furiously for about 12-15 minutes.

Sounds interesting.
What is the composition of the tinder cubes?

Thats a secret he wont share untl he has worked out a few flaws and has a patent, Yee. I know they're easy to make and cheap, and I have a few thought's on composition, but it's not my invention or I would freely share it. I don't like the amount of smoke generated by them, but they do dry out and ingnite soaked tinder and kindling. And they put out a good amount of light as well.

When I go hiking, I pretty much take it all. Little space is needed, not much weight. BIC lighter, waterproof matches, firesteel, fresnal lens, candles (including "can't blow 'em out" birthday trick ones), PJ cotton balls, commercial firestarter tinder, fire paste, Trangia burner - you name it. Never had to use any of it in an emergency. But if disaster does befall me, I don't want to be totally dependent on my backwoods skills (which are not so good) to light a fire in bad conditions. I'm more than happy to skip the manliness and give myself every advantage possible with stuff I carry with me. I'm not saying you shouldn't know how to do things with zero aids, but I certainly wouldn't want to put myself into that scenario intentionally. I fall into the "prepared hiker" category, not the "ultralight hiker" one, in case that isn't obvious. Road flares sound good, I'll have to look into those to see if there are smaller ones available, that don't look like the giant stick of dynamite ones I remember in the trunk of our family car decades ago.

well said haertig

Deathwind,as I said it works for me.It is something I EDC in my Carhartt coat.I also carry disposable heat packs.If I am out in the woods I am dressed for the weather.I make fire before I start to shiver.Been above the Arctic Circle in the Navy.Did a lot of stuff there while shivering.I know what my limits are.As I said this works for me....

BOATMAN
John

A film canister of thermite?

I carry a couple of the short orion signal / road flares for that type of thing.

I've heard of the road flare option, but I understand they have some nasty chemicals that I don't want anywhere near my food or my face, etc.

Anyway, I wouldn't be carrying a road flare in the situation described in the original post (dark, you are cold, wet, and tired, and you need a fire NOW). If I got to that point, then that means I lost my main pack (or car) and I'm down to what's on my person (e.g., pocket or fanny pack).

On my person, I should have at least two of the following:

Mini Bic
Ferro rod and striker
Vaseline with cotton balls

As long as I can find fuel that's not super wet, then I feel confident I can start a fire with those items. Anyway, this is something I need to practice: starting a fire when it's pouring raining and shelter is not established yet.

Boatman
First, let me thank you for your service.
I certainly meant no offense. I myself wouldn't want to be playing around with a knife and risking a hand or wrist injury n the proposed situation is my position on the subject. While old tmey skills like flint/steel and charcloth, Bow/drill and other methods are good to know I would rather leave them to others and move forward. With our technology there is absolutely no reason modern man should not be able to light a roaring fire under even the worst conditions. Also the faster get a fre going the faster I can start on my shelter, and spend more time on insulating it, in a more relaxed state both mental and physical because of that cheery blaze. This is simply my humble opinion and I respect everyones personal preferences. I always carry extra matches and tinder for those may encounter in the wilderness.

Deathwind, no offense was taken.I was just trying to clarify my practice.I agree with you on the "old timey skills" and always carry a BIC lighter.I also carry a firesteel and fresnel lens as backup.The reason I think many survival Guru's teach friction fire and flint and steel is technique.If they can get someone to make the proper preparations to use an ember then the rest is childs play.I have seen people not get a fire going after using a cup of gasoline. they just didn't have a good fire lay and no kindling or tinder. I got nthe same fire going with one PJB and a double handful of match stick size twigs and finger size sticks.I was looked at like I just did majic.This was during a winter training campout in the naval Reserves.I didn't use a knife at all.I just used fallen branches that were hanging.I guess I could presplit up a piece of fatwood and wrap the same way.It would save some minutes.....

BOATMAN
John

This really strikes true. The trick usually isn't making fire, but in building it up and keeping it going.

If you keep the fatwood in a block, could you accidentally drop the fatwood in a puddle and have it be OK?

FYI, I have not experimented much with fatwood.

You have to soak fatwood for a looooong time before it won't light. The best stuff is literally dripping with pitch/resin. Water beads off it. You can get it to soak up water if you leave it for in the wet for weeks.

I don't generally have flares with me, even the small ones. They're pretty bulky and take up space that I would rather dedicate to fatwood and ESBIT tabs. I always have UCO Stormproof matches in a waterproof container (with extra strikers), a couple lighters and a ferro rod.

How do you carry your cotton balls?
How do you make your cotton balls?
Maybe you can use LESS petrolatum so they require less manual fluffing....

Have you tried just ripping your cotton balls in half?
If you can grip your ferro-rod and scraper, you should be able to rip a cottonball (or square) into two pieces, and catch a spark in the middle ... same level of motor skills ... maybe tie some string on two ends of a cotton ball to help you rip it in half

For an alternative tinder in the similar form factor of cotton ball,
How about a fuzzy/hairy paper towel,
lightly lightly greased with vaseline on one side,
folded over until it fits into the palm of your hand ( 2 inch by 3 inch?), strategically wrapped in waxpaper,
which is taped on one side with some ducktape?

It stores flat/thin
It is easy to prepare
It should catch a spark from a ferrocerium rod (like from a butane lighter )
It should not require "fine motor skills" just grip it and rip off the waxpaper cover to expose the spark catching paper towel
Bigger target for sparks than a cotton ball
It should last at least few minutes of "strong" flame
If you roll it into a tube/crayon/candle/shotgunshell
2minutes from ducktape
1min+ from paper towel
2min+ from petroleum jely/vaseline
2min+ from waxpaper
it should burn for 7minutes easy
set it into your tinder bundle to catch the drips

Alternative wrapping option, just grab the fat ducktape handle ends and pull out the flat fuzzy paper towel from its waxpaper sleeve, light it, then throw the waxpaper ontop

And the ever popular ducktape shotgunshell

ducktape for waterproofing, and overall shape
papertowel to catch spark, and a bit of vaseline to get flame going
a rolled papertowel only (or cottonball) and you can fold this flat
and it should spring back into round


toilet paper should also be flat and fuzzy enough to catch aflame from a ferro rod spark


or for a jumbo version (think buddy burner without melting wax)
same deal with a paper cup (or metal can),
filled with wood pellets,
with greased paper towel or cottonball on top (flat not required),
taped over with packing tape or ducktape (for a lid/handle)
shoot a spark in the hoop and cook your meal on top


If the cotton balls you carry now work for you when you're warm,
keep them, but add a single jumbo fist sized tinder that you can practically cook with right onto your ferro rod and scraper,
so if you're really cold and wet you can start a fire before you start shivering,
and even if you start shivering ...
after you dry out and warm up,
you won't wait as long next time and your finger
will work well enough to use your regular tinder


yeehaaw

Waxed paper by itself burns well for fire starting.

Fir pitch is harder to collect than pine pitch, and can smell funny if carried in your gear, but will work if you are not in a pine forest.

BOATMAN
I was thinking more of safety factor. Pre splitting would be an option that I would opt for. The other day I bought some fix all by super glue and noticed that it said extremely flammable, so being me I had to test this. Sneaking outside I put a very small dollop on a rock and hit it with my mini bic I EDC and it went up fast and burn for a surprisingly long time. Much hotter and longer than hand sanitizer. But it did smoke a lot. I've been thinking that a tiny snippet of straw with some of this sealed inside would be a nice addition to a PSK, both for field repais and for emergency fire starting. Has anyone else tried this?

Deathwind
Krazy Glue makes single use tubes already.No repackaging needed.I think they come four to a pack.As soon as super glue hits oxygen it starts to cure/harden.Don't think it can be repacked.Good idea though.I like the multi use concept for all gear.


BOATMAN
John

When I'm off-roading, one of my pants pockets carries an Altoids tin fire kit that's secured with duct tape and a ranger band. The exact contents vary somewhat, but it generally holds an assortment of: char cloth, a candle stub, birch bark, fatwood, jute twine, pine shavings, horse hoof fungus, a tampon and some nuggets of pine pitch. It makes a great tinder bundle that I know I can rely on when it counts. It will burn for several minutes and the tin itself makes a mini hearth and windscreen.

In another pants pocket I carry a ferro rod and a BIC. I discovered storm-proof matches last winter and they'll be in the pack forever more, too, when foul weather is in the forecast and frozen fingers make a BIC too difficult.

Love love LOVE fatwood and esbit tabs, especially with a lighter or matches. They're my minimum fire prep. They've never failed me, and I really like that they'll both take a spark if you scrape them to make powder, like you do a mag bar.

I'll put this here because I didn't want to start yet another "fire" thread:



Thoughts?

I had never heard of this. Searched youtube for videos, using search term "burning crayon." Yes, they will burn, debatable for how long. I noticed that it was hard to get them started: it took a while with a lighter. It appears you need the paper wrapping to act as a wick.

On a scale of practicality, I'd put it very near the bottom.

I agree. A crayon is basically a candle and not a very good one. It's not even tinder. You can't start a crayon by using a spark. That even sounds weird saying it.

As a kid, we'd find paraffin on the RR Tracks. We'd melt it down with crayons (for color) and pour it into a toilet paper cardboard center to make candles. We tied the wick to a toothpick resting on the top of the roll.

Those candles were a little smokey and the wax would run down the sides but they worked.

I went on a short overnighter this weekend. The air was dry and the wind was calm, but the 22-25 degF nightly temps made the fire most welcome. Again, conditions were perfect but I was amazed (as always) at what a large, fast blaze can be made from [tinder + twig bundle + finger-sized sticks]. I ditched the backpacking stove and just used the fire to heat water.

PJ balls are excellent but I have found that if you carry them off-body in cold weather they can become very hard to pull apart for use as tinder. If you kept some in a pocket of your clothing that may be enough to keep them warmer, though the outer pocket of a parka might not be enough. Then again maybe I used too much PJ in those things. I know that a tube of Bacitracin ointment (which is like 98% PJ) gets very hard to squeeze in weather below freezing.

I really like the idea of a small, dedicated piece of emergency fatwood wrapped in wax paper and foil. The foil helps keep the melted PJ from running out into the ground.

Glock-A Roo,exactly.The foil also acts as a thermal layer/moisture shield also.If snow or frost is on the ground it could steam up and make a fire harder to get going.At least in theory.Emergency fires justifies my inner pyro.....

BOATMAN
John

What do you all do to protect PJ balls and TinderQuiks from water? I thought PJ balls would be impervious to a dunking until I saw this video. Couple things I thought: 1) maybe he didn't use enough PJ on the cotton ball and 2) he wasn't doing a good job of separating the PJ ball to create those long, thin fibers that take a spark so well. See this video at about the 4:45 mark.

GearWard's Fire Cord seems to do pretty well after being soaked.

I dunked a cotton ball in water, wrung it out the best I could with the help of a paper towel, and tried to light the cotton by using a ferro rod spark. I learned three things from this experiment:

1. A fluffed out cotton ball that is just a tiny bit damp will NOT catch a spark.

2. A fluffed out cotton ball that is just a tiny bit damp will NOT even ignite if I put a naked flame to it.

3. A damp cotton ball (and therefore damp cotton fabric) is a good way to put OUT a fire.

This messed up my confidence. Thus, I'm going to buy some of that Fire Cord Waterproof Tinder and try it out.

I carry TinderQuiks in a waterproof match case...right next to the waterproof match case full of matches .

I have various tinders vacuum sealed into 3"x4" mylar bags. The pouches are very very sturdy; I've sent a few to some fellow ETS'ers and none of the packages have failed so far as I know. I make up little micro-kits by using about a 2" x 2" square of Tinder Card- this stuff is awesome. It's stiff so it makes a great backer and it burns like a candle. A 1/4" x 1" strip will burn for about a minute or so. You can score it with a knife and light it with a spark if need be. Generally I will set one x 4gram ESBIT tablet on it along with four or five Tinder-Quiks, then seal it up. The mylar keeps it all dry and has a zip-lock so you can open it and reseal what you don't use.

Occasionally I'll make a slightly more deluxe version with a few matches or even a Spark-Lite sealed in with the tinder.

Awesome, Phaedrus. I'm totally copying that.

Why the need to protect them from water?

Usually the method of carry takes care of any water concerns, zip lock, match safe, pill fob ... duck tape, aluminum foil



all you need is fuzz, can be real short fuzz but if you've got water in your cotton sponge, it will interfere with flames

See U5pmQj_GD0k ? WetFire and Cotton ball fire starter soaked in water - YouTube
You know what is different? The whole cotton ball gets a coat/shell of petroleum jelly, so it doesn't soak up water like the cottony sponge that it is


That made me chuckle, I didn't know a butane lighter could kill you by exploding


Another man made "fatwood" ... needs a bit more work to light with a spark than actual fatwood ... but its $10 for 450 pieces of "waterproof tinder" each burning for 15 seconds .. total 6750 seconds, or 112.5 minutes, or 1.875 hours burn time

compare to dollar store tea light, 16 tealights for $1, 9 grams each, 3-4 hours burn time, tape a cotton ball on top of the tea light and you can light it with a spark

compare to dollar store wax paper, 65-square-foot for $1, about same weight/BTU as 16 tealights, from which tear/roll into 780 individual one inch tubes , torn edges ought to take a spark and ought to burn more than 15 seconds easy ... more BTU than one dollar 4oz vaseline, can carry loose in your pocket, water proof ...
wax paper is universal like a crayon

ouch 7 ounces of stiff wax+paper for $10.94 ... floppy waxpaper can be had ~6oz for $1

It's certainly not just wax + paper! If it was I wouldn't be very excited about it. This stuff is kind of laminated into layers. It's rigid but easy to work with. It seems to be pretty water resistant but I haven't tried soaking it overnight (that would be a good test though!). If burns for a long time if you let it burn down like a candle from the top but it burns bright and hot if you let it burn from the bottom. The price goes up and down on Amazon; when I got my last batch it was around $6.50 or so. Survival Metrics is a good place to buy it, too.

There are lots of great fire items out there and this isn't gonna be everyone's favorite. But I never go out camping or hiking without having some with me.

Some methods of carry like zip locks or aluminum foil won't protect tinder if you get fully immersed in water, not just rained on. I'm thinking of boaters and aviators, and the kits that would be on their person. See this video at 3:40.

Phaedrus, you may have posted it before but what bags & sealing equipment are you using? The setups you've described sound great, although their performance may be improved even more if you add a bunch of smilies...

I will vouch for the sealing job Phaedrus does with his tinder. I carried some sealed that way for more than a year, and did have some immersed in water, and they still worked. Several different types of tinders, and they all worked. I did abuse the packages, to. They are durable materials.

Phaedrus sent me a few of these and they are bombproof! After 3+/- years in various kits, there are no signs of wear or abrasion.
Thanks, Phaedrus!

























=

Are you sure about that? How do you know zip locks and aluminum foil will leak when fully immersed in water?

The video I linked has the guy fully immersing a bare vaselined cottonball into a bowl of water ... it burns right after

I've personally dunked my ziplock in a bucket of water and it didn't leak ... there is more on ziplocks below



That is good thinking
In that video that guy uses cellophane to start a fire, thats practically waxpaper

Doug Ritter often includes zip-locks into his personal kits
Doug Ritter amk psp faq



Doug Ritter also uses match safes and also vacuum packs backups

See also Waterproof PSK where falcon5000 goes 8 feet deep with original PSP

Doug also includes a plastic boxed Spark Lite Aviation ... although the manufacturer doesn't list a waterproofness/submersion rating


lol

Hmm, could you elaborate on why you're excited about tinder cards? How is it more than just wax + paper?
So far the list of pros:
*kind of laminated into layers
*rigid but easy to work with
*seems to be pretty water resistant
*burns long and slow from top
*burns bright and hot from the bottom
*score it with a knife and light it with a spark
*can be bought for $6.50 or so

Your strategy of vacuum-seal-into-zip-lock-mylar seems fantastic as a tinder carry option , esp long term

"Are you sure about that? How do you know zip locks and aluminum foil will leak when fully immersed in water?"

Zip locks are pretty good, especially if you take care with sealing them and you make sure they suffer no snags or tears. I use them a lot, but they can fail. There are more foolproof methods.

I'm not sure how the Tinder Card is manufactured. It smells a bit like beeswax but probably isn't. I like the stuff for the following reasons:

1) It's rigid. It's not structural strong like wood but more live heavy cardboard. This makes it ideal for several applications. For example I can cut rounds out of it sized to fit the lid of my UCO Match case and once pressed up in there it's stiff enough to stay there. It makes a great backing board, and it will stand up if you lean it up on something.

2) It can be be "frizzed up" while retaining its shape. You can score the top side of it or one end to the point where it can easily be lit with a spark while staying in one shape. Some won't care but I like that for the way I build fires.

3) It burns at a nice, controlled rate. Unlike paper that flares up it's more like a cotton ball soaked with PJ. It's candle-like.

4) Being rigid you can cut it to fit specific spaces. For instance I will often cut it into little sticks that I can slip into a match case.

I like to use it in conjunction with other products. For instance, a cotton ball is great in a match case because it stuffs it up to prevent rattling and works as tinder. But it burns very fast; coating it in PJ is great but it's not much good to pack around matches then.

If you want I can mail you a little chunk to try out.



I use a light commercial chamber vacuum machine from Vacmaster. Mine is a VP215C (which I notice is now $250 cheaper than when I bought mine! ).

Chamber vac machines are great! Unlike a Foodsaver which sucks air out of the bad you place a bag in the chamber and all the air is evacuated from the chamber, not just the bag. It's pretty neat- if you seal something that's very wet you can watch the water boil as the pressure drops. At any rate this allows the use of many more kinds of bags than you can use with suction or snorkel machines. The heavy duty seal bar can easily deal with very heavy mylar and will do a passable job of sealing retort bags of the type used for MREs.

I use smallish bags (around 3" x 4" or so) for fire stuff. I've used somewhat larger bags to seal WetFire and Weber cubes as well. WetFire seems to go bad pretty quickly sometimes in the flimsy little baggies it's sold in. But sealed in a heavy mylar pouch they seam to last indefinitely.

Missed this the first time through but I wanted to chime in with my agreement. I do like to have a couple small squares of foil in my fire kits. Now only does a bit of foil keep wax from running, it can hold your tinder up off of the wet and protect it til it gets going. Always great to have along!

Maybe that is why Doug Ritter puts it in the PSP and PSP+.A bit of foil can be used as a wind screen,heat reflector,pot lid and to wrap a bit of food to coal bake.Foil can be folded to fit in a lot of places.It's a good multi tasker to include in kits.

BOATMAN
John

Thanks, now I see why you're excited, carvability/sculptability ... not really a feature I look for in tinder but it makes sense

The manufacturer says tinder cards are made from wood pulp and Stearin, like beeswax from palm oil (candle wax hardener), swedish version of wax+sawdust firestarters for bbq...

speaking of which, wax paper has a lot of the features you mention
Durable Wax Paper, 65-square-foot(~168g*18621 BTU/lb ) 6,897 BTU_IT / $1 = ~6,897 BTU_IT/$
tinder card, 18 strips * 10.7 grams ... 100% stearin 7,524 BTU_IT / $6.50 = 1,157 BTU_IT/$
tinder card, 18 strips * 10.7 grams ... 37% stearin 5,750 BTU_IT / $6.50 = 885 BTU_IT/$
tinder card, 18 strips * 10.7 grams ... 100% stearin 7,524 BTU_IT / $10.94 = 688 BTU_IT/$
tinder card, 18 strips * 10.7 grams ... 37% stearin 5,750 BTU_IT / $10.94 = 526 BTU_IT/$

yup:) EQUIPPED TO SURVIVE (tm) - MISCELLANEOUS / MULTI-PURPOSE GROUP

I generally employ heavy duty foil, and while it is better than the standard stuff, it does tend to wear out, and it isn't all that great for fabricating bowls, etc. Is there something just a bit thicker and tougher, but not thick as aluminum flashing (which is pretty useful stuff also).

A heavier aluminum foil has been discussed several times here.The opinion is that heavy duty foil is what the standard foil used to be.It is a matter of manufacturers trying to maintain a production cost and market pricepoint balance.The best you can do is find some new old stock from Grandmas pantry.You may try foil from comercial kitchens.It may be thicker but I doubt it.Comes from same mills(ALCOA) and are just longer rolls.

BOATMAN
John

GearWard has posted a new video comparing FireCord and TinderQuik after soaking them. The FireCord did really well.

If you've got waterproof space then TinderQuiks and PJ balls are fine. FireCord offers the unique property of waterproofness without additional packaging, even after being flexed and bent. That's why I use it as the tinder in my paracord bracelet.

results of that gearward test are not too surprising , treating a sponge the same as a pencil, , you can't shake a sponge (tinder-quik) dry like a pencil (firecord)

compare to this video (esp how they're fluffed) d_OlYjeCcJE ? Spark-Lite Tinder Tab water test Jute Twine Lanyard - Zelph
the tinderquik take a dunking, no squeezing under water, they light easy
vaselined jute also lights easy , does not look very greasy the way zelph makes them

also interesting comparison, under Zombie Tinder criteria tinder-quik rates the worst

yup, fire cord has a clear edge
what would have been interesting to me,
is squeeze the tinder-quik and spark it immediately
is squeeze the tinder-quik and wait one minute and spark it
but naturally a more thorough examination might not be in the sellers interest

Hmmm...Zombietinder.com rates ZombieTinder the best of all. What a shocker.

I dunno, he shook them both about the same and fluffed the TinderQuick about the same as the guy in the other video you posted. I suppose the TinderQuick would have done better had it been fluffed, dried for 5 minutes in the sun, and peppered with napalm but if you have to babysit a piece of tinder, maybe it's not the best choice for the job. Perhaps the fact that the TinderQuick acts like a sponge is not a good feature to have.

The TinderQuick in the other video definitely did better though.

In my testing a single TinderQuick tab burns for less time and with less intensity than a PJ ball made from a standard sized cotton ball. However to be fair, I think there is significantly more material (both cotton and wax/PJ) in the PJ ball, as its easily 2-3 times the size of the TinderQuick. When faced with having to use damp materials, I'd reach for the PJ ball first.

I'm glad you posted the Zombie Tinder, I'd not seen that before. Watching their videos, I think I'd actually prefer a PJ ball.

From the videos, the Zombie Tinder looks very much like a cotton ball wrapped a few times with a piece of string, then tied off and dipped in melted wax. Nice idea.

But, I can see why it comes in a tin. If it were not in a rigid package, it could get crushed and the wax coating could crack and thus leak when it was exposed to water. The tin would also contain any melted wax if the tinder was exposed to any heat high enough to melt it.

I also noted that in their videos they are using wood that is dipped into water for a few seconds. This is not the same as wood that has been soaking in water (or rain) for multiple days.

I'm not saying it is not a good product, just noting a few things that came to mind while visiting their website.

That is funny Glock-A-Roo

Its not just a dunk in the video , he squeezes the tinderquik underwater , why doesn't he squeeze it above water? You know, to get the water out?
In the kitchen I've never tried to shake a sponge dry, or a towel for that matter, I've always squeezed both to get the water out , and squeezed more than once.

Hmm, firecord, two shakes and its dry enough. Hmm tinder quik, two squeezes and ... is one better than the other? Maybe , depends on your criteria. Is this difference important? Probably not



A lot of tinder sellers don't list weights :)(or btu values )

this review says each tinder quik fire tab is 0.024 oz ea or 0.7 g

This means about ~26 BTU (waxpaper) to ~31 BTU max (solid wax)
Firecord would be the same


I'd prefer pj balls too, but I like honest charts poisonous? some chemical unknown, so score 4

They actually sell "Jellied Ginned Cotton Tin" $6.95 for a 4oz tin, their version of PJ balls

For same price at a dollar store I can make four such tins in about four minutes

A lot of products that make cents for survival kits don't quite make it for camping kits ... hmm, firecord shoelaces? "Tensilary" strength probably isn't there

Apropos of nothing this is similar to a firestarter I've experimented with that I call the "Fireball". I start with a large cotton ball which I wad/compress down as small as I can. Then I wrap it tightly in plastic, either cling wrap or an old plastic bag. Then I wrap this with a cotton pad (the kind designed for cosmetic application) and tie it with butcher's cord. This then gets dipped in either paraffin wax or gel wax. I've tried using both and a mixture of the two combined.

Overall it's a lot of work but very effective. Using pure wax you almost need a knife to use them due to how solid they are. The gel wax stuff made for candlemaking burns better as is somewhat flexible. The plastic wrap between the inner core and outer wax layer keeps the inside bone dry under all conditions. A lot of work to make but pretty effective.

I haven't tried the seller's "fire cord" but I've had mediocre to mixed results with my own home-made version of the same. From the seller/inventor's website it's simply jute cord impregnated with wax. Perhaps he's found a novel way to coat the jute but in my versions it didn't work all that well. Too much wax and you wind up with a solid mass that's hard to frizz up. Too little and it's not very waterproof. The devil is in the details and the quantity of wax must just right IME. Again, maybe some of you folks and the inventor have a found a better way to make them than I have. But I gave up on the format.

I don't really have a dog in the fight. Everyone should use whatever they feel is best. But I can interject a few observations that are subjective facts, not preference or opinion. One is that wax isn't hygroscopic but jute cord is, very much so. Two, ESBIT is totally non-hygroscopic. You can soak it in water probably indefinitely and it will still burn. Perhaps I will see how long I can soak the stuff. Would it dissolve after a few months or years? I don't think so but perhaps I'll try it to see.

I really love the Tinder-Quik myself. A tab is much smaller than nearly any other tinder I've found. It's water resistant but not totally waterproof. IMOHO though it's irrelevant to my purposes. Why would you not simply keep your tinder material dry? I understand that your canoe can capsize, accidents happen, etc. But even something pretty low tech like a ziplock baggie will protect your tinder. And the higher tech stuff like the mylar bags that I seal using a chamber vacuum machine will survive things that a human won't.

If you're relying on natural tinder then there's some luck involved but if you're carrying your own tinder, why not carry dry tinder to begin with instead of worrying about stuff that will work wet?

I don't know how he did it but GearWard found the right way to make the product.



I use firecord because I have integrated it into a survival bracelet, which is constantly exposed to moisture and there is no room there for tinder that is bulky, needs waterproof packaging, or can't resist the moisture on its own. I carry PJ balls in a waterproof vial as my go-to tinder; the firecord is a very low profile backup. It's a narrow, niche role but firecord works in that role.

I see there are two products called FireCord; one is paracord and the other is jute. So I think maybe we're each talking about a different one. I don't know what is in the paracord stuff. How do you like it? The reviews at Amazon are generally good although one reviewer said it smells like lighter fluid.

No, I'm using the Gearward FireCord wax-infused jute, not the ITS jute paracord or the similarly named 550 firecord. I don't like either of the last two products since they require you to pick apart your cordage to access the jute. I also doubt that the ITS product's jute will stay dry over time.

You can enhance tinder-quik's ignitability by charring. I found that out after experimenting with solar ignition. TQs that were charred lighted much quicker. You don't even need to char the whole piece, just a corner and you maintain the rest. I also use small zip-loc baggies, just large enough to store 4 pieces and store them everywhere.

No kidding. Review was terribly biased but then again what can you expect from someone who doesn't know the difference or the correct usage of the words effect and affect? And apparently in his opinion only ZombieTinder can be used to "light charcoal for a BBQ, light a camp fire or a wood stove or use as a candle for emergency light or create very useful char for bush-craft fire making, etc."

That makes sense. I find it to light very well as-is but that's good to know. I buy it in lots of 100 or more on eBay, never let my stock get too low.