If you crash hard enough to damage a bic lighter in your pocket, you are probably in no shape to use either a lighter or a firesteel, just saying.

I've crashed hundreds of times on a snowboard. Each time, I got up by myself. Each time, I could have easily damaged a Bic lighter if the lighter were between me and the snow/ice. A Firesteel would have been undamaged through ALL those crashes, just sayin'.

I think folks want to be assured that the lighter they use to fire up their "cigarette" will be just fine. Maybe it will, but for the sake of having accurate info, let's not deny there are fire starting methods that are more reliable than a Bic lighter. Come on.

If a firesteel suits you, that's great. Glad you carry one always. No need to pick a fight over it.

For me, in my 30 years of knocking around the great outdoors, the Bics have always served. These days, there may be a firesteel in my pack as a backup. But they're unhandy for everyday tasks IMHO, while the Bics are right at hand. That's my 0.02 view from the trenches. YMMV.

Well I've crashed enough times on my ski too but still don't see how can you damage a bic (and I do carry one). The only way to render it unusable is to damage the hard plastic shell, and the impact is cushioned by both soft snow/human tissue/clothing, all of which will give way easier than plastic. You may think a bic breaks easy, but apply the same force to your body you will break way earlier than the bic.

Sorry, can't resist:



Which is exactly why you carry TWO lighters...


(... or a backup firesteel... )

Again, the situation here is a gnarly crash, big mountain, off course, cold, wet. The item that stands between life and death is your fire starter.

There is no way I would methodically plan to go big mountain riding with a Bic lighter as my fire starter for survival. Just because you don't want to spend $12 on a lighter that's way more rugged than a Bic Lighter, that doesn't mean that a Bic Lighter is good advice for this situation. Now, if that's the ONLY thing I have because I failed to plan thoroughly, then the Bic Lighter would have to do.

In contrast, a Peanut Lighter ($12), YES, I would plan beforehand to take that with me on a big mountain run.

By the way, anybody who's saying the snow is soft when they land either (A) is not that experienced or (B) is lucky enough to ride in ideal conditions all the time. On average, I have found the snow to be hard-ish about 50% of the time in Tahoe. It only makes sense to prepare for landing on the worst stuff, ice. Whatever is between the bone that hits and the hard snow/ice has a good chance of getting damaged.

Besides, the whole crash happened because he hit a rock! Hey, carry a Bic if you like; that's really a minor tangent barely related to the story. Apparently he carried practically nothing. But with the mindset he had, maybe nothing he could have carried would have helped. Starting a fire takes more than gear, even more than skill- it requires presence of mind. It sounds like when he realized he didn't know where he was he simply panicked and ran like a rabbit. From what I've read that's the most common reaction. That's why the experts say S.T.O.P. (Stop, Think, Observe & Plan).

Have you ever broke one that way? Where would put the lighter that it's directly in contact with bones? Try bash one against the hardest snow you can find, with any part of your body where there's a pocket, thigh, belly, chest, arm, and see if you can break one.

I've smashed lighters, and it takes a hammer or a rock, not something you can do with even your fists. Try it, and see how tough they are.

Hey, I agree that the fire starter is a detour from this thread. More importantly, the snowboarder's mind was probably not prepared beforehand for survival.

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Regarding fire starters, I can't let this issue go... I like Bic lighters for everyday use. I have about 15 brand new ones sitting on a shelf. I will throw a small Bic in pocket when I go snowboarding, BUT I will also have a more reliable fire starter in another pocket. I'm not comfortable with being on a survival forum and have people automatically recommend "Bic lighter" for every survival situation.

A Bic lighter is NOT rugged.

I've had Bic lighters malfunction from a number of reasons: just sitting on the shelf too long, leaking because they were in a pocket that got sat on, etc. Perhaps someone is carrying a Bic that will go out, not now, but an hour from now when you're on top of the mountain. Also, a Bic dies when the head unit gets wet. (In fact, I just ran that experiment before this post.) Other lighters also die when wet, but there are other lighters that have mechanisms to protect the head units from moisture.

In the situation at hand, the snowboarder should have been carrying a fire starter device that's over-engineered. A Bic is not over-engineered. There are a few lighters on the market that are over-engineered and way more rugged than a Bic lighter, and they're not that expensive.

Phaedrus - my thoughts exactly:



We don't know, but the wording clearly gives me the impression that he wasn't operating at full mental capacity. That could be due to a hit on the head in his fall, or just the stress.

I think the "play park" illusion of skiing resorts creates a mental barrier. Because you're in a "play park" state of mind it will be really hard to realize that it is no longer Disneyland, but Mother Nature that is running the show.


Laurence Gonzales describes a similar mental barrier in his book "Deep survival". After a long day skiing, Gonzales and his daugther had to catch the lift UP to get away from the impeding snow storm to the hot chocolate and cookies. He found himself going DOWN because civilization is always at the base of high mountains. Right there and then, there was a storm approaching => zero visibility, no gear, above the tree line with no gear in winter => big trouble => GET DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN - NOW! They were actually looking UP at the resort with all its comfort and stilll skiing DOWN. Nothing but wilderness in their down direction... it took the wits of his 12 year old daughter to break through the spell of his mental barrier.


And no, except appropriate clothing I don't carry much gear when I'm at ski resorts. Maybe a Doug Ritter PSK, but that's about it. It is much more comfortable to tumble in the snow without lots of stuff in my pockets. (If you're never falling doing telemark you're not trying hard enough). A day pack will only be with me when we plan a lunch stop.

Skiing off piste into the wilderness I'll of course bring a day pack.