One thing you will need is fire

Reguardless the reasons, when the SHTF we will likely be cast back to minimal survival needs for a period of time.

Almost any situation you find yourself in will require the use of a good method of starting a fire.

I just ran across this vid and thought it deserves to be shared.

[url=http://ifun.ru/view/225231]

I don't know you this guy is or where he came by doing this, but I think it is a good thing to know.

Luckily being a smoker, fire is terribly important to me.
I know how to make it, I also have a stockpile of lighters.
Enough to far outlast my cigarette supply.

Steel Striker
Flint
Charcloth
Tinder

= fire.



I like the old way of making fire.

Flint & Steel are the best ways of insuring you will have a long lasting way of making fires. Lighters are the easiest and I have many but for long term F & S are the best.

he modern take on that method is a think called "Blast match" and are super handy little tools. They are not much bigger than a bic lighter and throw a ton of EXTREMELY hot sparks with about 2 minutes of practice.

You can Google then if your not familiar with them. I highly recommend them. Also keep some plain old flint and steel around also.

The ops link

]how to make fire

Im a hardened fire starter, wood and bow, spark stick, i even tried the lithium battery trick Bear Grylls used, granted it didnt go quite as well as his but i succeeded in setting fire to my trousers.

Its all about dry kindling thats the secret.



Im guessing thats salt and toothepaste???

reply to post by hdutton


Fire is a huuuge bonus and a major thing to have.
With fire you can clean water (provided you have a container) you get a bit of security from bugs and predators and it keeps you warm and a hot meal goes a long way.
Take a magnesium stick,a farrow rod and a couple bic lighters.
Wrap them up in a small package and toss it into your bag in a spot that you can find even if its dark.

Now you have something practical you can work with.

As I said;

I had not seen this method before and thought it was atleast different.

I have fond memories of back in the old days when we just rubbed two boy scouts together.

NO !! WAIT !!

That was boy scouts rubbing two sticks together. The memory of an old man.

Follow the rules of 3 be redundant in your firestarters and tinder. In my BOB are lighters, matches and a flint and steel. Cotton balls soaked in Vaseline in a film cannister, emergency candles and charcloth. I would rather have more firestarting equipment than not enough. But the main thing is to practice. It is easy to build a fire on a dry windless day so practice during terrible conditions. When the wind is gusting, it is pouring down raining or during winter when everything is frozen.

Well out of sheer curiosity i just trie it with a potato,table salt and some colgate toothepaste with some copper wire salvaged from a scart lead and wait for it...... Nothing. That being said i might have done something wrong, quantities or consistency. Either that or them dam Ruskies have thermite through their toothepaste.

reply to post by Zecharia


I am planning to try this myself tonite. They have got to let me off work some time.

It would appear he used a gel type paste. Maybe it makes a difference, maybe not.

As I was doing other things, it hit me. This is an electro-chemical reaction at work, so maybe it would power an LED to make a litte lite.

Don't know. I'll have to try that out too.

Explanation: S&F!

Let there be light ...

Fire Piston [wiki]

A fire piston, sometimes called a fire syringe, is a device of ancient origin[citation needed] which is used to kindle fire. It uses the principle of the heating of a gas (in this case air) by its rapid (adiabatic) compression to ignite a piece of tinder, which is then used to set light to kindling.

The compression of the air when the piston is quickly rammed into the cylinder causes the interior temperature to rise sharply to 260°C (500°F)[citation needed]. This is hot enough for the tinder on or in the piston face to ignite with a visible flash that can be seen if the cylinder is made of translucent or transparent material. The piston is then quickly withdrawn, before the now-burning tinder depletes the available oxygen inside the cylinder. The smouldering tinder can then be removed from the face of the piston and transferred to a larger nest of fine kindling material, such as hemp rope fibres, birch shavings, etc. The ember is then fanned or blown upon vigorously to create a flame, at which time various stages of larger kindling can be added until built into a proper fire.

Ancient and modern versions of fire pistons have been made from wood, animal horns, antlers, bamboo, or lead. Other metals have also been used in modern versions.

Personal Disclosure: Thank You Prometheus !

No offense to anyone. But does anyone realize just how many threads already exist on ATS just on fire starting and tinder methods alone? Just a quick search will show you the world of fire starting, while you're at search for B.O.B as well...You will find BOB.. trust me...

Rest assured all of the techniques work. Just find one that you like and stick with it and always have a back up system just in case you lose a component of your primary fire kit. I always pack at least 3 methods of starting fire and three different types of tinder depending on the weather and climate.

Wow! maybe I've been on ATS for too long....

Easy start fire methods: the magnesium sparker, cotton balls dipped in vaseline, fire-starter candles with a wick, Flint/Steel but, learn how to make char cloth, etc. If you were not prepared and don't have a "go to" fire kit on you, then you're stuck with the Bow drill.

That's all redundant and people should know this, by now. My only point in posting is to suggest that you - make it now - and practice! You don't want to get out there and find out the Char cloth you made sux and/or it's been years since you made fire with the Bow Drill. It may be easy for some but it was a frustratingly long lesson in anger mgmt. for me and it's been years since I have practiced. I'd be starting from scratch trying to do it in a wilderness setting now. Bright side: you'd probably stay warm enough just trying to start the fire, Down side: all the calories you'd expend working at, not to mention hydration concerns.

A trick we always used when our lighters ran our and we needed a smoke:

On a two way radio with a removable battery, you can remove the battery and complete the circuit by connecting the two metal contacts with a wire.

Basically the same as the Bear Grylls trick, but I've noticed a lot of people planning to have two way radios in their survival kit.

Or, you can start a fire with your own pee.

Of all the fire starters I have ever used.
I have to say that the Fire Piston has got to be my favorite.

I have a wood one but am interested in getting a bone one.

If you have cloth or a string, wood, and desire, you have fire. Prep time is the key.