Firestarting


Sights on Target

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The bow drill is probably my favorite method of survival fire starting. I was practicing today and took some video of it.
YouTube - Bow Drill Fire Starting

I use cedar for both the spindle and the fireboard.
What is your favorite method of fire-starting?
 

My personal favorite is the 9v battery and steel wool. Seriously, I find it a lot easier to keep a nice supply of electric ignition cigarette lighters on hand as well as a bunch of strike anywhere matches.



gf
 
i LIKE THE MAG BLOCK AND STEEL MATCH

I have used the magnesium block/steel match for years. It has never failed me but it is a little hard on the knife!
 
Nice work, You also asked what my favorite would be.... I have to be honest.... Zippo...

I was thinking basically the same thing. An Ammo can full of disposable lighters or an Ammo can full of Butane and refillable lighters.
 
While the more "primitive" methods are pretty cool, like this one, I see no reason not to use "technology" which is available to us, like Zippos. :biggrin:
 
Even though I may have a quantity of lighters put back you could get into a situation where you don't have them available. I never carry something to start a fire and could find myself in a situation needing to make a fire. Knowing how to make fire from scratch could save your life. Survival means adapting and overcoming.:wink:
 
Even though I may have a quantity of lighters put back you could get into a situation where you don't have them available. I never carry something to start a fire and could find myself in a situation needing to make a fire. Knowing how to make fire from scratch could save your life. Survival means adapting and overcoming.:wink:

True enough.
 
Even though I may have a quantity of lighters put back you could get into a situation where you don't have them available. I never carry something to start a fire and could find myself in a situation needing to make a fire. Knowing how to make fire from scratch could save your life. Survival means adapting and overcoming.:wink:

That kind of reminds me of a line in "We Were Soldiers":
Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: I think you oughta get yourself an M-16.
Sergeant Major Basil Plumley: Sir, if the time comes I need one, there'll be plenty lying on the ground.
 
I got me some flint and some neat steel pieces. I also have a magnesium bar and a waterproof wooden match holder for backup.




Link Removed
 
If I'm going out for a hike on a day that I don't expect weather to be an issue, warm and sunny for the most part I carry my Swiss Army knife with the magnifying glass in it, and my saliva compass has one on it as well.
I usually carry a Bic lighter with me just to be sure.

As far as the alternate method for a time and situation where sun is not dependable and Bic fails, D Battery and steel wool. That was my favorite at boyscout camp.
We had to make a fire with an alternate ignition source for our merit badge. One during the day and one at night. Mr Curtis said that was the rule...:laugh:
 
If I'm going out for a hike on a day that I don't expect weather to be an issue, warm and sunny for the most part I carry my Swiss Army knife with the magnifying glass in it, and my saliva compass has one on it as well.
I usually carry a Bic lighter with me just to be sure.

As far as the alternate method for a time and situation where sun is not dependable and Bic fails, D Battery and steel wool. That was my favorite at boyscout camp.
We had to make a fire with an alternate ignition source for our merit badge. One during the day and one at night. Mr Curtis said that was the rule...:laugh:

My scout squad won the fire-starting competition at some jamoree using the official BSA fire-starting kit, which, if I remember correctly, was flint and steel. Bam, fire! And...disqualified. Said we couldn't use the kit or something or other. So, then, in the dead of nite, we dug a punji-stake pit around the judges' tents....:laugh:
 
My scout squad won the fire-starting competition at some jamoree using the official BSA fire-starting kit, which, if I remember correctly, was flint and steel. Bam, fire! And...disqualified. Said we couldn't use the kit or something or other. So, then, in the dead of nite, we dug a punji-stake pit around the judges' tents....:laugh:

Hard core...:sarcastic:

Mr Curtis was very cool, but he wanted us to learn a thing or two so he did not make merit badges easy to get. I miss the 2 week we would spend at boyscout camp each summer. Some of the best summers I recall. There were two sites we loved:

Main Page - Camp Yawgoog.Org

Visit Rhode Island :: Buck Hill Management Area - Burrillville, RI

I'm trying to get my son into it. Times are different now and he's not the same kinda kid I was back in the 70's so I have to show him some things to get his attention. Last summer at the lake house, I hit a horse fly and knocked it down on the dock. It was still kicking so I went to get the magnifying glass. I put the fly on the patio and called my son over. He watched in amazement as the fly smoked then popped.

He asked how did I know how to do that. I said Boyscout camp...
 
Some of the best summers for me too. I can say I really enjoyed scouting.

I still get that feeling when I go to the lake house in NY. Family summer home in Lewis county at the west edge of the Adirondack park. My family has been around this lake since the late 1930's. Yes we still light fires the old fashioned way there, we use matches.:sarcastic:

I get to take the kids on nature walks, we go find arrow heads in the creek, find snakes in the wood pile...

It's close...
 

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