Fire starting magic!!

[Roam_CO85]

So the magic to starting a good fire? Hear alot of guys say anyone can use a bic lighter some lighter fluid and get her turned up in no time


I am wanting to know what methods you use to start fires. Do you bring your bush craft out on every trip? Or do you just let er rip with some fuel some tinder and the good stuff?

Working for a fire crew ive learned a mix of diesel and gas that burns real slow.

Have funny storys of guys getting that mix wrong but wont cover that


So is it a flint and steel? A farrel rod? A fire bow? Or just fluide and a lighter?

Why take the easy road?

 

[Ben Cleveland]

Unless wood is wet, absolutely no need to use liquid fuel. Lighter pine (or fat wood or pine knots -people call it different things) have a natural amount of turpentine in them. A few twigs of that split very small will burn for a good 5 minutes. Long enough to get small and medium size twigs burning.

Starting a fire is simple, light small tinder then slowly build the fire on top, using progressively larger material. Some people prefer to build the entire thing before lighting but I don’t like that. If you pile too much material on, it can reduce airflow. I like to stack things slowly as the flames build, so I can feel out the airflow as I go.

There are a lot of methods of stacking, but they are all a version of what I just laid out. Even starting a fire with flint and steel or other friction methods use the same building technique, they just use a more primitive form of getting that initial spark. I just use a bic because it’s easy. But I don’t pour fuel on the fire. Unnecessary, and not very environmentally friendly.

 

[MA_Trooper]

Depends on how I am feeling. Most of the time I work on my bush craft techniques. But sometimes its late, and I just want a fire fast, that's when I pull the torch out and let er rip.

 

[Roam_CO85]

Using fuel ive found doesn't work all that well. Wet conditions it burns off pretty quick. Ive found a candle works well. Use alot of cotton ball gelled with vaseline
That with a rod works pretty well. Like Mr Jones normally like to use the bush craft skills. But if its late
brake out the weather proof lighter that cotton ball soaked in vaseline burns for a long time. Can normally dry out moist tinder I carry dryer lint in my survival pouch.

Used for the first time some stuff called wet fire a few weekends ago. Same concept as the petroleum jelly and a cotton ball. Worked well on wet tinder!

 

[Cpol]

I have tested and proved the timer that potato chips of all types are flammable. An instant 5-10 second flame, in addition if you have wd40 spray it on cotton ball and you can have 15-40 second flame.

 

[martin_j001]

When it was just my wife and I, and I could spend time working on a fire, I'd do the bushcraft thing (vaseline cotton balls, ferro rod, some fatwood split down, split down the large logs, etc). Now that we take the munchkin, I'm using a firestarting log/block...get it burning, stack wood around it, walk away and do other things.

 

[old_man]

I have a Coleman battery powered air mattress inflator. Once you have a bit burning, it will turn it into a roaring fire in a minute or two.

 

[Gary Stevens]

I always have purell with me for hand washing, it is also a really great fire starter. I build a traditional fire as stated above, add a few squirts of purell and add wood as it gets going.

 

[James Deaton]

MAPP gas torch goes with us on every camping trip.

James

 

[sabjku]

I always have purell with me for hand washing, it is also a really great fire starter. I build a traditional fire as stated above, add a few squirts of purell and add wood as it gets going.

Would have never thought of that. Good to know!

I generally try to work on my bushcrafting techniques as well, as I find it therapeutic, and educational. But after a few minutes my friends get tired of waiting for the fire so they usually cheat

 

[SiDbaru]

Everyone has they're methods. Try a few different ways yourself and maybe combine a few techniques and develope you own ways. The only way to get good at starting a fire (or anything for that matter) is practice practice practice.
Also practice when having a fire is not a necessity so the frustration demons don't posses you.

 

[SiDbaru]

MAPP gas torch goes with us on every camping trip.

James

^^ James FTW!

 

[Horse Soldier]

Bushcraft first unless in a fury, as for starting material I save the lint from the dryer and keep it I a ziplock baggy.

 

[MuckSavage]

I recently made a bunch of the cotton rounds dipped in 50/50 melted was & petroleum jelly. stash em in a ziploc. When ready for use, tear 1/2 way thru & light. Solid 8 minute burn time for me!

 

[ArmyofMike]

I use a lighter and hand sanitizer.

 

[Berkshires]

I always think that the people who make their own from lint don’t have a dog or at least one that doesn’t shed. I thought about making some, but every time I empty the lint filter, it is half lint and half corgi fur - not a smell you want when starting a fire.

Like most people, we use two methods depending on weather and mood (wife says - “it’s cold and I need a fire now”). We bought some cheap fire starters, that I break in half and with minimal kindling it gets the fire going pretty quick. If we are in less of a hurry, it’s paper, twigs, small sticks, etc.

 

[Tupenny]

I recently made a bunch of the cotton rounds dipped in 50/50 melted was & petroleum jelly. stash em in a ziploc. When ready for use, tear 1/2 way thru & light. Solid 8 minute burn time for me!

This. I also added the wood dust collected from my sander to the mix and feel like it is more flammable/stabilizing. I also get a good burn from a single “puck” and have had 6 month shelf life per batch. I keep 4-6 pucks in my recovery kit and have a tobacco tin holding the rest for actual trips.

So far so good.

 

[ArkansasDon]

fat wood

 

[madcratebuilder]

I make a "fire ball" out of pine tar and jute, a 1" ball burns for 15-20 minutes. If I can't get a good fire in that time I deserve to be cold and wet. Rain is common here in the PNW so I need a reliable starter. I found a company in western WA that has great stuff.
https://www.ucogear.com/firestarting/matches/

 

[Dock Rocker]

My trucks are all diesel and I carry at least 5 gallons of spare fuel in Jerry cans. If it’s wet a cup of diesel goes a long way.