Remember old TV westerns and lost in the wild style movies when someone needs to start a fire they just go grab two rocks, strike them together and maybe in two tries they have a fire? Well, I tried something similar and it took more than two tries.
Don't ask me how I came up with this list idea item. Maybe I saw a Man vs Wild promo and thought "What survival skills should I know before 30?" Or maybe I was trying to channel my inner Katniss and didn't have time to master archery in a year. Regardless, starting a fire with flint made its way onto the list.
Like any other 29 year old, the first thing I did when preparing for this was visit my trusty, know it all friend Google. And the nuances I found were both entertaining and strange.
There were many fire starter purists that gave examples of how to make our own char cloth, the pros and cons of u shaped versus c shaped steel strikers and preferences on the type of flint family rock to use. Here's one example if you're actually interested.
While I think it's great there are people in the world that are so particular about old school fire starting, I went with a more modern tool that still utilizes flint. Mine was similar to this, but I purchased mine at my local Rock/Creek store. Support local ya'll!
Basically, this tool allows you to shave magnesium off a small block and then strike a flint based edge with a knife to light the magnesium shavings. Sounds simple huh? Not so much my friends.
I originally attempted to do this back during June's camping trip. However, I didn't realize you needed a big and very sharp knife to make this gadget work. All I had was a small pocket knife. So I decided I didn't want to risk slicing my hand open in the Savage Gulf wilderness trying to shave microscopic magnesium flakes on a fire pit. And when you have the right tool (i.e. a big, sharp knife), you have to shave off a quarter size pile of magnesium. That took me about 15 minutes, and the scraping emits a screeching sound that's eerily reminiscent of your proverbial nails on a chalkboard.
But, I finally lit the fire in a small, camping style BBQ grill in our backyard. We don't have a fire pit so I improvised. And I used a modern version of char cloth: dryer lint. Here's video proof: https://vimeo.com/179131433
Will I use this little gadget again? Or will I just whip out my BIC lighter and get things going a lot quicker? The firestarter is so tiny and can easily attach to any type of pack that I'll carry it for what it's intended for when in the outdoors: emergencies. I would especially carry it on outdoor adventures anywhere that damp or wet conditions can be expected which is its biggest advantage over matches and over lighters that can potentially run out of fuel or break.
To wrap this list item up, enjoy a little of the blog title's musical counterpart The Doors "Light My Fire".
Don't ask me how I came up with this list idea item. Maybe I saw a Man vs Wild promo and thought "What survival skills should I know before 30?" Or maybe I was trying to channel my inner Katniss and didn't have time to master archery in a year. Regardless, starting a fire with flint made its way onto the list.
Like any other 29 year old, the first thing I did when preparing for this was visit my trusty, know it all friend Google. And the nuances I found were both entertaining and strange.
There were many fire starter purists that gave examples of how to make our own char cloth, the pros and cons of u shaped versus c shaped steel strikers and preferences on the type of flint family rock to use. Here's one example if you're actually interested.
While I think it's great there are people in the world that are so particular about old school fire starting, I went with a more modern tool that still utilizes flint. Mine was similar to this, but I purchased mine at my local Rock/Creek store. Support local ya'll!
Basically, this tool allows you to shave magnesium off a small block and then strike a flint based edge with a knife to light the magnesium shavings. Sounds simple huh? Not so much my friends.
I originally attempted to do this back during June's camping trip. However, I didn't realize you needed a big and very sharp knife to make this gadget work. All I had was a small pocket knife. So I decided I didn't want to risk slicing my hand open in the Savage Gulf wilderness trying to shave microscopic magnesium flakes on a fire pit. And when you have the right tool (i.e. a big, sharp knife), you have to shave off a quarter size pile of magnesium. That took me about 15 minutes, and the scraping emits a screeching sound that's eerily reminiscent of your proverbial nails on a chalkboard.
 |
| The firestarter, a sharp knife, an anti abrasion glove and a bunch of dryer lint. |
But, I finally lit the fire in a small, camping style BBQ grill in our backyard. We don't have a fire pit so I improvised. And I used a modern version of char cloth: dryer lint. Here's video proof: https://vimeo.com/179131433
Will I use this little gadget again? Or will I just whip out my BIC lighter and get things going a lot quicker? The firestarter is so tiny and can easily attach to any type of pack that I'll carry it for what it's intended for when in the outdoors: emergencies. I would especially carry it on outdoor adventures anywhere that damp or wet conditions can be expected which is its biggest advantage over matches and over lighters that can potentially run out of fuel or break.
To wrap this list item up, enjoy a little of the blog title's musical counterpart The Doors "Light My Fire".
Comments
Post a Comment