Testing Fire Starters

This afternoon after it had rained steady for about an  hour, I figured it was a great time to test the fire starters we are about to start carrying on Primal Gear Unlimited's website. It is important to practice and hone your survival skills and this was a great opportunity with everything wet and seventy two percent humidity so nothing was drying out quick . I could go out in the back yard in a controlled environment and practice skills. I urge everyone to use their back yard to practice their skills rather than wait until they find themselves in an emergency situation. You don't have to hike out into the wilderness to practice survival. The best time to practice is when you don't have to worry about finding yourself in a survival situation.
I went out and began to gather tinder. Everything was still wet, so I started picking up pine straws one at a time that were on top of the ground and were the driest.I stacked them up in a small tepee, then picked all of the very small twigs from the ground that had fallen out of the trees from rain and squirrels running and playing in the branches. I formed them around the straw then put a good  pile of the twigs on top so the rising heat would dry them out quickly. Another blanket of pine straw without all of the effort of picking them up one by one, but I did lightly rake them from the top of the debris that has fallen to the ground to avoid decaying wetter stuff. then more smaller limbs and twigs with a layer of a little larger stuff around that.
I then pulled out the Aurora Fire Starter in silver with the 440 c blade like the one in the picture. I do like the fact that is seals in the case with an o-ring at the top so you can take it with you in and around salt water.

I created a little pocket in the center of the pile and put the cotton ball tinder on a stick. One quick swipe of the scraper on the base of the Aurora, and the cotton lit up. I moved the cotton ball inside of the opening I had made and it started to catch. I let it go just long enough to know it would work and took a stick and put the fire out, as I had two more fire starters to test. I made sure there were no more coals or embers left burning to help the next test along.
It was time to test the Strike Force fire rod by Ultimate survival technologies. It is mostly made in the USA, but unlike the Aurora which is completely an American made product, It is assembled in the US with American made and Chinese parts. I do like the plastic cove that allows a little room to carry tinder in the case with the fire rod on the side with the striker as you can see in the picture.

Once again I put a cotton ball down kind of snagged onto a stick. One smooth swipe of the striker down the rod, the cotton lit up, and I moved it into the hollow in the base of the fire pile. everything caught and began to burn. Most of the inner layer of the pine straw burnt out and I had to push the top of the pile down to put the fire out.
Now the prepared fire pile was't nearly as neat, and I had one more fire starter to test.  I kind of roughly bundled it up again and pulled out another cotton ball. I pulled out the Blast Match designed by Ultimate Survival Technologies for one handed use, which could be very convenient if you found yourself in a survival situation, injured, with only one usable hand. This one is assembled in the US from foreign parts, but the one handed operation feature is just too hard to pass on. We chose the black version of the Blast Match as pictured. It is also available in orange.

 I flipped the cover around to the rear as in the picture, pushed down on the thumb tab you can see on the bottom left of the handle to press the striker to the fire rod. I put the tinder on a little larger stick, put the Blast Match against the bottom of the tinder, pushed down while applying pressure to the thumb tab, and the cotton ball lit right up. I let the cotton ball burn up, then I pulled out the Wet Fire that came with this particular Blast Match. I opened the little candy like wrapper, and put the little white cube of solid fuel into the fork of a small stick. I applied pressure to the thumb tab, pressed down on the Blast Match, and the little cube began to burn. I put it under the fire pile with its now lack of straw tinder, and it took about 45 seconds to a minute and the small twigs started to catch and it wasn't long before I had a roaring camp fire.
As in an earlier post, I have now made fire in the safety of my back yard with a bow drill, a magnesium bar (which I didn't write about), and the Aurora Fire Starter, Strike Force, and the Blast Match.

I am confident that I could make fire in a survival situation in a variety of ways. I would leave the bow drill, or the fire plow method as a last resort if I found myself without any other method on me. When I go into the woods I try to have a lighter, some matches and a fire rod, and/or magnesium bar on me, and I also have several methods in my go bag.

I recommend that not only do you carry fire starters, but dry tinder in you kits as well. Cotton balls work great and are cheap. I also have cotton in my first aid kit, along with petroleum based triple antibiotic ointment and gel hand sanitizer with has a high alcohol content, and it is easy to get the gel to stick to surfaces unlike plain alcohol.

It is a good idea to pick up natural dry tinder like long dry grass etc.. as you travel and stuff it in your ditty bag. It is also a good idea to carry several cotton bandannas that you can use to make char cloth if you need to. Another great fire starter that can also be used medically as a high capacity bandage to stop blood flow is a tampon.
The key points to remember are, 1) be prepared and carry the right equipment, 2) practice with and know how to use your equipment, and 3) do not rely on one single method.