I have a big bottle of magnesium chips in my pack. And the usual stuff.

 

small tea light candle

 

A mix of homemade thermite, magnesium chips.

 

Ferro rods epoxied into cartridge cases. Grade 5 bolt lathe cut to a square edge (emergency scraper), sealed with a red rubber gasket. Case filled with waste gun powder, the 30-06 holds enough for 10 emergency fire starts, the 50 BMG folds 5 times as much and has a carbide knife sharpener Water proof and hardly anything takes a spark better than gun powder IMHO.


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Lighter jacket for BIC. Can hang on my neck inside my shirt - warm and dry. Nearly 2' of recoverable artificial sinew - could be make a fire bow. The long seam is treated with jeweler's rouge for stropping a knife blade.

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A bic lighter in a zip lock with something to protect the button from getting pushed, a ferro rod/striker combo, cotton balls in petroleum jelly in a zip lock, and a quantity of cheap toothpicks. Always give yourself an easy way and a back up. The bic will light a fire easily. If you are using your bag, you have other concerns to cover besides rubbing stick's together. The ferro will spark even if it get dunked in water. The cotton balls burn well as a starter and will ignite just from the spark of an empty bic. The toothpicks can be broken up as secondary tinder if no other is dry or available. Might be enough to help you dry out some larger stuff enough to get it burning.

Unless you have a chance of being in deep snow or rain forest climates, you should do well with the above. Other stuff, such as magnesium, mentioned above is good too if you have the room or cheap/easy access to it.

 

It gets so complicated in "long term" and "short term".
Long term - magnesium and ferro will last and be easier than bow drills, etc.
Short term - I have a bunch of small plastic bottles with dryer lint, a "Chapstick" and a Bic lighter in every pack and vehicle. In the trucks the chapstick will evaporate over time, but lasts a couple of years. In the winter you have to keep the butane lighters warm.

When I was on the road in my rock band days decades ago I carried an extra 9v battery or two in my pocket for effects pedals. I found that if I dropped a few coins in with the batteries it would quickly get uncomfortable. So I guess "very short term" could be a battery and some metal, preferably wire.

 

When I was on the road in my rock band days decades ago I carried an extra 9v battery or two in my pocket for effects pedals. I found that if I dropped a few coins in with the batteries it would quickly get uncomfortable. So I guess "very short term" could be a battery and some metal, preferably wire.

I learned that the hard way while driving down the highway one time, lol.

 

I have had bic lighters last a decade plus. Simple, near instant, and easy. About the only place I cannot find usable tinder is underwater. Sometimes you just have to get creative and look around a bit. Granted there is a finite number of lights with a bic, but frankly that is true with everything.

 

A mini bic, ferro-rod and a small chunk of fat wood. The more woods experience you have the less dependent you are on man-made tinder.

 

Altoids tin with CountyCom wheel striker, extra flint, 4 gag birthday candles which won't blow out, 2 Esbit cubes and pack remaining space in tin with Vaseline infused cotton balls. Two Ranger Bands around tin can also be used as fuel if needed.

 

For me I never depend on one method to do something in the woods but if it's a dedicated kit then just a ferro rod and a small knife will work in just about everywhere there is something to burn around. to round that out a few sticks of punk wood to shave for tender and I'm set.

I do like Lighters and have a few in my pack which I use mostly but if it has to work no matter what the ferro rod works wet, in the wind, even if I lay down my motorcycle on it and crack it into pieces I will still be able to get a spark.

Equally important is knowing how to build a good foundation for the fire to stay lit as long as you need it. I generally spend more time prepping the fuel and layout of the fire than I do starting it. if I have a good foundation set up I can start a fire (and keep it burning) with two sticks, not that I do it caveman style very often at my age anymore.

 

For no BS, I prefer a Zippo/Star type lighter. I always keep one in my watch pocket, and a small vial of lighter fluid. Regular gasoline will work in a pinch, as well as Coleman "white gas" camp fuel or naptha. Currently running on a mix of that and charcoal lighter.

They are extremely serviceable and reliable. Can carry extra flint as well. Found that they are less cold sensitive than butane. And no issues at high elevation. The big flame and being able to set it down is very handy to get a fire going. Very nice to not have to excessively break down wood and shave sticks when you need a fire. Just a ferro rod and steel is nice and rugged/simple, but you really need to have perfect tinder/starter, very dry, or have a volatile fire starter.

I always carry a bottle of gel type 70% ethanol hand sanitizer when I'm out. I've used candles and water proof paraffin fire starters, but the gel is just easier to light and work with. It's handy that it sticks to the wood, and a little rain won't keep it from lighting.

In cold weather, had some trouble lighting the gel with a ferro rod, but no issues with a Zippo.

Of course I always carry a good knife, which helps, but would find it very tough to get by without an axe or a little hatchet. I always carry a roofing hammer, which is a very handy small hatchet/hammer.

 

Fur,

A trade-off could be a Condor Tool and Knife Wilderness Tool. It's a lightweight hatchet with part being a knife.

Repeat: a trade-off.

Search around the web; there are others also.

 

In my BOB:

Ferro rod and vaselined cotton balls.
Bic lighters (3)
Strike anywhere matches
Flare

Two is one, one is none, and four is three!

I also have a few little kindling sticks (off wooden-shafted long q-tips), fatwood, and some popsicle sticks. My thinking is that I may not be able to find good dry kindling or tinder, so I'd better have a little in my bob.

I've thought about including a small butane torch but haven't acted on it. There's only so much room in the BOB.

 

And leather gloves. Very handy for outside work, and does a lot to keep your hands from bad cuts, slivers and burns.

I don't consider myself any kind of expert on fire starting, and mostly distance myself from stunt style survivalism. Nice to know, but not very reliable in the real world. But I do practice and depend on my methods mike's and miles from help.

Might notice a lack of human traffic where I go for weeks at a time.

 

Have to rely on what ya bring, and when it's wet and cold, with no one even able to reach you, it's nice not fooling around with unreliable methods.

 

I had that thought even while clicking on the thread. I always have one flare. I get asked why and now I'm going to start calling it my Signalling/No BS Fire Starter.

 

Forgot to mention that one of the quickest no BS ways to light a fire is to cut an aluminum can in half fill it with gas, light it, and pile your wood over it. A good sledding buddy showed me that trick. Burns a long time in the can like that.

I always use a good base of wood, that my fire is built on.

 

Forgot to mention that one of the quickest no BS ways to light a fire is to cut an aluminum can in half fill it with gas, light it, and pile your wood over it. A good sledding buddy showed me that trick. Burns a long time in the can like that.

I always use a good base of wood, that my fire is built on.

I've got a woodstove in the basement that won't draw when the temp is below 20 or so. I heat it up with a can of denatured alcohol like that. Works great.

 

I have multiple Bic lighters, a zippo lighter (cool factor) waterproof matches and my favorite is the official Boy Scout Hot Spark, (pictured) fire starter. I keep a few cotton balls, with some paraffin handy, to give the fire a little push. Birthday cake candles come in handy, too.

 

Got it covered several ways. Magnesium striker, water proof matches, matches in a water proof container, along with wetfire starter too, and lighters.

 

If you can’t start a fire with a 15 minute road flare anything else you carry is unlikely to help.

 

Magnesium bar with ferrro rod attached.

 

My fire kits are packed in Pelican 1010 boxes.

• Mini Bic
• Strike anywhere matches
• Ferro rod + striker
• Fresnel lens
• 5 vaseline-soaked cotton balls in a small ziploc
• vial of magnesium shavings
• 2 Wetfire tabs

ETA: oops, forgot the collapsible fire bellow.

I have never not been able to start a fire.

 

It is better to carry a small jar of Vaseline and some cotton balls, than merely Vaseline soaked cotton balls.

 

"Better?" How? For who? For what purpose?

As a part of a small kit that gets used often, and whose purpose is to maintain a small, lightweight, mess-free footprint, I disagree with your assertion.

 

i built a fire starter/knife sheath that currently resides in my BOB that gives me the ability to start fires several different ways and also the ability to process the wood needed to sustain a fire. Not cheap but I think it will serve me well for a long time. There’s a thread about it here Ontario Knife Co RAT7 Knife with fire starter kit - the... if you want to check it out. Even if you don’t go with making a kit like that it will give you some ideas of what can be put in a kit of your own design.

 

A 3" magnifying glass will last forever. Start fires well before the sun is low on the horizon - clouds can roll in, low sun has low heat compared to noon sun.

A lot of ointments will burn due to oil or wax content. I have had candles melt in my pack/car due to summer heat - put them in something sealed.

 

Kitchen type wax paper. I wrap tea candles in wax paper, and twist the paper tightly around the wick. Even cold, shaking hands can get them started easily. Cut a few pieces to the size of your tin or container. Crumpled up and lit, they generate lot of heat.

 

I like to make some firestarters that are probably similar just by soaking some paper and pieces of light cardboard in paraffin. And kind of balling it up. Waterproof, easy to light and makes a large flame for a few minutes.