A wad of dryer lint and a dozen some wooden toothpicks fit nicely into a pill bottle for fire starting.
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Don't let other peoples limitations become your constraints!
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Yeah, but I can't boil water (to kill bacteria, viruses, and parasites) in a pill bottle. Plus, I have waterproof matches in their own container somewhere.
Ah, crap... I forgot that I need a sail needle... And I need to learn how to use it, too.
Ah, crap... I forgot that I need a sail needle... And I need to learn how to use it, too.
There is no such thing as a science experiment gone wrong.
- AnotherFairportfan
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Steel wool makes good tinder - and you can light it by striking sparks on it with a lantern battery...
Proof Positive the world is not flat: If it were, cats would have pushed everything off the edge by now.
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I was addressing the "making char material" part of fire starting. Matches along may not be enough if you have no good tinder available. The metal pot is up to you!
Don't let other peoples limitations become your constraints!
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I carry a magnesium fire-starter bar . . . scrape some of the magnesium off with a pocketknife or other steel tool, pile the shavings around the tinder, and strike the steel down the spark-strip so the sparks fall in the shavings and ignite the magnesium.
It'll start a fire under most conditions.
--FreeFlier
It'll start a fire under most conditions.
--FreeFlier
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I have a couple of small ferro rods, actually, but I should probably get one of the larger ones.
From what I hear, you're supposed to keep at least three different methods of starting a fire in your survival kit, but all I have are lighters and a few small ferro rods.
From what I hear, you're supposed to keep at least three different methods of starting a fire in your survival kit, but all I have are lighters and a few small ferro rods.
There is no such thing as a science experiment gone wrong.
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Don't forget, a few Birthday Cake Candles are a great addition to any Fire-starter kit...
- Catawampus
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A magnifying lens works nicely, too, on sunny days, and is about as simple and eternally-lasting as you can get. I've seen tinder boxes that have one built into the lid: you take off the lid, unscrew a cap to uncover the lens, and then shine it on the tinder.Alkarii wrote: ↑Wed Jun 02, 2021 12:12 pm I have a couple of small ferro rods, actually, but I should probably get one of the larger ones.
From what I hear, you're supposed to keep at least three different methods of starting a fire in your survival kit, but all I have are lighters and a few small ferro rods.
And you can use it to help remove ticks or splinters, or to look for clues if somebody gets murdered.
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I'll have to try to find one of those. It'd save me the trouble of trying to dig out two separate items. The plus side is, so long as there's enough sunlight, I can save lighter fluid, or not have to scrape a ferro rod.
I've also actually lit a fire with a magnifying glass... I wasn't building a campfire, though.
Oh! I picked up some fatwood, and once I actually have a tinderbox, I can put a bunch of the dead bamboo leaves from the thicket next to the house.
Seriously, there's so much of those leaves on the ground, a person wearing only khaki clothing could lie down in it and hide from any aircraft not equipped with FLIR cameras.
I've also actually lit a fire with a magnifying glass... I wasn't building a campfire, though.
Oh! I picked up some fatwood, and once I actually have a tinderbox, I can put a bunch of the dead bamboo leaves from the thicket next to the house.
Seriously, there's so much of those leaves on the ground, a person wearing only khaki clothing could lie down in it and hide from any aircraft not equipped with FLIR cameras.
There is no such thing as a science experiment gone wrong.
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I know/knew three different men who started a fire with a jug of water . . . and a friend nearly set his pickup on fire with bottled water . . .
There is a reason that the logging companies forbade clear glass water jugs! They had to be brown glass, painted, or have an opaque covering. Withy basketwork also protected the glass. (Nowadays they use plastic or metal.)
To spell it out, the clear glass container of water can act as a magnifying lens and ignite anything dry and flammable at the focal point.
BTW, I would not count a magnifying lest, etc as one of the three methods . . . too much chance you'd need a fire at night or in cloudy weather.
The last time I needed a fire in a hurry, I used a road flare . . . worked great.
--FreeFlier
There is a reason that the logging companies forbade clear glass water jugs! They had to be brown glass, painted, or have an opaque covering. Withy basketwork also protected the glass. (Nowadays they use plastic or metal.)
To spell it out, the clear glass container of water can act as a magnifying lens and ignite anything dry and flammable at the focal point.
BTW, I would not count a magnifying lest, etc as one of the three methods . . . too much chance you'd need a fire at night or in cloudy weather.
The last time I needed a fire in a hurry, I used a road flare . . . worked great.
--FreeFlier
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One sunny day a few years ago, I smelled smoke while I was working. And then I noticed that a magnifying glass that had been standing in the pen jar for at least 5 years was trying to light up my desk.
It lives in a drawer now.
It lives in a drawer now.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the linchpin of civilization.
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Redundancy is really good in some circumstances. I know that people who go exploring caves (and know what they are doing) demand that EACH person in the group carry TWO sources of light.
(I read of a college group that went out and, not 15 minutes into their exploring, heard a voice ahead of them: "OH THANK GOD! IT'S REAL!" The group's plans were delayed as they escorted three non-members to the cave mouth and summoned paramedics to treat the three for dehydration and hypothermia. The idiots had gone in with a cumulative grand total of ONE light source... and dropped it into a pool. About the same time the previous day.)
(I read of a college group that went out and, not 15 minutes into their exploring, heard a voice ahead of them: "OH THANK GOD! IT'S REAL!" The group's plans were delayed as they escorted three non-members to the cave mouth and summoned paramedics to treat the three for dehydration and hypothermia. The idiots had gone in with a cumulative grand total of ONE light source... and dropped it into a pool. About the same time the previous day.)
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I remember it as three separate sources of light.
And this would be why.Warrl wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 12:29 pm(I read of a college group that went out and, not 15 minutes into their exploring, heard a voice ahead of them: "OH THANK GOD! IT'S REAL!" The group's plans were delayed as they escorted three non-members to the cave mouth and summoned paramedics to treat the three for dehydration and hypothermia. The idiots had gone in with a cumulative grand total of ONE light source... and dropped it into a pool. About the same time the previous day.)
In fact, I habitually carried three sources of light every day . . . something about being at work in the back of studio A when the power went off (some drunken idiot whacked the one power pole that could knock out all of lower campus) and having to crawl out in the dark - it seemed that the emergency lights all needed new batteries!
--FreeFlier
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Having one of them be a chemical light-stick is a good idea. "Intrinsically safe" (cannot spark an explosion), waterproof, can produce at least some light for quite a few hours, comes in multiple light-colors so you can color-coordinate with your outfits, or use different colors to mark different sorts of hazards.
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Yeah... I have a few glow sticks, in several colors; some are 8 hour sticks, and a lot are 12. I grab some every now and then, so I'm up to 18. I have this thing called a crush light, and I can recharge it via USB, or the solar panel on top. I also have a couple of headlamps, and one of those Fulton military flashlights. You know the kind I mean... Green, shaped like an upside down L, and comes with a bunch of lenses.
What I don't have, though, is a solar recharger for batteries.
What I don't have, though, is a solar recharger for batteries.
There is no such thing as a science experiment gone wrong.
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"There are FOUR Lights!"
Don't let other peoples limitations become your constraints!
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- lake_wrangler
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I definitely remember reading it as two. However, I could easily imagine someone saying that it's three for small groups or solo (and solo is probably discouraged). Then to avoid arguments over how many people are in a "small" group, going for three all the time.
There's this lovely phenomenon called "cave dark". Commonly found in, obviously, caves. Nobody will ever really see it... because the human brain refuses to believe it can be THAT dark, and creates spots of light that aren't really there. Unfortunately, these spots of light do not actually provide any illumination. Thus, by the time a rescuer's lamps show up, the lost light-less person may have learned not to believe in the light they see. (And if they're in bad shape, they may decline to call for help from yet another hallucination.)
- lake_wrangler
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Here is the quote (from my wallpaper changer) which greeted me, as I came on my computer:
Think what you want...“Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke.” - Lynda Barry
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Yep.Dave wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:04 pmHaving one of them be a chemical light-stick is a good idea. "Intrinsically safe" (cannot spark an explosion), waterproof, can produce at least some light for quite a few hours, comes in multiple light-colors so you can color-coordinate with your outfits, or use different colors to mark different sorts of hazards.
There are little bitty ones intended for fishing lures that make good markers, and the slender flexible ones that make good personnel markers (wear them as a bracelet or necklace), and oversize ones for more light, and super-high-intensity lightsticks for illuminating large areas . . . the military adds IR ones that can only be seen with night vision gear . . .
One use I've seen suggested for multi-story residences is to put a door key on one, so if you have an intruder and and trapped on an upper floor, you can pop the lightstick and throw it down to the police, so they don't have to break the door down. The nightstick lets them find it immediately. I had that set when I lived in a third-floor apartment.
One night the power went off, and I took lightsticks down to the elderly folks that lived downstairs . . . then I didn't have to worry about them messing with candles. (There'd been a fire from candles up the street . . . three dead.) (It turned out that the retired gentleman in back had an electric lantern.)
but that's most relevant in a mica-lined room.
--FreeFlier
Last edited by FreeFlier on Sun Jun 06, 2021 7:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.