I have this insatiable appetite for building and creating, which usually manifests itself in a new project that I buy the parts for and then lose rapidly interest. Last weekend, I got the bug again, except this time I already owned all the parts, and there were only two of them. Folks, that is beginning of a success story.
I use a 3/8″ x 4″ firesteel to light most fires, since I can usually get things going more quickly with it then I can with a lighter. Probably because I spend more time preparing the tinder instead of attempting to light a piece of wet cardboard with a mini Bic, but that is beside the point. A blank firesteel is slightly awkward to hold, and since my dad has been “making” some hardwood handles for three months now, I decided to come up with my own handle. A handle that you just hold onto is boring, so I thought one that you could stuff stuff into would be wonderful. I have seen similar contraptions made before with success, so I figured I could make it work. Luckily, I happened to have a couple thousand capsules sitting around.
I drilled a hole in the bottom of the capsule with my trusty Ridgid Lithium drill, inserted the firesteel, then filled in the caps with JB Kwik. JB Kwik is actually quite quick (kwik?), so I had to make sure that the firesteel was inserted relatively straight, and then it was all done.
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I made a video for the Sparky and got it up on youtube last night. I wanted to show the knife in better detail and show what it can do, so go listen to me ramble for a few minutes about sharp things.
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Several people have contacted me, asking that I start offering a fire kit for sale on Going Gear, so this is that kit. The kit is a refinement of several that I have made for myself and others, and is one that will cover a wide range of situations.
You have two quick and easy flame/spark sources, a bottle lighter (no fluid included) and a firesteel. You have three types of tinders: wax and sawdust, fatwood, and PJ cotton balls. You have a striker/tinder scraper with the hacksaw blade piece. You have duct tape to hold the tinder scrapings in windy conditions, or to do just about anything else, since duct tape is the most awesome thing [i]ever[/i]. You even have a badass plastic container from Target brand travel sized Q-tips. Finally, you have a ranger band to hold it all together. Of course, being a fire kit, especially from a pyro like me, you can burn the case, the ranger band, and the duct tape as well if you are really hurting to get a fire going.
Ideally, the firesteel and lighter would be used in most situations, since you can usually find natural tinder in the area to get a fire going. If you are lazy or everything is soaking wet, then you turn to the included tinders (or the case, ranger band, and duct tape).
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I received some samples of butane lighters along with the recent bottle lighter order. Butane lighters are nice to have thanks to their high flame temperature and ease of use, so they make a nice complement to a bottle lighter or other flame source. I was looking for something small, simple, and high quality, so I asked for about 10 different lighter samples to see what kind of butane lighter would be best. The company makes some surprisingly high quality products, especially considering how cheap they are compared to most metal refillable butane lighters.
Here is what came in, along with a AA battery for size comparison:
Some are all metal, some are mostly plastic, and some are a mix between metal and plastic. All of them have great finish quality and work well in my tests. The ones I am thinking about ordering are the second from the right in the top row and the middle three on the bottom row.
The two slim ones are about as slim and sleek of a butane lighter as I have seen, and are made out of a good looking metal. The black and silver one is the lightest out of the bunch, and the other one is a nice little compact lighter. I wish I could order more than two or three, but the minimum order quantities are 500 for each lighter or 1000 each if I want a logo on there. What do you guys think?
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Every wondered why your firewood doesn’t burn very well? A tree service has made some nice charts based on US Forest Products Laboratory information. The charts compare most of the different North American wood types based on several different criteria. I saw this over on BF and thought it might be useful.
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This video shows how to build my personal favorite type of fire, the log cabin fire. It’s like building a little house….and then burning it down (I’m not serious, Mr. Arson Investigator).
Keep in mind that the birch bark is like using nature to cheat, so the tinder will not normally flame up quite that quickly. it will light easily and quickly if you use the right dry materials, but birch bark is very oily and makes lighting fires a cinch. It helped balance out the fact that most of that wood had received a good soaking over the past week with daily thunderstorms.
I used a 3/8″ x 4″ firesteel and PJ cotton balls to light the fire.
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I had someone ask me through the store how to use the firesteels and PJ cotton balls I have for sale, so here is a quick video showing how to use them.
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I was digging through boxes of ancient crap a while back when I came across my old camping gear. I’ll show the rest at a later point when I am not afraid dying from the embarrassment, but for now I’ll show you the one little piece of gear that might actually still be useful. It is called the “Frontier Firestarter” and I have had the thing for a good 20 years.
The concept of the firestarter is actually pretty smart. A small firesteel and rod of magnesium are attached end to end on a small piece of wood (cedar, I think), with a piece of a hacksaw blade attached by a leather lanyard. The firesteel lights the magnesium scrapings, which burn for only a brief moment, but can then light the wood shavings which will burn for a bit longer, maybe allowing you to get a fire going.
The firesteel is a little small for my tastes, but the concept could easily be transfered into a similar tool a bit larger. I think I might have to tinker this week to see what I can come up with….
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I keep on looking for small containers that will house a new fire kit for me. The main constraint seems to be the 4″ firesteel, since most small containers are not that long. Along comes Target’s Dollar Spot to the rescue, with the their candy tins of the perfect size. My hopes for a ton of candy were dashed since they contain a whopping four tootsie rolls. Jerks.
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What happens when you really like the products you are selling? You get disappointed when you ask suppliers if they can get a lighter for you, and they tell you they can’t. But then disappointment turns to giddiness when they tell you they can get you a lighter/flashlight combo. A flashlighter if you will. And not only a lighter, but a peanut lighter looking little contraption.
Yes, I realize how wonderful it is. Yes, I am going to try to get some.
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