Starting Fires

[Rockcrawlintoy]

Wow sounds like i am an arsonist lol. I have been lookin at the blast match and a few other thing that are used to start fires. Has anyone used a blast match and how well did it work. Also anyone use anything that was better or more reliable.

[baseball7]

A good way to make a fire is using Firesteel. It is a type of flint and steel. If you want to get some or look at it here is a good site for it .Campmor Explorer

[ToddW]

I agree with Patrick firesteel is the good choice.

A blastmatch is firesteel and is easier to use and you can do it with one hand. ON theother hand IF the blastmatch breaks you will have to use your knife as the scraper... IMHO a blastmatch is a good choie because the firesteel is HUGE, you can do it one handed, and if it does break you can use a knife and use it as normal firesteel.

-Todd

[silly58willy]

what about the fire piston?

that seems like a good idea and easy enough to use...anybody every see one?

[duffil]

Originally Posted by silly58willy

what about the fire piston?

that seems like a good idea and easy enough to use...anybody every see one?

taken from firepiston.com:

[ToddW]

Fire Pistons look awesome!

I don't think a firepiston is a good choice for starting a fire in the wind or water... then again blastmatches might not be either!

[silly58willy]

a few weeks ago i tried to start a fire in my fireplace with flint and magnesium(sp?) and that is harder then it looks. but then again i didnt have a very big pile of shaving and when it finally went up it burnt really really fast and i didnt have time to put down my knife and flint to put on some wood shavings....kinda sucked but next time willhave better results

[Rockcrawlintoy]

my grandparents had me start a fire years ago with flint and steel. it worked pretty well but i don't have a flint anymore. i think the key is to practice practice practice.

[ToddW]

Magnesium powder blows away easily another thing that would suck to start a fire in the wind !!

[silly58willy]

Originally Posted by ToddW

Magnesium powder blows away easily another thing that would suck to start a fire in the wind !!

build a small TP and use your body as best you can to block the wind till it gets to big to block. or just find a nice covzy cave

[Rockcrawlintoy]

yeah its prolly not a bad idea to carry some of the magnesium just to help if you can keep it from blowing away.

[duffil]

Originally Posted by ToddW

Fire Pistons look awesome!

I don't think a firepiston is a good choice for starting a fire in the wind or water... then again blastmatches might not be either!

actually, the one I posted is in a short video on that site...guy pulls it out of a river, blows it off and uses it.

Of course, I have never used one.

[silly58willy]

Originally Posted by duffil

actually, the one I posted is in a short video on that site...guy pulls it out of a river, blows it off and uses it.

Of course, I have never used one.

if you didnt say that i was just thinking that it uses the heat of compression to ignite whatever it is, so if i came out of water you could just blow it out or give it a few quick pumps and dry it all up

[ToddW]

Well that makes sense.

Good info guys.

[Rockcrawlintoy]

yeah it does, im starting to hone my skills in fire starting and the magnesium works well but it does blow away easily. i had one goin for a second then a gust of wind blew it out

DRew

[silly58willy]

Originally Posted by Rockcrawlintoy

yeah it does, im starting to hone my skills in fire starting and the magnesium works well but it does blow away easily. i had one goin for a second then a gust of wind blew it out

DRew

yeah thats stuff is hard to use.... i want to get afire piston and try that out

[Rockcrawlintoy]

yeah i wanna try the blast match. it was pretty chilly here today. 43 was the high and lots of stuff were covered snow this morning. i think if i needed to i could have started one in the wild.

DRew

[silly58willy]

Originally Posted by Rockcrawlintoy

yeah i wanna try the blast match. it was pretty chilly here today. 43 was the high and lots of stuff were covered snow this morning. i think if i needed to i could have started one in the wild.

DRew

you have a perfect place to do it also. if shit gets out of hand just shovel snow on it and your good to go. but get dry tinder or wet and dry it out then do the bundle and what not. if you do take pics or a video

[norcalyota]

hmm I always carry wind proof matches, paper, and light bark or some wood that ignites easily, steel wool is also a great thing for starting fires. Last year I got a fire going in a snowstorm - so this method has worked well for me

hey drew, when you going to shasta, and for how long? I'm in school during march, but if it's a weekend trip I'm down for sure.