Quest For Fire : Alternative Fire Starting for Survival

[@THEfromkentucky]

Two additional things: 1. Fine Steel Wool with also take a spark from a Ferro Rod 2. If you wrap the Steel Wool in Jute, Hemp or Cotton Twine, dry grass or roughed up cedar strips, the embers from the steel wool will generally light them into a flame.

[@RealitySurvival]

Caveman Approved! That fire puck is awesome!

[@mannyrob]

Thank you for taking the time to show us great ideas.

[@imtopher61]

The steel wool will take a spark from your fire steel as well. Good video.

[@dimitrifortounis4787]

Just found this video. Still as good as the day it was made. One alternative I keep telling anyone that will listen is swap out the bic for a clipper (same price as a bic or there abouts) and make sure you have a few extra flints in your outdoors/survival tin. It's refillable and you can usually see how much fluid is left, especially if you get a see-through one. So you can fill it up before heading out. The sparker is removable and works one handed so even if the fluid runs dry you can remove the sparker and start a fire with that. If the flint runs out you can even replace it with another one, they take up no room at all (I have 5 in my tin). Hope this is helpful. Thanks again D

[@johnhenry7083]

I have been saving my candle stubs from romantic evening and power outages and they work well for starting fires particularly when backbacking.

[@debbiecurtis4021]

I have numerous mini plastic tubs like that. My aunt saves teabags, egg shells, and useful containers and jars for me. They are perfect for hurricane lamp wick, charcloth, and dryer lint.

[@cMaXeJIJIo]

I like to use dry foliage and dead tree bark in dry weather. It smokes a lot at first and can be annoying, blow your cover if you're trying to conceal your position etc, but works like a charm!

[@quercus4730]

Flares are excellent fire starters for times when you need a fire now! real cotton and petroleum jelly is the greatest homemade fire starter it has so many other uses and it even works wet. Good video,Thank you.

[@jimmynix5399]

Sterno works great as well. I use it in place of the petroleum jelly. I keep a can of it in my camping/bug out bag. One of the great things about it is if it's raining, or you can't find dry firewood, you can just use the can to cook instead of making a fire. It's cheap, lasts forever, and lights in a second with a fire steel.

[@SkinnyMedic]

Fire is always important!

[@timlipinski2571]

My sister was trying to teach some young kids to start a camp fire with matches and some did not have a clue ! Also she included "The Ten Essentials" and for the parents she figured they were lost causes already ! Maybe some "Ranger Bands' ;and that will hielp keep some stuff dry. Another nice way to recyle a Bik lighter by cutting the top off and you can always save the flint to put in the bottom of a zippo lighter. Great review and keep up the good work. Eyes UP and lights down, tjl Sent by Win7Pro64 w/ADSL

[@toddsmith1658]

Love the out takes the end of the video! Keep up the great work, I really enjoy your videos!

[@jturbina23]

I really enjoy all of your videos. They contain a wealth on knowledge that is crucial for survival situation. You're the best. Thanks a million for sharing that knowledge. Keep the videos coming. Thanks again.

[@CaliMeatWagon]

For the stricker itself one of the tricks is to run the wheel slowly to "grind" of some of the flint onto your tinder. This makes it easier for the spark to catch.

[@GARYMANDIEVAN]

I agree the Fire puck is the ticket, I also love your bloopers , Thanks Friend

[@tonyloughran8696]

keep up the good vids, Yes firestarting is a top priority in a survival situation.you seem to have all your bases covered. thanx for taking the time to share your knowledge

[@timhunter2775]

Great job! Love how you present knowledge on how to build a fire.

[@2tiggsU]

Hi Sensible Prepper... Something that I've learned down under here in Oz is to keep a small bottle of pure tee tree oil. One its great for cuts and scrapes as a disinfectant but as for fire it's Brilliant!!! Rather than using Vaseline soaked cotton wool etc I use cotton wool or lint with the tee tree oil.... It catches a spark extremely easily easier than vaseline soaked cotton wool intact and burns without smoke unlike vaseline and longer than vaseline... just an additional thing for you there mate..

[@jacobl2203]

Thanks for sharing your video. 👍 I carry the mini zippo (without lighter fluid) with additional flints in the back where the cotton packing goes. I carry a medicine pill bottle packed with precut pieces of cotton balls impregnated with petroleum jelly (ie Vaseline). I use the sparks from the mini zippo to light the soaked cotton ball pieces with tinder. This is a quick way to light fires for me. Several years ago, I packed a pencil sharpener (originally used to sharpen construction pencils) to make tinder shavings from twigs and small sticks (if using a wet stick while in the rain, simply shave off the wet bark off the stick with your knife to expose the dry center of the stick). This method can be easier than creating fire bug spark catchers from dry sticks. In my get home pack, I carry a 6 inch x 1/2 inch Ferro Rod as a backup fire starting method next to my Morakniv Garberg knife. Lastly, on my belt, I carry a Swiss Army Handyman knife with a ferro rod stick that goes into the toothpick holder on the Swiss Army knife. Also, I have a spiral shaped orange-cotton-wax firestarter that gets screwed into the corkscrew on my Swiss Army knife. Both of these items can be picked up from tortoisegear dot com. I use the sharp edge of the backside of my wood saw on my Swiss Army knife to create sparks with any of my ferro rods. This allows me to maintain the edge of my knives that I carry on or with me. Hope this helps others out. Jacob 03-27-2023

[@azcupcakekiller]

Great video I learned something new today, I did not know about the 9V battery and the steel wool. Thanks

[@stuffbywoody5497]

On the topic of char cloth, anything you have that creates a spark, even an empty bic, can and will light your char cloth. I prefer old denim jeans for making my char cloth as it's quite robust and will even flame up with a decent breeze on it. Thanks for the bloopers at the end of the video, I got a good chuckle out of it. Edit; I forgot to mention that with cotton balls and dryer lint, I'll put bit of melted candle wax from the drips or even a bit of bacon grease into them. From my experience it works quite well, but I'm not responsible if you do the bacon grease and get hungry when you light one up and smell the bacon.

[@chillaxter13]

Love the outtakes at the end!! Great, informative vid. Thanks! Could you demo the fire piston next time?

[@bhamblin1]

Great info, LOVE the "out takes".

[@kencoles3591]

I just recently found your videos, and I LOVE them!! I really admire your blooper clips! Well done!

[@nomercyurz]

I dont know if you have it in the US but in the UK we have metal polishing wadding called Brasso or Duraglit, that comes in small resealable tins, put a spark to a bit of that and you can forget your cotton wool and vaseline :)

[@BushCampingTools]

Nice video, I've got my beech bark in the bag and cotton inside bees wax. Great video!

[@NorthSurvival]

Very good video, the "Fire puck" was very cool and is really good to have in your pack. You just got another subcriber.

[@calvinwhitewolfjr2834]

Bow drill friction fire when you don't have the convenience of a lighter Aura magnesium or chemical or electric they all do a great job I do like your video did a wonderful job thank you

[@gunslinger8130]

Great video, very useful info. I myself like to prepare for worst case scenarios, where it may be a very long term or even permanent SHTF, collapse situation. Eventually lighters run out, lighter fluid runs out. I like the methods here, great for short term and even long term situations in some cases. Good stuff.

[@yadjekim]

Good vid, Don! Glad to see you're feeling better.(I've been down with the flu for three days, now) We missed you at the show last weekend. Thanks, be safe.

[@sootch00]

Thanks~ I have to be really bad off to miss a gun show : ) Take care

[@bryanbojorquez1322]

I recommend using chap stick on a ear cleaner rub and it on and it will make a good tinder or substitute match

[@resipsaloquitur1775]

I believe you can start the steel wool with a ferro rod as well. Combine it w/ a decent birds nest / tinder bundle and you're good to go.

[@kevinmelendezsr]

awesome video. thank you for showing all the different methods for firestarting. thumbs up

[@nwobushcraft]

I mixed cotton balls, lint, paraffin wax (dollar store candles) and birch bark. It doesnèt take a spark well, but it hods a flame nice. Also, use cotton makeup pads, and cover it in melted wax. ruffle it up and it will take a spart. The reason for makeup pad is that it is more dense and precompressed than just a cotton ball.

[@zacharyhawkins1234]

Throw a piece of aluminum foil in your kit. You can double up the thickness or use some insulation foil that's got the bubble wrap in between the foil layers. This almost weightless piece of gear is invaluable for a lot of reasons when talking fire: 1. If you've got wet ground, you could gather some twigs and make a fire base, OR you could pull the foil out and throw some tinder on that. Barrier between the damp earth and your tinder, and also helps reflect heat which will give you a bed of coals much quicker, with less material to boot. 2. Windscreen. Doesn't matter if the ground is dry and you've got the perfect birdnest waiting for your spark. Wind will screw you every time. Not only renders most lighters and such useless, but also over oxidizes your tinder and wisks away all your heat meaning your material burns faster and doesn't heat as well. Just by putting a little foil windbreak into the wind OR wrapping the foil around 360 degrees where you're trying to build your crucial bed of coals, you'll save time, heat, fuel, etc. Foil has about ten billion other uses in the wild as well so for the extremely negligible amount of pack weight foil adds, it's stupid not to bring some along. It's probably only surpassed by the humble bandanna as far as versatility is concerned. Hope this helps. Take care.

[@zacharyhawkins1234]

Just one more thing, I promise, as a word of caution for us all: Fire pucks, fire pistons, firesteels, zippos, lighters, ALL MANNER of fire gear, they're all great tools but only in the hands of a great craftsman. It's very easy to overpack and under prepare for a wilderness adventure. The items you bring along should not be your primary source of confidence, only your comfort. Your confidence should come from the highly honed skills that you've mastered in your back yard and other adventures as you've been a student of self-reliance. Gear is never a replacement for knowledge. Ever. Hope that helps. Take care.

[@zacharyhawkins1234]

Duct Tape is great tinder, great "lighter saver" (light small piece of tape, put lighter away and use "duct tape candle" to get fire going (this can also be done with dry spaghetti noodles). DTape makes a great torch as well when combined with pine pitch/resin, small dry twigs/foliage, all packed TIGHT into the four-split end of any green wood (bamboo works too), using the tape as a kind of central binder and perimeter integrity. Also, if you throw a little duct tape on your green wood just below the splits you've made, you not only reinforce your torch, you also give yourself a great warning system as to how long you have before the torch snuffs out. That duct tape binding on the bottom of the split should burn just long enough for a quick trek back to camp. Just be careful, it drips tiny sticky fireballs. Never a good idea to napalm yourself in an already tough situation...

[@coyody1]

Love your videos, thanks for the bloopers at the end. Nice touch

[@SoulSurvivorX2]

I've got a ton of dryer lint stored up. Great idea though about stuffing it into toilet paper rolls.

[@VAMobMember]

SoulSurvivorX2 make the lint just a little damp as you pack it into a container and you can get more in. Fluff it up when you use it. Keep a coffee can on the dry to store your lint till you put it into a kit.

[@Lellobeetle]

I biught some fire oucks after your first review a while back. They are garunteed fire.

[@clarklindquist8137]

One cool thing you can do is add your charcoal dust, pieces at the bottom of the charcoal bag to a burnable cup, add the cotton balls with vaseline, mix it together, and you have a bunch of fire starters. You can even add wax and use the bag as a wick. The addition of the charcoal makes a great thing even better

[@firstgoinpostal]

Spark wheels work best if rolled across a surface,while holding the tinder in front of the sparks. Empty Bic's work better with the metal cap removed.

[@livingsurvival]

Never seen that zippo match before, how long will it hold fuel? Nice video, thanks for sharing ;)-

[@SensiblePrepper]

I'm not sure how long but it doesn't seem to go too long. I need to test it. Thanks

[@502deth]

google "forever match" you can get them for less than $1. to ansewr what i think youre asking, a fairly long time. your not going to get hundreds of lights on a fill, but i dont think that was your question. my zippo lighters i have to fill about every 2 weeks or less weather i use them or not, the fuel evaporates. these have an o-ring seal to stop/minimize that. i have have had them light after several months of storage.

[@donwilson9939]

To store the cotton/ vaseline tinder, stuff them into cut sections of a drinking straw, melt the ends and they store clean and waterproof.

[@bikercasper6130]

Good video!!! You should look at making video on making a shelter to get out of the elements. If SHTF this basic fire starter will be a good tool. How many of us are really ready to survive in the bush with fire, shelter and finding food? People should practise these skills at home and in the bush.

[@RussNo1]

Another option, (if you're desperate enough to sacrifice your flash light), remove the lens, break the bulb without breaking the filament, fill the dish around the bulb with tinder. When you turn the light on the filament gets hot and ignites the tinder.

[@firstgoinpostal]

Trick birthday candles will light easily with any spark wheel,and stay lit under most weather conditions.

[@petermontoyalim8299]

i like that chopped up bic lighter. it creates smoke rings.

[@mikelipscomb994]

I'm always searching for cool new to me ideas that could be used in a pinch- after watching your vid id like to throw my two cents in and add to on a couple of yours....- The drier lint does work great, but I've found if you use drier sheets like my wife does? it tends to foul the potential of the flame. so ill dry some towels or the likes without fabric softener (I don't like them anyway!) and her not looking as to harvest the lint without the residue.- the fire puck id never seen, but realized its basically a road flare concept without the signaling color.. and those I do carry in my pack for the purpose you show and for signaling if need be so it serves two purpose out of the box! the ones I carry burn HOT for ten minutes, they look like a stick of dynamite, pack easy, are covered with a layer of wax and are easily attainable.great vid- and just wanted to add to and hope that's ok!

[@FarEastSurvival]

Thanks. I learned a couple of things today.

[@BeachBow]

On these cold days, watching fire vids warms me up!! LOL!

[@torjones1701]

may I suggest a slight change, and avoid "Standard Lighter fluid" and buy a big ol' jug of naphtha (VM&P naphtha is very common at the home depot type stores). save a few bucks for the same fluid.

[@s.o.stackman3322]

Hay this is SOSTackman in place of Vaseline try antibiotic cream (the clear stuff) and you can use it for first aid and fire making

[@jamesritchie6899]

Most dryer lint is just a cotton ball. You can mix Vaseline with dryer lint the same way. A can of Sterno is also great to have. Not only can you boil something with it alone, you can mix it with such things as dryer lint or, in really harsh conditions, set the can of Sterno inside you pile of tinder and wood. It burns for hours on it's own, and can easily get a campfire going, even in extremely wet conditions. I love fire pucks, but a can of Sterno is also wonderful to have because it's more controllable, more versatile, and can be started with the spark from a BIC lighter, or any other spark. I've found the Zippo is the best, most dependable lighter, and the harder the wind blows, the better it burns. But no matter how many ways you know to start a fire, you still need to be able to build a bow drill fire easily and consistently. Sometimes this is your only choice, the only thing that stands between you and death. It really isn't difficult. Go to the lumberyard, but a couple of four inch wide, one inch thick pine board. Cut a bow from a nearby tree, and with a piece of paracord, or a shoestring, you have everything you need to practice to your heart's content. A hand drill takes more practice, and more knowledge of plants, but it's good to know, as well.

[@paismonster]

love the outtakes, awesome vid!

[@haroldishoy2113]

I love the blooper clips too, thanks

[@roundmott]

Try dryer lint sprayed with WD-40. Works great! Stores easily, lasts a long time, burns well. Feather the edge of the tinder before sparking.

[@evantate7990]

Hey I live in South Carolina too!

[@88WhiteRhino]

I really like that survival match would it work with a high proof ethanol? Surprised you didn't mention spent handwarmers

[@timlipinski2571]

Great video ! A couple more useful items are a Swedish Fire Steel tethered to a large yellow plastic Hanson Pencil Sharpener from Home Depot. And to start a fire on a sunny day use a Fresnel Lens and to also read the info sheet of the Fire Kit. Thank you for the video ! tjl

[@oliverbaker8963]

If you pour hot wax in the dryer ling after putting it in toilet rolls or egg cartons the burn for like 5 minutes and I was getting small logs alight straight away with that

[@adventureswithfrodo2721]

To tough to resist. The steel wool and batter work by the current flowing through the fine iron wire heats it up enough that it starts to to burn oxidize. .

[@KungFuTweety1]

you can use punky wood in your fire piston as well...

[@KYTO82]

That puck looks like the best in an emergency enjoyed the bloopers Best wishes in 2014!

[@rcaveman55]

Good to know, you never know when you might get stuck in the wilderness, I keep a magnesium stick on me all the time thanks for posting!

[@Jarhead6]

Awesome bro! I love the bloopers!

[@mickbator6979]

As always great vid! It doesn't matter what the self reliance situation your in, knowledge and diversity are some of the best tools you can have. Also as your demonstrating you can have all the knowledge in the world, but unless you practice your skills you may not be able to perform when it matters most. Again great vid and look forward to the next one!

[@morris4069]

You said it! Unless you practice and use your kit, you just fail prepared.

[@charleschristianson2730]

When I was a kid I watched my dad use a road flare to start a fire with wet wood in an emergency one time. It's good to have options.

[@resoody2]

Learned a lot! Thanks for sharing.

[@Scarekrow24]

I'd love to have one of those numyth vulcans.

[@chuckfunderburk7964]

As usual, good info, Don. If you're on the way to the beach and want a good cigar, hit me up and stop in Marion SC for a bit. We'll chat, chew and sip a few....

[@tylerwilliams5915]

I normally dip dryer lint in bacon grease then wax and it burns for a fairly long time

[@RichardSpies]

That's smart

[@grouch314]

Richard Spies but why would you waste bacon grease?

[@AndyYungChow]

i have another fire starter .... perfume/ any flammable spray. i used this to start a fire before with a dead lighter ; however, this is still very tricky to be consistent at and you have to get just right too

[@rebel_ltz]

What an excellent vid, Don!

[@rebel_ltz]

Veress Tibor Sajnos még nem láttam sehol.

[@cthulhu6697]

I thought I was the only person who thought of dryer lint to keep in my fire bag. I also keep a couple of Bic lighters, a jet flame lighter, cotton balls smeared with a bit of Vaseline (they get more saturated the more the rub around in the little (couple inches high and about 5 inches long) Zip Lock bag, the steel wool and 9 volt battery, Wet Tinder cubes, and a couple of those military fire starters (magnesium with a steel rod striker) and some other goodies, plus I keep a small can of WD 40 in my B.O.B. Here's a trick I picked up in jail that might be useful : get a AA or AAA battery, use a sharp knife/razor blade, etc...... to scrape a bit of plastic from the - side. Twist a piece of toilet paper very tight (about 4-5 inches long, we used a bit of hair grease donated by the black guys to help it and make it burn longer, and I said a bit, don't spread it like butter). Take a spice pack from a pack of Ramen noodles and, using a razor blade (or similar), slice into really thin strips after removing the plastic spice packet liner. The really thin piece of foil bag should be touched 1 tip at the nipple (+ side) part of battery, the other to part of exposed battery. The middle should glow red hot for a couple of seconds. You gotta be quick since it'll burn up and break at hot point, but touch your tightly rolled toilet paper (even works sans grease) to hot point. If you did it right, you can light a cigarette and I would assume something like pine needles soaked in pine rosin, whatever that burning toilet paper will light. Produces a match sized flame for a few seconds. I was in there for some BS reason that I was aquitted for, but your viewers that haven't been to jail might be unaware of this (you pick up all kinds of stuff).

[@timdellinger3371]

Another thing is you could us that fire puck as a torch you could split the wood and put it in between the stick and use it ats a torch if need be

[@joshuecanary]

im gonna keep those 9 volts and steel wool arround just bcuz it looks awesome

[@alexportuano4816]

This is a awesome video. Very helpful.Thanks

[@fivesfish]

Ranger Bands! Ranger Bands, are excellent in aiding the start of a Fire, in wet conditions, given the fact they are made of Rubber. They burn for approximately 2 minutes!

[@wilan1828]

fair prices I like the smell of Shenzhen use just instead of everyone just carry ferro rod pack of matches or a Bic lighter thank you just got another subscriber

[@jasonliddell3219]

Hi, Loving your videos, Looking at putting my own kits together, something I've been wanting to do for sometime. I really like the fire piston, you mentioned about making carbon for it whilst out in wilderness. I can't find that video and really keen to see it. Looking at buying the fire piston very soon.

[@earw1g1]

hello from England i managed to get a fire going in a massive down pour when all the wood was wet by burning strips of a bicycle inner tube the heat that the rubber kicks off was enough heat to dry and burn the kindling wood

[@Josh-lt4oj]

As always another great video, thanks brother.

[@stephendavid7963]

Just in case you didn't know this. You can use a ferro rod with the steel wool as well.

[@kfckernelbuttonholes714]

Can you extend use of the fire puck? Lets say I shave off a bit of the powdered igniter before I light it and save my cap as well..?

[@ZeroDK555]

Soak the dryer lint in normal rubbing alcohol or the alcohol you use to remoce sharpy stains. It will make a little piece om lint burn for a long time :)

[@clamum]

I've heard about the steel wool and battery before but I'm just wondering if it burns hot enough, or produces enough flame, for starting kindling or other stuff on fire?

[@jojocarmona4066]

How did you make the little green lighter

[@justinbillings2773]

sensible prepper just saying you should ad a spare o ring for the fire piston they ware out

[@shavedbald2]

You are Very helpful. I've kept lighter fluid in my truck for fuel to start fires & for lighter fluid lighters. In summer the bottle mega expands; never blew up or leaked, but kinda' scary. Any ideas? Thank you, your great. Yes- God Bless America, & "Thine Kingdom Come"...

[@24x7AptFind]

Try using Fritos or Doritos for kindling. Works great.

[@joeyjones9041]

Where do you get those really thick ziplock bags, I've looked everywhere lol

[@TheMRlittleman23]

The bloopers were a nice touch haha

[@chuckclontz6425]

I don't know what part of S.C. you are in ,but it sure is cold in Spartanburg.

[@sootch00]

We're neighbors,I'm hear in Greenville. What happened to Al Gore's predictions? Lol!

[@1crimm]

Great stuff

[@MoreAmerican]

My problem with zippo sis that the fluid evaporates fairly quickly. Does that happen with the numyth?

[@isaacreid8319]

I live in South Carolina too😃

[@jaydenbrown7882]

You can put Vaseline on the dryer lint

[@toxickmagician4803]

Excellent video! Whereabouts in SC are you? I'm from Cheraw. :-)

[@brandenbenevides304]

Use brown paper bags. If its windy I can lite ur tinder inside the paper bag if its windy and but a bundle of tinder on top of the bag

[@labidas1661]

Where you buy this fire puck? And this is good video!