Drat….DH just went ‘into town’ and I forgot to tell him to get a big pack of Bics. Their disadvantage is that they do run out eventually….and I’ve been refreshing each of our emergency type bags this month. I’ve put in some Bics that might be nearly empty…I can’t seem to tell. The other thing about Bics is……they won’t light if you get the flint/roller-striker assembly wet. They would need to dry out and then will light.
Having multiple skills/multiple devices to start fires is a great prepper goal. As an older child, it was my job to burn the family trash in the burn pile. Even burned tin cans …then raked up the remains to bury in the pasture. Didn’t have trash disposal in those days. I was an avid camper too…till we moved up here to live in the woods. We light the pellet stove daily all winter. But a pellet stove is a miniature fire with tiny tools and kindling, fuel.
Last winter I tried…and reported here…MANY times to get my magnesium bar/flint striker device to start a fire. Failure. Whoa…that was a surprise….glad to be surprised while still safe and warm and not in emergency!! Recently ordered 2 official DOAN magnesium fire starting bars….with flint on the edge. If it’s a DOAN…there will be words inscribed on one side of the bar. If not…you don’t know what you’ve actually got. Some wise person HERE told me that! Thanks!
During the failed attempts, I got a lot of info from here, actually: …check if it’s really a flint. Check if it’s a real magnesium bar. Another possible problem I thot of and was mentioned above in this thread: I was using some composite metal cheap steak knife to scrape the magnesium and trying to ‘strike’ with…..is that an issue?? I did produce a lot of sparks but none caught. ???
OR was the problem a decent pile of tinder? I was eyeing and coveting my neighbor’s cattails on my dog walk last nite. In this season, that dry fluff would be nice tinder. Might have to snap one off, eh? It’s probably I do need to upgrade my tinder FOR MY INTENTIONAL FIRES. I don’t have char cloth but might be able to make some inside the pellet stove when we start it later this season???
Right now we are deathly DRY….praying for rain. LOT of undergrowth because we rained regularly all summer. They call these conditions “tinder-box” with good reason. So any experimenting with FIRE I do today will be inside with the door shut. Cuz it’s windy too. I can use the large brick fireplace hearth.
The other device that I bought ages ago…..and never tried using [guilty again] …is a BlastMatch. A sort of flint and steel starter on steroids. If the stories are accurate. So I can dig that out and try that too. It might become my favorite back up to the….lighters, Strike-Anywhere wood matches [have tons in a metal box], DOAN’s …if it works….
I did try the 9V battery and steel wool one time…it works but moves fast thru the steel wool.
OldMtWoman …off to bring up some dryer lint ….and the laundry.
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This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by
OldMt Woman.