Come on Baby Light My Fire!

[yellowcanoe]

On our last trip we set upon some downed birch trees and with knives in hand, stripped them puppies bare. Came home with a garbage bag full for our new business, bark in a bag! We cut up little squares of birch bark, put em in little paper bags and sell them as fire starters to yuppie campers.

Should start up a crowdfunding site to git'er going.

Heh Heh... the power company cut down a bunch of young white birch. As Tis the Season, I took advantage of the fact they cut the trees to short length and courteously piled them by the side of the road. No one else ( of the six of us here now) wants them.

So I am making holiday centerpieces: a cut length of birch ( half a diameter) with a circle cutter drill bit. for holes to hold candles . Hot glue gun and off to the woods for balsam and cones and red berries ( those winterberries require boots)

I could have a very seasonal cottage project and sell on the main road.

Hey we are still on subject.. Its still about fire.

 

[sweeper]

This is what we sell to the Fat Cats from CT and NY driving to their ski lodges in VT

I cut out circular bases form scrap pine boards, tack the bark to it at the bottom, drill the holes and thread them with old twine.

My wife fills them with pieces she finds on our walks.

 

[Odyssey]

Sweeper, that's the most bodacious flower arrangement/fire starter ever. Nice.

 

[tear_knee]

We bring several bic lighters (keep one each in our day packs and throw a few in the food barrel just in case), magnesium stick thing for emergencies, and generally do just fine with a teepee kindling setup and some birchbark. Lately we've been enjoying the ease of InstaFlame starters.. They're basically just wood shavings in wax, and our favourite outdoor store always throws a few in our bag for free when we buy something. Great for getting a fire rippin' when we only have wet wood.

 

[sweeper]

My son likes his propane stove. I bring a torch attachment, for when you absolutely have to have a fire. Nothing beats a torch.
We always paddle with kids, so teaching them to make a fire with what is available is more important then bring fire starters with us.

 

[Muskrat]

Potassium permanganate and glycerin for fun (see link), but usually just bic lighters. I can't light my pipe with a Ferro rod.

https://www.instagram.com/p/2hiPx-RfhE/

 

[Muskrat]

Interesting write up on ferro rods vs bic lighters. It's probably more geared towards backpackers where weight is the utmost concern, but for the portagers here it's still valid. Basically you should be able to get more lights per oz out of bics.

http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2014/07/ferro-rod-vs-bic-lighter.html?m=1

 

[Odyssey]

Interesting article, thanks Muskrat. I'll probable carry both ferro rod and butane lighters. They're both small, fairly foolproof and easy to use. Time for me to stock up on some BICs.

ps Ferro rods are 15x the cost of a cheapo BIC too. As Robin says, cheap and easy to stock up and stash them around my gear.

 

[dave0]

No Title

I bring along a couple of bic lighters as well. I do have the egg carton/sawdust/wax fire starter as well. Lately though for those wet and cold times I bring along a couple of road flares. Get just about anything going quickly and they are light and take up very little room. A little overkill but they get a fire going quickly!

 

[sweeper]

Bics are cheaper and lighter then Ferro, but I still carry one to make sure my grandson knows how to use it.

Road flares...

 

[BWCA66]

I always have a number of bic lighters in everything, take strike anywhere matches, also have some matches that are like small road flares, some type of flint and homemade firestarters that I make from scrap from my kids shop and wax. Not sure if my overkill is just so I can always make a fire or if I'm just a pyro.

 

[sweeper]

Nothing wrong with admitting you're a pyro. I can't remember a night out canoeing that I didn't have a fire.

 

[Bob B.]

I never take lighters as I have had them fail too often. I was working in the national forest here in Wisconsin a couple days ago - troubled youth outdoor therapy program (minimum stay 45 days) - and we had a day of mid 30's and biblical rain. Everyone had soaking wet boots, sleeping bags, gloves were useless ... it was a dang miserable mess. We eventually hiked to higher ground as it snowed for a few hours and the timber was a slushy, muddy energy stealing trap. Then the north wind started blowing ... ugly and dangerous. We made it to a base camp with a 20 foot wall tent and a wood stove well after dark. Cold and hungry, we gathered fire wood, tap split to find the dry stuff, and not one lighter worked ... too wet. I always travel with my fire steel and cotton balls. That got the fire going, warmed us and dried our gear - life saver for sure.

So, another reason for me to never go to the back country with matches or lighter only. I will always have a fire steel and some dry kindling with me - always.

 

[yellowcanoe]

There are bic lighters and there are waterproof lighters. Not the same animal.

 

[tump_lion]

i tend to bring 3 or four BIC lighters, i also have a swedish fire-steel and usually a small safe with strike-anywhere matches. I've found BIC's to be incredibly robust, i've dropped them into the water, given them a good blow or two with my mouth and lit my pipe...they don't like sitting in all-day damp tho, hard day-long rains can be a challenge. I have small one in my first-aid kid, a large on in my stove kit, usually one in my pocket and another one in my day-bag...longer trips i might bring a spare or two in a zip-lock...they're okay in the winter if you don't let them get too-cold...or too damp, but not ideal...but they've almost always worked for me...i don't generally carry fire-starters, but have been known to saw an inch or two off the bottom of a spare candle-lantern candle for tough conditions or just too lazy to split dry wood down to tinder in the rain...

 

[Rippy]

In what way does the water effect the Bic lighter?

I have a Bic in my day pack and a match case with strike anywhere matches. I carry a magnesium fire steel in my PFD.

 

[Mihun09]

In what way does the water effect the Bic lighter?

I have a Bic in my day pack and a match case with strike anywhere matches. I carry a magnesium fire steel in my PFD.

Get the flint wet and it won't spark. No spark, no flame. Cold does it too, but I just wrap it in my big paw and warm it up and it works fine. Usually keep Bic's in a zip lock due to the wet issue. A Zippo might be ideal if you don't mind the weight and cost. Always have a fire steel along as well in my PFD with a Bic and some birch bark.

 

[Rippy]

Thanks Karin, I didn't know that. It guess makes sense that wet sparks aren't sparks, they are just particles. I hadn't considered that it wouldn't throw sparks. Need more coffee if I'm going to have to think today.

 

[snubber]

Is the "flint" in a butane lighter different than "fire steel" ?

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

The fuel in Zippos evaporates over time. I gave up using them because each time I came to light one it had no fuel. I have see that some folk wrap a piece of inner tube around the join to stop this happening.

My wife can't use Bic lighters. She has a condition that means her tendons are very stretchy so her joints dislocate very easily. Her thumb/fingers can't operate the wheel to make a spark.

I mostly use a firesteel with a carbide striker. For winter I have one with a very large t-handle that I can hold wearing thick mitts.