Fire badge Request: My Firekit and eventually, fire!

[GearedForwards]

So for my birthday last year the lovely  Mrs Geared got me this firekit:

-A nice leather drawstring

-A ferro rod with antler handle

-ample amount of jute

-some impregnated sawdusty kind fire starter

-over half a dozen kit sized pieces of fat wood

-To this I add a Zippo, which either has a Vector Thunderbird insert (soft flame, the Brass armor Zippo) or a butane jet insert (Single jet, Zippo brand in the matte black Zippo)

I have a couple other ferro rods (including one attacked to a block of magnesium), but this is the kit currently and I'm pretty happy with it. I'd just want to add some additional firestarters, like a couple of vaseline covered cotton balls etc. and maybe a minibic when I can finally pick some up here. I have a waterproof capsule full of cut down strike-anywhere matches, but that normally lives in a belt pouch or organiser rather than a dedicated fire kit at the moment.





Bonus, Fire!

I took the kit out in the garden the other night to give a ferro rod fire another go, I used a piece of kitchen roll as a base to contain everything (and to take light itself) and filled it with fatwood shavings, the firestarted dust some jute (frayed out on one end and somewhat frayed with some burts bees on the other) and then started throwing a million and one sparks. Hoo boy is this not easy! I kept getting strands of jute to burn away, but they'd burn out rather than catch the rest of the twine and the fatwood shavings weren't catching. Eventually I threw enough sparks that a little jute and firestarted caught the kitchen roll up, which didn't really light up (it lit, but blowing just resulted in a hot ember that burned it away, rather than flame, a learning experience...).



After a while my knees started to act up so out came the soft flame zippo, which did the job quickly and ably:





The takeaway: Trying was fun, but anything other than a lighter or matches is most certainly a novelty unless in a survival or limited resource situation. I enjoy survival as a topic and entertainment medium, as well as bushcraft, so I'll keep practicing until I get the hang of it regardless. 

[GearedForwards]

Bloopers!

I was not a smart man and split some fat wood down by piercing it with the tip of a knife and then slamming it a few times in the slab. Of course it went through and there was some very minor damage to the tip. I used a Wicked Edge stone freehand to knock the rolled and burred steel off and clean it up, but the tip isn't as point as it once was, to make matters worse sharpening the tip of baldes is my weak point 

Split the fatwood though 

[Echotech]

very nice kit, that leather drawstring bag is awlsome, reckon it’ll age beautifully

[Sos24]

Nice kit, especially the leather bag.

As far as using ferro rods, a lot depends on the type and quality of the rod, as well as the fire starting tinder.  I am definitely no expert, but I have done some experimenting and practice with ferro rods, as well as different tinders to see what works best for me.  Depending on what your using there definitely are some tricks to getting the fire going.

One thing I’ve found is that I am not a big fan of the popular softer rods that tend to throw lots of big sparks.  I like the harder rods (like Light My Fire) that yield smaller sparks but are easier to get to go where you want.

As far as tinder, i find getting a thinly frayed pile catches easiest with sparks.  Pull the jute or cotton until it looks like a big fuzz ball.  If buying commercial ones, waxed infused usually catches easier and burn longer from my experience.

[zoidberg]

Awarded.   

Yup, fire is a skill. Worth the effort of learning though IMO. Keep at it.

[GearedForwards]

Awarded.   

Yup, fire is a skill. Worth the effort of learning though IMO. Keep at it.

Thank you, and I certainly will keep practicing 

[GearedForwards]

Nice kit, especially the leather bag.

As far as using ferro rods, a lot depends on the type and quality of the rod, as well as the fire starting tinder.  I am definitely no expert, but I have done some experimenting and practice with ferro rods, as well as different tinders to see what works best for me.  Depending on what your using there definitely are some tricks to getting the fire going.

One thing I’ve found is that I am not a big fan of the popular softer rods that tend to throw lots of big sparks.  I like the harder rods (like Light My Fire) that yield smaller sparks but are easier to get to go where you want.

As far as tinder, i find getting a thinly frayed pile catches easiest with sparks.  Pull the jute or cotton until it looks like a big fuzz ball.  If buying commercial ones, waxed infused usually catches easier and burn longer from my experience.

I think I should have probably fluffed the jute more, the individual strands caught but I guess the rest were too close together to catch. I'll have to see if we have any cotton balls in the house 

I'll probably head out again tonight, perks of being a night owl 

[GearedForwards]

Turns out that we had 5 cottonballs and a some vaseline, so I did as the fire gods intended and mixed them up in a ziploc.

I've seen it in videos and recommended lots of times, but to see it in action is darn impressive!  I didn't fluff the cottonball at all, it was one dense mass and heavily infused, it took light on the third strike. It was burning bright and strong for about a minute before I doused it (with plenty of it left to keep going had I not), I could see this lighting even wet materials since it burns so long.

I tried out the saw on my GAK, worked pretty well as a strike and I found a neat if dangerous technique for the jute. I fluffed a bunch up then held it behind a fire striker and just started sparking away, it lit up like a storm match, not the safest but a pretty reliable way to light it without smashing it everywhere. When I tried it with some fat wood shavings and even some magnesium scrapings I mostly just knocked it everywhere repeatedly, so lit it all up with the torch insert. Fat wood burns bright and a long time, I remember why I had so much fun (mostly safely) playing with fire as a teen. 

Pics to follow!

[Sos24]

Turns out that we had 5 cottonballs and a some vaseline, so I did as the fire gods intended and mixed them up in a ziploc.

I've seen it in videos and recommended lots of times, but to see it in action is darn impressive!  I didn't fluff the cottonball at all, it was one dense mass and heavily infused, it took light on the third strike. It was burning bright and strong for about a minute before I doused it (with plenty of it left to keep going had I not), I could see this lighting even wet materials since it burns so long.

I tried out the saw on my GAK, worked pretty well as a strike and I found a neat if dangerous technique for the jute. I fluffed a bunch up then held it behind a fire striker and just started sparking away, it lit up like a storm match, not the safest but a pretty reliable way to light it without smashing it everywhere. When I tried it with some fat wood shavings and even some magnesium scrapings I mostly just knocked it everywhere repeatedly, so lit it all up with the torch insert. Fat wood burns bright and a long time, I remember why I had so much fun (mostly safely) playing with fire as a teen. 

Pics to follow!

I’m glad you had better luck today.  The cottonball with Vaseline does work real well.

The holding jute or other material behind the striker and pulling back on the ferro rod is a good tactic when the ground is wet.  I have done it with a longer pieces where I have a snuffer tube.  I fluff one end, then hold the fluffed end just beyond the end of the striker.  Once it is lit, it can be used like a match.  If you hold the snuffer tube, then you shouldn’t burn yourself and when done slide the tube to put out.

https://i.imgur.com/Nn3zijN.mp4

[old Lefty]

Congrats on the badge! Really nice kit

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