subject: Fire Starting Kit - Tools For Making Fire [print this page] The ability to create fire is one of the most crucial elements to your survival in a disaster situation. Fire will keep you warm. It will cook your food. It can signal to searchers where you are located. It will comfort you at night. While it is certainly possible to create fire with nothing more than materials found in the forest, having a fire starting kit makes things much easier.
A fire starting kit consists of two main elements. First, something to initially light the fire. You should have at least three tools to accomplish this in your kit: a primary tool, a backup tool, and a backup for the backup. A simple, cheap butane lighter is an excellent beginner tool. Keep in mind that even if it runs out of fuel, it will still give off a spark, which could be all it takes to get your fire going. Strike anywhere matches are very inexpensive. I suggest dipping them individually into melted paraffin to waterproof them. Also, it is a good idea to include a small piece of sandpaper to provide a striking surface.
While it is certainly possible to light these matches off rocks or even a zipper, it is easier to just use sandpaper or the equivalent. Flint and steel, as well as any of the different varieties of magnesium strikers, work well but they do take a bit of practice to get the hang of them.
Tinder is the second element to a fire starting kit. In many situations, it can be difficult or even impossible to find dry tinder out in the woods, such as during or just after a torrential rain. One of the best forms of tinder is essentially free - dryer lint. Some people have reported burning dryer lint gives off a foul smell but I've been using it for years and haven't had that problem.
Lint catches a spark very easily and while it doesn't burn for a real long time, it does go long enough to get most kindling going. Another great homemade form of tinder is to take cotton balls and soak them with petroleum jelly. A good way to do this is to take a dollop of jelly and put it into a small plastic sandwich bag.
Toss in a few cotton balls and squish it all together for a while. These also flame up pretty easy and burn for a while. You can also make fire starters by combining dryer lint, cardboard egg cartons, and paraffin.
Fill each egg section with the dryer lint, then pour melted paraffin over the top, sealing each section. Once the paraffin is cool and hard, cut the sections apart. These don't work well from just a spark but if you light just the corner of the cardboard, they burn for a good, long time.
Your fire starting kit should be stored in a sealed, plastic bag or other waterproof container. This keeps everything dry and ready to use when you need it most.
