Re: Survival straws; flint strikers

Tom Quackenbush wrote: 
Jeff McCann wrote:
<snip>

- Flint striker: I never even tried to smoke, and I've never really
learned to light a match, and I hate the idea of carrying a butane lighter
around. I remember that it was really easy to start Bunsen burner flames
with flint strikers in chemistry class. Is it possible to use a
chemistry-class-type flint striker and a fuzzy cotton ball soaked in
petroleum jelly to start a fire, or is the striker spark too cool to set
the cotton ball on fire?


It seems to me that carrying a flint striker and a Vaseline covered cotton
ball around would be significantly more bulky and less convenient than
carrying a $0.99 Mini-Bic lighter.



  Bic lighters are great, unless it's cold, wet, or windy. If you're
cold and fumble fingered to boot, it can be nearly impossible to light
a fire with one.

I doubt that the striker/Vaseline combo is much better, but I
haven't tried it.

The Vaselined cotton ball is actually an excellent and easy to light tender, but a bit messy to deal with. A good quantity can be stored in a 35mm film can, and a smaller, easier to carry quantity can be carried in a jeweler's sized mini-zip lock bag. A very small striker/tender kit, about the size of a lighter, is the spark-lite
http://www.tadgear.com/x-treme%20gear/fire%20starters%20main/spark-lite.htm

  Zippo's & windproof refillable butane lighters work well (still need
to keep the butane warm, though). Lifeboat matches seemed to work
well, too, but I haven't used them for many years.

Zippos seem to dry out within a few days, and I've yet to find a refillable butane lighter as reliable as a Bic disposable. Lifeboat matches are ok, except that you need to keep them in the original container. My backup firestarter of choice is a very tiny magnesium rod with an embedded "flint" and a short section of hacksaw blade as a striker. All together in the little nylon pouch it came with, it is about the size and shape of a mini-Bic, similar to the smallest of these:
http://www.wildernesssurvival.com/flints.htm

Boy Scout water or a road flare helps a lot if you're trying to
start a campfire when it's nasty out.

Nothing is as handy as a road flare when you really need to get that fire lit.

Jeff
.

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