GO
KIT:
My patrol leader when I was a boy scout always taught me that a lighter
was better than matches. He even gave a demonstration of submerging
one in sea water. It was way cool! The lighter worked even
after it was submerged in salt water. I don't have a lighter now,
instead I have one of those portable butane gas
torches/soldering irons from RadioShack. They are very good,
not only for soldering and as a blow torch, but for use as a lighter.
The flame is blue and hot, and it's harder to blow out in the wind.
I've seen other similar products advertised on the web and on eBay as well. This may be a good addition to your emergency kit. I should get a separate lighter though. I saw in the holiday market on Union Square there was a guy selling all sorts of lighters, and one of them had a nice blue flame, sort of like a gas torch. PERFECT for wintertime when the wind is blowing really hard, or springtime, when the rain is falling.
Comments anyone?
73,
Ryan A. Jairam AB2MH
AEC Manhattan, NYC ARES.
Get wooden strike anywhere matches and dip 'em in melted Paraffin (wax), then they'll be waterproof. Lighters sometimes don't work.
Richard
There was a time we got lost during a hike and had to spend a night
out in the bush. We needed to get a fire going, and we had a lighter,
but the leaves and twigs were damp. We therefore used one of the
scouts' aerosol spray deodorant and sprayed the bundle of twigs and leaves
(before we lit it), and that made it light. Of
course it was also dangerous but we had no choice and improvisation
was the order of the day.
I understand what you mean by lighters can sometimes fail, therefore It's a good thing to stock both lighters and matches.
73,
Ryan A. Jairam AB2MH
AEC Manhattan, NYC ARES.
In a survival situation, the importance of a fire cannot be over-estimated. I teach firebuiilding and survival to adult Boy Scout leaders (more than 40 years now; I used to teach firebuilding at the BSA National Training Center at Schiff SR in NJ). Fires are crucial for more than warmth, cooking, and drying wet clothes and hypothermic bodies. The emotional comfort emitted by a fire is genetically and psychologically part of the human psyche. Nothing succors more than a warm fire on a stormy cold wet night. I have built emergency fires under tropical monsoons, in Arctic "deserts" where there are no trees, in snowstorms, cloudbursts, and hurricane winds, on stormy intertidal beaches, and after swamping my canoe in January.
Preparation for emergency firebuilding is simple, but no one means of
firestarting should be included within a survival kit, backpack, car, or
"GoKit". Paraffin-dipped strike-anywhere wooden matches mentioned earlier
(or commercial waterproof wooden matches), at least two disposable lighters
(adjustable flame preferred), AND a stack of paper matches (waterproofed
also available or can be made at home) should be included. A refillable
lighter is possible, but not as a substitute for the matches and disposable
lighters (refillable lighters tend to lose their fluid/gas in storage).
For added assurance that a fire can be started, carry a few firestarters
(also
may be homebrew: rolled small 1" wide pieces of cardboard or a rolled
empty matchbook tied with a string or thread, then dipped in melted paraffin
is cheap and waterproof; commercial firestarters are available at Walmart
or outdoor stores). A simple firestarter burns for five to ten minutes,
providing a starting place on which to add wood or whatever else might
be on hand for a fire.
For assurity that lighting resources remain dry and available under
all possible conditions, especially a dunking, wrap them tightly in freezer/sandwhich
plastic bags and carry at least two of these in separate parts of a pack
if in an outdoor situation or in the glove compartment, under the driver's
seat, and/or in the trunk of a car,
or in separate compartments of a GoKit.
Do NOT bother to carry alternate firestarting means such as flint-and-steel nor string-and-bow (fire-by-friction) nor the trendy "flint-match" nor "electric matches". For the weight and bulk of these items, a thousand matches can be carried instead. And, they don't work when wet. However, learn how to make (improvise) and use these items in the instance nothing else is available. There are many other means of starting fires in an emergency including solar methods using a magnifying glass, eyeglasses lense, binocular lens, broken bottle bottom, and even lens-shaped ice.
73, Fred Stevens K2FRD
Chenango Co. (NY) Assistant Emergency Coordinator
Foothills District, Otschodela Council BSA Committees
Otschodela Council Amateur Radio Group http://www.ascent.net/thefred/ocarg.htm
K2FRD Personal Adventure page: http://www.ascent.net/thefred/K2FRD.htm
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Hi Fred,
It is amazing to see all the ways to start a fire. This is another
one for the history books. Weird science. In High School we
had Outward Bounds. We all made
a survival kit. Waxed matches were used by most. There
is always one smart guy in the bunch... One of my classmates came
up with an ingenious method. A 9 volt battery and some OOOO steel
wool. He stored the steel wool in a little 35mm film case.
The older style were aluminum with a screw on cover. He placed the
steel wool inside the film case and squirted a little lighter fluid on
it. He then sealed the cover on with a few inches of black electrical
tape, to prevent evaporation. To start a flame was a simple matter
of shorting a section of the steel wool across the terminals of the 9 volt.
Somewhat unorthodox, but very effective. Made a lasting impression...
Best regards to HamsEF
;-)
Steve KB1DIG
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luck building! Kim KB1GTR & Steve KB1DIG
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