What can start a fire

I was just reading a local paper where an eagle scout was stranded for 2 nights on a mountain. He used Hand Sanatizer Gel to start a fire! Anyone else tried this, or liquid nail or anything else that is NOT conventional?

I use Vaseline rubbed on cotton wool sometimes if there is a wind blowing as this helps the sparks to catch from a ferro rod...if it is raining badly I use rubber strips cut from old bicycle inner tubes and light them...they are better than waterproof and windproof matches...although lighting them with a cigatette lighter is best in the rain...but they easily burn and never go out. Good for a survival tin as the right size of inner tube can hold the lid in place if stretched over it.

However any oil based product will burn well...as will anything alcohol based if high enough in content...the soap gel is a good example and worth remembering that Napalm is a simple mix of pertrol and soap...

Also worth remembering that in Artic conditions most vehicles run on pure anti freeze...breakdown and get stranded...you can use this to burn the spare tire....great plooms of black smoke and works better than a flare for signalling any search party. Obviously the petrol or diesel could work just as well. The tire trick works well in the desert also...had a friend use this in Africa...the tires burn a long time and keep any preditors at bay...

good idea about the inner tubes. will have to try that one.

When I was in Boy Scouts we used to do fire building demos at the local nature camp. I would show them how to light a fire with steel wool and an old metal flashlight. Was always a crowd pleaser. (the crowd was 5th graders though...)

Hand Sanitizer does work personally you just need some wood and a match and a little patience to make a roaring fire but some people I do know use Hand Sanitizer. Hand Sanitizer gives off a little blue flame thats almost invisible in the day.

great thread gentlemen

I use dryer lint quite a bit for tinder. I keep a camerma film container stuffed with it in my various packs. I have used WetFire which is a chalky substance that comes in little cubes that you cut pieces off of to ignite. It's ok I guess, but I prefer dryer lint or vasaline soaked cotton.

I use dryer lint as well - if it's particularly wet or windy, I will add a squirt of denatured alcohol, which I always have handy when I'm hiking, as it's my stove fuel.

I like the lint suggestion....making good use of potential rubbish...

I believe I was told that the smoke from dryer lint can be somewhat toxic (if you have a lot of cotton clothes) by Andy Wayne... possibly.
I think it was on this forum.
I just use cotton balls now.

especially if i would be in a situation where I may only have a spark that I need to nurture into a flame, as I always end up breathing in some smoke and getting in my face.

I'm sure it's not that strong, but still somewhat toxic IIRC.

yea ive tried it only once just to see if it works and it dose

My 4-year old son asked me "What can start a fire?" exactly like that the other day...

I told him, "Heat, fuel and oxygen."

...

We didn't go into chemicals. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I have the same set-up, MM. Lint with ferro, and an alcohol stove just in case.

I spread some hand sanitizer on a cotton ball, used a magnesium fire starter, sparked a fire... all the while on a drift of snow (snow drift)... worked great! Vasoline on cotton balls is an excellent fire starter, too!!!

for us off highway drivers.....


gas and oil (we all carry spare gas and oil in the truck YES??), in a coffee cup full of sand, underneath a pile of kindling. Use the jumper cables and battery to spark it (or any tinder for that matter)

antifreeze and rubber, as mentioned, hella smoke show.

foam ripped outta the seats, soaked with gas & oil

- rubber bed liner shredded and soaked with oil & gas

- carpets

- headliner, door liners, rubber foam insulation under the hood.

lots of choices when stuck in the woods and no other methods or fire tools with you.
STAY with your truck Eh!

Not cotton clothes, synthetic. It's like breathing burning plastic.

ANTIFREEZE???? Do you have to do anything special with/to it in order to get it to light up? Amazing! I NEVER would have thought of that. I've burned rubber before to get a stubborn fire going, and yeah it does smoke.

I place one finger on a super models backside and hold my tinder in the other. Bam, fire.

I hear you can polish the bottom of an aluminum can and use it to reflect concentrated light much like a magnifying glass.

Oh, watch crystals can start fires. Steel wool and a 9v battery.

hehehehehehe FIRE yeah FIRE! heheheehehe FIRE!

http://www.clipmoon.com/videos/133855e/tinder.html

^ thats for POI DOG! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> PJCB (petrolum jelly cotton balls)

Shredded up toilet paper lights really easy as well.

surprised no one mentioned this....Hair. i got tons of it and it burns good wet (at least my dreads do).


Heet is used for many long distance backpackers due to its availability.

I use dryer lint also. A while back I made a bunch of fire starters out of dryer lint, cardboard egg crate, and wax. Great for car camping.

[quote]surprised no one mentioned this....Hair. i got tons of it and it burns good wet (at least my dreads do).

Must be nice, some of us loose it faster than we can grow it

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif" alt="" />

My mistake.
Thanks Andy,that makes more sense.

when I was young, I was at a boy hunter safty class. Part of the class was some general survival etc. One of the firestarters was a felt stopper for reloading shotguns. Those were soaked in white gas or paint thinner or something. it burned for 5 minutes straight.

I remember once at a camp out a guy used transmission fluid. Don't know how smart that was, if it was unhealty or not. I was too busy playing in the dark with the opposite-sex!

Sugar?

brake fluid burns WELL, as does ATF........

haven't tried sugar, i think it is flammable though?

Bushman, you're right, the ATF burns people all the time! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

That's reminded me of an old pub trick.....bet someone they can't light a sugar lump and they won't be able to do it, take the sugar lump and dip it into an ashtray, try lighting it now and it will burn no problem !!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

I heard that makes really good firestarters. I read where someone used sawdust implace of dryer lint with the wax and it works good too. I think chopped up fatwood would work good too. I read where beeswax lipbalm is flamable too.

I've used fatwood sawdust. Used my Leatherman saw to make it. I EDC Burt's Beeswax, and it can be used as lipbalm, firestarter, and knife rust preventative.

You can make fire with:

Ice
Aluminum can
Flashlight reflector
Condom & water
Potassium Permanganate & glycerin
Battery & steel wool
Battery & razor blades
Battery & fine wire
Magnifying Glass
Camera Lens
Scope
Binoculars
Rx glasses (depending on the prescription)
Friction (via bow & drill, fire plow, fire piston, etc.)

Great thread guys. Very useful tips. The other day i was watching a great video on homemade fire tabs. Check this idea out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysKvMCoHYqA

He uses cotton balls dipped in wax. There water proof and burn for awhile.

The guy in the vid is Jim he is a cool guy and a knife maker. If you get the time check out some of his fine blades and other vids.

- 55% DEET mosquito repellent is a good accelerant
- hand santizer works pretty good as mentioned
- char cloth is the best for accepting a spark



Followed by dry punk wood



Find punk wood in hollows like this. You should be able to pull a spongy piece from hand and it needs to be dry.





Also tinder fungus. This one is false tinder fungus. You cut a thin slice right behind where the fungus attaches to the tree.



Once you get a coal captured, use a flash tinder to blow it into flames. Milkweed seed pods and phragmites heads are my favorites.





Last week, I bought an old fashioned flint and steel kit. It is a really fun way to build a fire.

Good info Kgd

lots of diesel piled onto 2' thick x 6' long douglas fir logs all piled into a big teepee will start a fire. Wich i had pics from this weeks camping trip......we couldn't get 20 feet from the fire without being burnt from the heat.

here is one of the smaller fires, at about 5' tall x 6' wide