What is your preferred method of fire lighting.

Fire Steel

Fire steel The bigger the stick the better....unless I'm back packing. then I like the bic lighter. Of course I care two other methods (fire steel, Mag black ) in my E&E kit.

 

How Big?

So, how big is your fire steel?

Is it a simple fire steel, fire steel with a handle or is it in a tube?

 

Fiddleheads out of whatever is around are my mainstay when hiking and camping.
For quick ignition the only tinder I carry with me is steel wool portions in 2x3" ziploc baggies. No need to have a battery, one good spark is all you need to light it up - wet, windy, whatever.

For sparks I carry a couple lengths of firesteel and a couple of strikers. Not a fan of plastic lighters except for lighting a lamp inside my shelter if need be.

IR

 

I enjoy a firesteel when I am in the bush. I usually carry petroleum jelly balls and lint, both of which make fantastic tinder.

 

Because of my location I can hike for miles; I usually travel very light (firearm, knife, lighter compass) because I live here.

A couple of weeks ago two young men showed up at my front door after wandering for miles. How they got lost when all they did was follow one creek walking down stream; turn right and follow another creek walking up stream. Figuring out the return route isn't rocket science. So why would anyone turn North walking away from the stream?

lol

 

Flame Thrower, Thermite Grenades.

 

Magnifying glass... I always keep 1 in the pack.
9 volt battery and piece of steal wool... cuz its fun
or my personal favorite, flare gun and 1 lb of black powder...

 

I always liked using a liquid fuel source and my bic lighter. It's the fastest, most efficient, light anywhere method I know of.

 

Fire Steels Rock!

I had a few packs of matches, along with some candles that I had stored away in my car. Time passed and they endured some freezing winters and some hot summers in the trunk of my car.

Then, I was on the road and staying at a hotel where the power went out for a while. I decided to use my stored matches and candles to enjoy the fruits of my forethought.

Wow, did I get an unexpected education!

The matches barely lit and then went out. Most were at the point of disintegration--absolutely useless! Then, when I got my candles out, I saw that they had sort of melted together and became somewhat mis-shaped; they were in no condition to stand on their own in an upright position.

As a consequence of this little learning exercise, I no longer carry matches and candles stored in my car. Fire Steel and vaseline-soaked cotton balls (stored in old prescription bottles) are my fire-starting mainstays from here on out.

As for illumination, I am relying upon the LED elastic bands worn on my head. To better assure that the batteries will be working when I need them, I am using Lithium batteries. They are considerably more expensive than standard batteries but they have a shelf-life of at least 7 years.

The Fire Piston thing does intrigue me. But they seem to require a bit more maintenance (caring for or replacing the strings/gaskets to properly seal the tube) as well as requiring a bit more "fine motor skills" which may be VERY challenging in a wet/cold survival situation.

As an experiment in a less than challenging environment, I will likely try a fire piston or two. Are there any specific Fire Piston models that anyone would say is better than others?

 

since you said "prefered"...lol
a bic lighter

 

Lighters and matches ROCK !!!! I'd rather pack all the extra weight than struggle lighting a fire when I need one

 

as for tinders, you left off spider webs, pine needles, old pine bark, pine stumps, bits of old fur, dandelion cattail and milkweed fluff, and dead leaves that havent fallen off the tree yet
i like to experiment with whats on hand in the woods, i dont own a fire bow or a stick
but i can make a rope from grass, a bow from a sapling and find a good stick and whatever else i need to make a fire almost everyplace i go
i really hate building fires in the rain but thats usually when i do it
if i can make fire in the rain out of whats on hand in the woods, i can certainly do so when i really need to
lol, doing it in deep snow is fun too

 

Lots of: bic lighters, wax coated kitchen matches, magnifying lens, and a few pyro mixes..( found some at local Fry's grocery store no less!)

 

Fresnel Lens, magnesium fire stick, Zippo lighters, home made waterproof matches, wax fire starters (paper egg crate cups packed with lint and filled with wax) and the list goes on, includes but is not limited to, energetic materials as well...

 

"Energetic materials" intrigues me.

What materials would they be?

 

Oh the usual. Blackmatch, gunpowder, thermite, you know...energetics.

 

Hence the Fresnel, the matches, the magnesium stick...that will suffice for the three I listed. As for C-4...it melts when you burn it. It requires extreme heat and a shock wave to detonate (blasting cap).

 

always carry a bic but also have flint and steel as a back up if needed