Spontaneous combustion
 

Camping is a "like it or lump it" pursuit.

It can be warm and dry, or cold, wet and windy.

So in the case of the latter two how do you get your heat source going, be it camp-fire or stove?

Lighter, matches, fire-steel, or a pint of unleaded and a marine flare?

Personally, I pack the matches and a fire-steel, but I'd like to know how others fair.

You can still get Swan Vesta match's ... Keep in a self sealer bag ... With another bag in side that one with a few spare ... The just in case game ...
John933

Cheap, disposable lighters always worked for me.

Another vote for cheap disposables. One of them has survived 10yrs in my camping stove bag and still has most of the liquid in it. I don't smoke so it only gets used for lighting the stove, but even when the liquid leaks out the spark bit alone will light petrol.

i used to use a disposable but ive changed stove recently. i now light my gas trangia with a firesteel that will work in the rain and wind. i still keep the lighter handy in my pack though

I use gas or oil as a fire starter if things are difficult, my camp stove bottle is always a good resource. I also use disposable lighters, but carry a flint with magnesium bar for emergencies. It;s been very handy and well used for the last 5 years or so.

eat cold food. you get the double bonus of not having to worry about carrying stove/fuel nonsense.

I usually carry two disposables, both left over from the days when I smoked and would never be more than three paces from cigarettes and fire (12 years gone, more or less). I suppose the only reason for carrying two is that one backs up the other. This, too, seemed very important when there was nicotine inhalation at stake.

In serious situations (i.e., survival), I carry something which will start a fire no matter what. On foot, it's a candle stub, firestarting paste, vasoline-soaked cotton, whatever. On a bike, it's the gasoline in my tank.

I eat a lot of cold food, too, but there are times (and company I might want to keep) when Skippy Super Chunk and honey sandwiches just don't quite make it.

Mark

From Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Veadeiros, Brazil, which seems to be closed for some sort of unknown (by me) holiday.

ha ha, very posh cold food.

but, yeah, fair comment. always whip out the camping stove on a date... ;-)

Firesteel everytime. Super reliable. If you can't make fire with some petrol and a spark you need to stay at home.

I can do cold food for a while but nothing gets your spirits up like a hot meal and a cup of tea.

A slight variation.
 

Another thing I sometimes carry is a lighter of sorts.

A candle lighter. Basically, a lighter with a long stalk: has been handy for reaching the stove through a gap in the windshield and under a pots!!

Not heavy, nor bulky, but not a pocket accessory: strictly in you luggage!

Fire steel
 

Personally I always carry a disposable lighter but have been seeing a lot of posts regarding FireSteels,How exactly do these things work? Waterproof? Always work etc? Can an idiot such as myself use one?

yes
 

SCRATCH AND BURN....... can catch you out when using petrol........WOOOF.:oops2:.. ITS VERY GOOD BEEN USING FIRE STEEL AND MAGNESIUM FOR LAST 20 YEARS AND ITS IN MY SURVIVAL TIN AND IN MY POCKET WHERE EVER i GO..

You've got a bit of metal that is about pencil diameter with a little handle. You strike it with the back of a knife (or some come with a striker) and it drops a shower of sparks; easily lighting a petrol stove or your tinder. You can go all "Ray Mears" and use the shavings from the inside-leg of a tree shrew or something but a spoon full of petrol gets most things going without faffing around.

I don't have much luck with other lighters. All the ones I've tried from 10pence to 30 quid give up on me I'm afraid.

Being a metal fabricator, i was taught early on to never carry a disposable lighter in my pants pocket while welding. The valves in the lighters are prone to leaking slowly, filling the surrounding cloth with gas, which when ignited can have a dangerous consequence. Never seen it happen and i'm not sure if it applies to what we're talking about here, but i thought i would throw it out there.
I carry a bar of magnesium with a rod of flint attached to it. If you don't have any gas, shave off a penny size lump of magnesium and throw in a spark, the flame is white hot and will light even wet tinder.

Water and windproof matches.

... and I keep a firesteel (Magnesium bar with a flint either side of it) in my kit too with some dry cottom wool (in a sealed bag) just in case!

if its a wood fire im trying to light in the damp i have wrapped a foot of magnesium ribbon around a stick, buried it in twigs and leaves and lit it. man that stuff burns hot! i just happened to have a reel of it, i dont assume theres loads of it just lying around in every kitchen but it is easy to get hold of. there are cheaper easier and better ways to light a fire though, an old rag dipped in your fuel tank does the job

Disposable lighter and as a back-up the good old Scouts trick of non-safety matches dipped in hot wax. These are the red headed ones that you can strike on any rough-ish surface.

including eachother so pack them with a bit of cotton wool (that you can also use as tinder)
you can actually flare up a box of swan vestas if you shake it hard enough or step on it

I stopped carrying strike-anywhere matches long ago when a box ignited themselves in my pants pocket when I sat on it. This was 1) humiliating 2) expensive (new pair of pants) and 3) painful. The ability to light cigarettes by flicking matches with my thumbnail--which I had practiced long and hard in private--wasn't worth it.

YMMV.

Mark

I have a "Swedish Steel" and a small waterproof container of tinder under the seat of the strom.
A disposable lighter in a ziplock bag, taped to the lid of my left pannier.
And usually a Zippo in the pocket of my jacket, ( I am a smoker).
My hiking stove, has a piezo ignition.

:lol2:
Forever entertaining Mark, i hope you write a book some day!
In my youth i was once on a date with a very pretty lady whom i was trying to court. Trying to be cool, i opened a book of matches and lit the match with one hand in an attempt to light my cigarett. It didn't go so well, as the match head came loose and flew directly into her eye, both temporarily blinding her and nearly lighting her hair on fire. I'm much more careful now, and sadly still single...

ouch ouch ouch! :oops2:

swan vesta's (thats the only brand of redheads you can get over the counter in UK now) can be dangerous, but cool too. they are quite explosive, tap one on a hard surface with a hammer if you dont believe me. you can make bangers (firecrackers) with them, crush them up and mix with salt to make rockets, even used them as model cannon propellent before, but ive never blown off my nads so qudos to you my man

Try a small piece of cotton wool with Petroleum jelly (vaseline) rubbed in to it, lights easily with only the smallest of sparks.
Or if you want a system that works even when damp hold some wire wool across the terminals of a small battery, the resistence of the wool creates heat then fire quickly. Always be aware not to mix wire wool and spare batteries in a tool box.

In a pinch....pull the bikes spark plug.....soak a rag in gas and use the spark plug as an ignition source by cranking the engine.

daryl

Great tip!!:thumbup1:

Survivorman would be proud of that one ! :thumbup1:

Ray Mears would carve a spark plug out of oak and do his Ken Hom impression while it smouldered .. lol

Don't forget gas lighters start to fail at about 5 degrees C, as the fuel won't vapourise. Easy to solve by keeping in an inside pocket.

As an occasional smoker I carry a gas lighter, petrol lighter and fire steel plus my latest choice of accelerant (vaseline and cotton wool just now). Arson runs in the family though, both my parents were in the Fire Brigade!

Andy

+1 on the vaseline and cotton wool. I've been playing with a fire steel for a while and it's the most idiot proof tinder i've found. Even the worst spark will catch it and i burns for ages

Sam

I'm normally into burning petrol but just tried the vasaline and cotton wool and it works great. Also used a bit of cotton wool with LM Grease rubbed into it and that works pretty good too. I do like the "woomph" that petrol gives though

What about one of those "last-long" candles? small to carry, lasts a while, but burners well on paper or wood and a few drops burn long enough to make the rest catch. (assuming your working with a wood stove or campfinre: pretty pointless on a gas stove...)

I guess not many carry a small magnifying glass but it could be used in right conditions.

While on a rafting trip in Kamchatka several years ago, in the midst of a steady rain, our Russian guide started a fire for tea by rubbing two sticks together. I was pretty amazed that he could do it, especially in the rain.

Keep hold of your old inner tubes. You still need a source of ignition, but rubber catches easily. Sectional strips of inner tube could also be used to tie or bungee stuff down at a push.