Fire is so important for cooking food, keeping warm, providing light, attracting attention, and even to do things like melt the end of a rope or sterilize a needle to remove a splinter.
Your Go bag should certainly include matches, and maybe a lighter. Add a few more items and you can ensure sure you can make fire in any conditions. You can buy an inexpensive fire kit, but why bother when it's so easy to make your own.
What's in a fire kit?
A few of the basics include:
- Watertight container To keep everything together in your fire kit.
- Lighter Consider one made to work in wind and rain.
- Waterproof matches More reliable than a lighter, waterproof matches, or stormproof matches, burn longer and hotter than a regular match so that they work in heavy winds, rain or snow.
- Candle It’s always good to have a candle in your fire starter kit to help start your fire. They're also a good backup if your headlamp batteries run down.
- Ferro Rod Ferro is short for ferrocerium, an alloy that when struck with a hard surface, such as a knife, creates sparks that are 5,430° F. It’s basically indestructible and works in cold, wet, and windy conditions. You’ll need to strike it against something flammable - like a cotton ball or tinder.
- Cotton ball and petroleum jelly Cotton wool coated in petroleum jelly is an easy to make fire starter that ignites easily, and burns longer than a plain cotton ball.
- Tinder Highly flammable materials, such as fatwood or wood shavings, for getting your fire started.
The trick to making fire, or putting one out
Fire needs three elements to happen, heat (the temperature at which a material produces vapor which burns), fuel (solid, liquid, or gas), and oxygen. This is great information to know when starting a fire, or when trying to put one out.Recommendations
UCO Stormproof Match Kit with Waterproof Case, 25 Stormproof Matches and 3 Strikers
There is nothing worse than limp soggy matches that won't spark. This container protects your matches and includes a reliable striker. The sturdy case is hardly necessary with the extra long storm proof matches that will stay lit in wind and water. Check it out on Amazon.com.
Light my Fire Ferro Rod Fire Starter
This sturdy and compact fire starter includes the ferro rod and a striker made from bio-based plastics. It even includes a built in whistle and comes in four fashionable colors. Check it out on Amazon.com.
UST WetFire Tinder with Lightweight, Compact Design, Individual Packaging and 5 Year Shelf Life
This easy to burn tinder is easy to light. Once lit it burns hot for five minutes to ensure you can start a healthy fire. It also comes in a self contained wrapper. Check it out on Amazon.com.
What can you do right now?
Do something as simple as adding matches or a lighter to your Go bag. You can always get better gear later. The goal is not to be done, but to do one little thing today that makes you better prepared for the future.