Fire starting tips from readers

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Hand sanitizer and swedish firesteel 
Nowadays the swine flu has made everyone and his cousin to go out and buy hand sanitizer or alcogel in huge volumes and use it everywhere. Anyway, the ...

Self Feeding Fire 
The self feeding fire is extremely easy to make and burns hot for hours.

#1-To begin with, find about 20 hand fulls of small sticks that are dead. The ...

Sure Fire Starting 
Get everything ready, before you even begin to spark or start a flame. Twigs and tinder and wood, and a cleared area, either in a small pit or within a ...

Great fire starter 
Mix wood shavings (type of wood doesn't matter) with wax in a coffee can and mix it until its thick. Pack this mixture into a discarded toilet paper tube ...

Apache Fire Cigar 
When during a fire, you should put a few pieces of coal in it. Get very fine shredded wood, much longer thicker wood, and a little more thicker wood.

Tie ...

Tinder is key 
First you need to collect some nice dry tinder, match diameter... Get a thicker "Y" stick and lean it against the firepit wall with the split end up... break ...

Magnesium match 
You can use a magnesium match. Shave the magnesium into a small pile on some dry tinder and strike the flint on the other side. When the spark hits the ...

Making charcloth and charcoal 
First I will cover the items/materials you will need. For charcloth you will need 100% cotton cloth cut into 2"x2" squares. For the charcoal you will need ...

Campfire Safety 
Basic campfire safety should be a skill for everyone heading out on a camping adventure. Did you know that more than four out of every five forest fires ...

Cotton balls 
My tip is to take some cotton balls, cover them with petroleum jelly and then stuff them into a film canister. They light easily and burn for a long time....

Fire starting stick 
I don't have a lot of wilderness experience yet, but I would like to share one thing I learned one night during my shift to keep the fire going. I had ...

Fire starting using a flashlight and steel wool 
I have a way to start an easy fire. I have use this tip on a hiking trip. You need a flash light and some steel wool. Anyway if you can go with out it ...

Cabin fire 
After all the years I have spent in the boy scouts and having them tell you a tipi is the best way to start a fire, I disagree. I do agree that a tipi ...

Start a fire with a shotgun shell 
If you are in a hunting area where hunters have left plastic shotgun shells laying around. They work well in a rain storm or wet environment to get a fire ...

Good fire starting material 
If you need no start a fire fast, dry tinder is critical. Put dried moss or birch bark in your pocket as you walk. You can light it with a simple spark ...

Fatwood 
I bought a package of Fatwood (check Wikipedia for more info), shaved it, and poof, an instant fire! I was shocked at how well and how little I needed....

How To Make An "Indian Fire" 
You will need three things; a dry, dead, good sized limb (about as big around as your forearm), two smaller dry, dead sticks, and a knife (preferably ...

Build a Fire 
I think the best way to build a fire is to first build a tepee. Once it is lit and burning good build a log cabin/pyramid fire structure around it. These ...

Start a fire with damp wood 
I make my own firestarter using dryer lint, packed into cardboard egg carton segments. I then melt wax into each segment until well saturated. Before the ...

Prison Match 
If your lighter runs out of fuel or you've only got a spark, you can make a "prison match" with a square of toilet paper, or tissue or even birch bark ...

Birthday candles 
You mentioned lighting a candle to save on matches. I use the "trick" birthday candles in my personal survival kit. Because they re-light after being blow ...

Dryer lint 
My simple tip is that I take empty pill bottles and pack them with dryer lint and put a few small bottles in my pack. Makes for the best tinder to start ...

Corn chips  
For fire starters you can use corn chips. Also, steel wool works good: 000-0000 size. For wet weather I use small pieces cut from an old bicycle inner ...

Battery to ignite a flame 
You take 2 "D" batteries and open (they can be dead or still good) then take out the carbon rods be carful not to break them! Take a "9 volt" and take ...

Solid fuel tab 
A great way to make sure you get your fire started is to use a solid fuel tab, such as those made by Esbit, along with your tinder. They burn for at least ...

Pop can 
If you have a pop can and tooth paste, take some tooth paste and polish the bottom of the pop can. Make it as shiny as possible. Find some dry tinder, or ...

Great fire starting technique 
First you get a arched stick like a bow. If you have rope tie it to each end of the stick. Get a straight stick wrap it around the string. Get a separate ...

Hot bright flame 
A little unknown trick if you ever require a flame that burns hot and bright and lasts a long time; use knots (the portion of the branch that is attatched ...

Bow drill fire making 
The first thing you should do is to get a flat piece of wood. Put a shallow hole in the middle of it and make sure it is not all of the way through.
Take ...

Fire Piston 
All you need is a Fire Piston. They work every time with out fail and last forever. Please look at web sites:
www.wildersol.com/Index.html
www.onagocag....

Useful camping tool 
Fire starters are a useful camping tool. It is easy to use and much safer than lighter fluid. If you go camping with your teenagers, this is a safe way ...

Fire Trough 
A fire trough is a slab of relatively flat, durable wood about 1 - 2 feet in length with a long groove that runs down the middle of it, continuing down ...

Steel wool 
Steel wool is an excellent, hot-burning tinder for fire making that can allow for one match/spark/etc. lights. Even better, it can be lit in a variety ...

Commonly Overlooked Tinder 
Cigarettes are a good source of dry tinder that are often overlooked. A smoker may feel like they are going to die if they don't have one, but if they ...

Baby light my fire 
I like to find multiple uses for what I carry. One valuable resource is an old bicycle inner tube. I cut it cross ways into bands. In the Nam days they ...

Double the number of your matches 
Most paper matches (like those you get at the bar or hotel room) can be split into TWO halves. It's easy. Rip the match out of the book, split it in half ...

Pyramid fire 
It's very effective to lay down 2 layers of sticks beneath the pyramid and then build up the pyramid. Once you've built several levels of the pyramid ...

Tealights 
Always carry tealights they are invaluable. If you light a match, light a candle, this will help save your matches.

Do you want to safely enjoy ...

Start a fire with ice 
If you have no matches or lighter you can use ice to start a fire. Take an ice piece in your hand and form it into a lense to magnify the suns rays like ...

Fire with a lens 
I have a quick skill you can do when you are going to go in the woods. If in an urgent situation happen and you have a camera or video camera with you,...

Start a fire even in wet conditions 
The best way to ignite a fire is to use a lighter or similar and prepare your fire so it will catch immediately. The above taken into account you are bound ...

Butane torch lighters 
This may seem a bit obvious, but one of those high pressure butane torch lighters in your survival kit will burn almost anything that is flammable. Mine ...

Tampon as tinder 
ATV's or skidoo'ers should carry a tampon in their kit. When you break down and need a fire, it is great to have that tampon!

Put the tampon in your ...

Start a fire 
If you have a a cotton ball and a cigarette lighter it's easy to start a fire. Take the cotton ball in your hand and put the lighter so the metal part ...

Campfire Ring  Not rated yet
I agree with all the fire starting tips mentioned before. However, I would add that a person should avoid using shale and slate stone in a fire. If they ...

Alcohol pads great fire starter  Not rated yet
In my survival kit, one thing I make sure I have plenty of is alcohol swabs. Besides the obvious antiseptic uses, they make a great fire starter as well....

Great kindling  Not rated yet
One of the best kindling I have ever used, and it is also the easiest, is steel wool. Just hit it with a spark and it lights right up. The fact that it ...

Fire with a flashlight  Not rated yet
A lot of people know you can use the bulb and that is all I ever see on these pages. But you don't have to waste the bulb or the batteries.

Just pull ...

Starting a foolproof fire  Not rated yet
1) Dig a small depression in the ground 3"-4" deep so the wind doesn't blow your tinder away.

2) Put your back into the wind. Kneel down straddling ...

Urethane  Not rated yet
A friend found that hardened urethane coating burns violently. This was lit accidentally while burning leaves on the ground. He demonstrated this with ...

Build a campfire to meet your needs  Not rated yet
Lakota people always took care to build the type of fire they needed to best suit those needs.

Ex: for a small fire to heat water on the go, drive 4 ...

Fat Lighter  Not rated yet
You can look around old pine stumps and find the heart of the old tree. This will generally contain a lot of resin. It will be golden color and have a ...