[slamminsalmon]

If you don't know by now, cotton balls soaked in vaseline are the best fire starter. Lightweight, dirt cheap, easy to make, and work every time.

Change my mind.

 

[Abby'sDad]

Just keep them in an old 35mm film canister for best long-term storage. Also pack a magnesium block with spark insert

 

[KevinMichael]

yep, have had them in my bag for years

 

[SidecarFlip]

Disposable lighter here. Not much into gooey cotton balls.

 

[Digger]

I discovered 4x0 steel wool as a fire starter. Works wet or dry with even a faint spark. Has other uses around camp as well.

 

[Longhorn]

For those of you with boats. If you have USCG flares that have expired, keep them and use them as firestarters. They'll still light.

 

[Rule3]

Birch Bark, less mess.

Good old Wood Kitchen matches. Low Tech

I have no Bug out Bag. I do have a Ferro Rod though.

 

[schutzen-jager]

disposable lighters do not work very well in really cold weather - wood matches work in cold but are useless in high winds - magnesium fire starter + Vaseline soaked cotton ball or paraffin soaked saw dust will work under all conditions - all current military survival kits that i know of have the magnesium starters - been years since i have seen one with a waterproof match case -

 

[jonesy814]

Another decent fire starter, though not as portable as cotton balls & vaseline, is to fill a toilet paper tube with dryer lint, then wrap in newspaper and twist the ends shut. White Birch bark will burn wet or dry.

 

[Verminator]

Luckily, I don't have to bug out.

I'm settled for the duration of my life in a good, solid American town.

If the jackals take down this old lion they'll do some bleeding and the street will be littered with jackal guts.

 

[ETF]

I'm not bugging out anywhere so why do I have most of them except for the birch bark? Until this year we camped a lot in the RV so there were always camp fires to light. Who goes camping without S'mores? I also have a big ol' wood fired smoker that has to be lit. Over the years I have collected and used about every fire starting device known to man and still have many, if not most, of them. One that hasn't been mentioned and is in plentiful supply right now is hand sanitizer.

I live out in the country and if all else fails, I have hundreds of gallons of diesel. 😄

 

[jonesy814]

The way Antifa is going, we need fire extinguishers, not fire starters

 

[jonesy814]

Luckily, I don't have to bug out.

I'm settled for the duration of my life in a good, solid American town.

If the jackals take down this old lion they'll do some bleeding and the street will be littered with jackal guts.

No need to bug out here either. We live in the kind of place that people Bug out to, not from.

 

[SidecarFlip]

disposable lighters do not work very well in really cold weather - wood matches work in cold but are useless in high winds - magnesium fire starter + Vaseline soaked cotton ball or paraffin soaked saw dust will work under all conditions - all current military survival kits that i know of have the magnesium starters - been years since i have seen one with a waterproof match case -

The work if you keep them warm. I keep one in my inner jacket pocket when hunting.

 

[SkullAero]

You can also use dryer lint in place of cotton balls.

 

[Bellows1]

Chap stick is a good fire starter/wick.
Also works great on cuts and scratches.

 

[schutzen-jager]

The work if you keep them warm. I keep one in my inner jacket pocket when hunting.

true , but only if you are

The work if you keep them warm. I keep one in my inner jacket pocket when hunting.

you can't keep them warm that way when you are cold + wet with hypothermia setting in which happens in many outdoor survival scenarios - the magnesium fire starters will - no GI issue survival kits i know of contain butane lighters -

 

[ETF]

no GI issue survival kits i know of contain butane lighters -

Probably not but a few years back I read an article by a guy who was caught up in the Kosovo War and was surrounded and trapped in his village for months. He said that the most valuable trade good wasn't gold or silver, food or water, not guns or ammo but a butane lighter. Apart from all the other fire starting stuff around here I have at least a dozen of those, the throw away and the refillable types.

I'm still nor bugging out.

 

[schutzen-jager]

JMHO , but that Kosovo situation described is for a static barter situation - definitely not pertaining to a mobile bug out bag survival related incident !-

 

[Victor N TN]

Our local ACE Hardware has strike anywhere matches. Both regular size as well as kitchen matches.