In Building
a Survival Kit - Part Three , several additional gear items were added to
our survival kit. These items included an LED light, cordage and a small sewing
kit. This time we will be adding our fire-making tools. The ability to start a
fire is one of the most important abilities needed in a survival situation. It
is also important to remember that our goal is to build a quality survival kit
that will be easy to use by any member of your family.
The sixth item that will be
added to our survival kit is a small mini Bic lighter. A simple lighter will
give you the ability to start a fire in an emergency. A mini Bic was chosen for
its size and weight but a full size Bic lighter could be used. This gear item
adds $ .50 to the cost (a three pack of mini Bic lighters normally costs about
a $1.50) and an additional ounce of weight to our survival kit.
The seventh item that will
be added to our survival kit is a magnesium firestarter. This will give you not
only an optional method to start a fire but will also supply you with a source
of tinder if needed. The firesteel on the side of the magnesium block can also
be used by itself to start a fire. The striker, which is actually a piece of
hacksaw blade, could also be used to cut wire or metal if needed. This gear
item adds approximately $4.50 to the cost and an additional 2 ounces of weight to
our survival kit.
In a survival situation, the
ability to make a fire will be an important and critical part of your survival.
Having two different means to start a fire in your kit will increase your
chances of being able to make a fire for warmth, light and cooking.
Here is a current summary of
the contents of our survival kit:
Gear Item Cost Weight
Container
$5.00 5
oz.
Mirror
$3.00 1
oz.
Whistle
$2.00 1
oz.
LED Flashlight $1.00 1 oz.
Sewing Kit $1.00 1 oz.
Cordage $1.00 1 oz.
Mini Bic Lighter $ .50 1 oz.
Magnesium Firestarter $4.50 2 oz.
_______ ______
Totals $18.00 13 oz.
Don’t forget to leave a
comment. Thanks.
Got DIY Survival
Kit ?
Staying above the water
line!
Riverwalker
Posts
21 comments:
Totally agree fire is a very important in a survival situation.
I have been building fire kits for some time, its a on going project.
The original one can be seen here
http://mdpreparedness.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=831
I have made many changes and improvements.
mdknighthawk
Richard
My kit is in a small cardboard box in my bookshelves, but your plastic one WOULD be better, though I DO have an unused ammo-can (heavy).
To: Richard
I think the combination of a lighter and a firesteel would cover most situations.
The real problem in starting a fire in most cases is lack of suitable tinder material.
Checked out your post on the forum...nice EDC fire kit.
Thanks.
RW
To: Gorges
I have a tendency to be pretty hard on my gear...it gets thrown around and just generally receives more abuse than it should. These little containers are pretty rugged and will help in this aspect.
Your comment about ammo cans has given me an idea...get back to you on that aspect.
Thanks Gorges.
RW
As always, just the information so many people need.
Thanks!
To: Brigid
Hopefully, this will get people thinking along the right track so that they will make or have a kit that actually contains gear items that can be used to make a positive difference in their ability to survive.
A good quality survival kit isn't going to be cheap or even that lightweight but it just might actually help save your life.
Thanks Brigid.
RW
...luv those little fire-steels, heck i even play with 'em...you'd be surprised at the amount of folks who haven't seen 'em, so i show it...lol
...+1 on the baby bics too(two...they're small)
To: Ken
Got a bunch of firesteels and a couple with custom handles...kind of like knives- can't have too many!
Those little Bics are real space savers and work as good as the full size ones. They get my vote.
Thanks Ken.
RW
Maybe a bottle of waterless alcohol hand cleanser could be added as a tinder starter as well ? If it has alcohol, it will burn. And the health aspect of keeping hands sanitary is important too.
Nice kit. I've been meaning to revamp mine for a few months now but other items have gotten in the way.
Thanks!
Joe
To: anon 7:03
I keep small bottles of hand sanitizer in my GHB and BOB but it really takes up too much room for a relatively small survival kit.
Plus I don't like to store flammable materials where they could possibly cause a problem. Cars and trucks can reach inside temps of 140 degrees or more on a warm day in our hot Texas sun...
Thanks anon.
RW
To: Joe
Thanks.
Just trying to show how a good kit can be built. Kits really need to be customized for the most part...having things you know how to use and are you are comfortable using is half the battle.
RW
That is a great point about the alcohol hand cleanser, I had not thought about that. Thanks for keeping it real.
To: anonymous 12:07
I had a friend who threw a Bic lighter on his dash once...it blew up in the hot sun and cracked his front windshield.
He was really upset about having to replace the windshield.
Thanks.
RW
Heading to Walmart soon. : )
I'll probably need to make multiple kits to cover all the cars in my family!
I only recently learned about Firesteel (learning about it is also how I found this blog) and that's just pure magic. Well, science, but you know what I mean.
Another thing my mom kept in her S&R kit for tinder was dryer lint in a ziploc bag, but if that gets wet, it's pretty much done.
Add Tinder that can be lit in wet conditions and the fire making component would be good.
More good choices...
I have been working on our GOOD bag for a while now and have been experimenting a lot...I figured out that a great tinder is soaking paper towel in bacon grease once I am done cooking. It even burns in the rain :). Hope this helps
My tender of choice is cotton & Vaseline. Right behind that is wet fire. I grate it into a course powder. Seem to get more uses from one block. I carry each in those orange plastic match safe from wally world.
I carry a magnesium block and have used it a couple times as tender and a fire starter just so I know I can. Good blog.
I guess I have selected a mind blowing and interesting blog realworldglobalreview
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