Lamson Adventures Home
Packing List
Direction Finding
Water Requirements
Winter Injuries
Fire Starting
~ Hikes & Photos ~
Garden of the Gods
Peak View Trail, Mueller S.P
Elk Meadow, Mueller S.P.
Columbine Trail, N. Cheyenne Canyon
Palmer Lake Reservior
Bear Creek Regional Park
Spruce Mountain
Rampart Range Road
Cheyenne Canyon Rd Loop
~ Useful Links ~
Colorado State Parks
GOOGLE Maps/kmz's for Colorado Trails
GOOGLE KMZ for Rampart Range
Colorado CDOT WX Info
How to Start a Fires
Since a nonexpert's chances of making fire by primitive methods (such as with bow drills) are practically nil, you should always carry matches and lighters in waterproof bags. A flint-and-steel set provides extra security, because it still works after being soaked. We hit on a few ways that worked well for us. If you need more hints after this page, the youtube video below is a good how to video. Also, after it ends, there are a list of other videos of how to light a fire. Remember, whatever method you try, have your items to work with standing by. If you are going to have your tools, your tinder, your char if you are going to use it, and additional wood.
As everyone that comes here knows, I am a newbie at all this. Learning as I go. I just got a great tip the other day from a fellow hiker and adventurer. You can use a bit of hand sanitizer as lighter fluid. That junk is 60% achohol, you can put a bit on the tinder, it will help. Alright, back to the primary ways.
Flint and Steel
To use it, hold the striker—a curved band of steel—in one hand and the flint stone in the other. (You can also use the back side of a pocketknife blade and a chunk of quartz, agate, or jasper.) Hold the steel steady and strike the flint downward against it. Repeat the motion until a spark ignites your tinder—cedar and birch (man i miss the Northeast) shavings and dead grasses all work well.
Cotton Ball in Vaseline
In survival situations, there's no such thing as cheating. Cotton balls dipped in Vaseline and stored in an empty film canister make excellent tinder. (I was also informed by a female hiker, that tampons make a great substitute for the cotton balls.) Pull the cotton balls into "bird nest" shapes before you start; you'll get an immediate, hot, long-burning flame. Put your flint and steel over the cotton, using as directed and let the sparks fall on the cotton.
For kindling, use twigs and wood shavings. In wet conditions, take dead branches off trees rather than from the ground. Collect about three times as much as you think you'll need.
What is everything?
Flint: A very hard, fine-grained quartz that sparks when struck with steel. A piece of flint is used to produce a spark. If you goig to purchase it, its a small solid cylinder of a spark-producing alloy, used in lighters to ignite the fuel.
Steel: Any type of hard steel will work for your purposes, although high-carbon steel will work best. Most people will use a pre-made steel tool. I have been warned though that using your good knife is a bad idea. On your gerber tool, they will have a file with a "C" cut in the bottom. Use that, it will not dull your knife blade that way. What you want is a piece of steel that has a large enough handle or space for you to grip it tightly. This way it won't slip out of your hand when you're striking it against the flint.
Tinder: All hail wikipedia. Tinder is defined as easily combustible material used to ignite fires by rudimentary methods. A small fire consisting of tinder is then used to ignite kindling. Anything that can be ignited by a match can be considered tinder.
Materials commonly used as tinder:
Char Cloth (Optional): A char cloth is basically a piece of cloth or linen that has been heated to a high enough temperature (without oxygen) to the point where it has turned into charcoal. Char cloth is used in order to catch the sparks that are produced by the friction of flint and steel. A spark with make the char cloth burn like a hot ember that can then be transferred to the tinder and used to make fire. While using char cloth is not absolutely necessary, it can greatly speed up the ignition process.
I was told by my guy in the know that you can make your own char by throwing your cloth or web belt material into a can and tossing that into the fire. When you remove it, the material is almost the feel of a laundry anti static cloth. Burns easily. I even found a fantastic site that shows you how to make it yourself. (http://www.rogueturtle.com/articles/charcloth.php)
Additional Sources:
National Geographic
Boy Scouts of America
E-How, How to Start a fire