I’ve not done an outdoors related post for a while, or as some more hip and younger folks would say “in a long minute”.
Either way the fact remains it’s been board games and dogs mainly on here.
So let’s try and even things up with an outdoors related post.
Recently I got a DJI Osmo 360 2 camera. So I’ve been doing some test footage with it. Just to see what it allows me to capture in various situations.
One test was the short video below where I decided to film the contents of my fire kit and my canteen holder/bag contents for fire starting.
I think it’s general/common knowledge given in many YouTube videos that you have redundancy in your fire kit. Usually three ways to get a spark. So if one fails etc etc.
My little fire kit has a fourth because it’s so small and takes up so little space really.
In my canteen bag/holder (a Helicon one iirc) I also have a “basic” fire kit.
Usually the fire kit goes in the bag if I’m out playing with one of my twig/wood burning stoves. But the canteen bag kit is permanently in one of the bag’s pockets. So if I have the canteen I have a fire kit of sorts no matter what stove I’m using. To be fair these days my preference for lighting a meths stove is a ferro rod.
Anyway enough rambling and on with the short movie.
Fire kit items in the video:
- Forest Fundamentals Zipped Organiser Pouch for the Nesting Stove
- Forest Fundamentals Artisan Mini Fire Mat for the Nesting stove
- BCB Fireball Ferro Rod & Striker
- British Army Windproof/Waterproof Matches (from a ration pack)
- Bic lighter
- 2x Forest Fundamentals Fire Plugs
- Pathfinder Mini Inferno Fire Disc
- 2x homemade version of fire disc
- US Military Spark-lite fire starter
- Some odd ends of paracord
From the Forest Fundamentals Pocket Fire Kit:
- Handmade Waxed-Canvas Fire Mat
- Hex Bellows & Wax-Infused Jute Rope
- Telescopic bellows from a Polymath Spitfire Pocket Fire Lighting Kit
Canteen holder contents:
- Forest Fundamentals Beast Fire Starter & Stealth Striker
- BCB Strong Match Safe filled with British Army Windproof/Waterproof Matches (from ration packs)
- Bic lighter in an Exotac Men’s Waterproof Firesleeve
- Fat wood from a Forest Fundamentals Fire Lighting kit
Obviously in both kits my first port of call is the bic lighter. If that fails for whatever reason, most likely it’s run out of fuel, it’s on to the matches. With the third and final option being the ferro rod. And yes there is a fourth option in the main kit of the Spark-lite.
For me starting a fire is about minimum effort, ease, and speed. I want my fire going as quickly as possible. That’s why the lighter is the first option.
Yes there is more to starting a fire than just what you are igniting it with. There is what tinder you are using, your wood, weather conditions, etc, etc. I usually have at least a couple different types of tinder with me, and carry my own wood (there is a logic to this that I’ll go into one day).
So that’s my fire kit.