Fire is an indispensable factor in wilderness survival. Indeed, in a wilderness survival predicament, only shelter is to be viewed as equal insofar as urgency. The reason for this is that fire ensures warmth and also serves to provide rescue crews with signal in the form of smoke. On top of that, it gives you an effective way to disinfect water and cook food. There is no getting around it, you’re going to need fire.
So then, imagine for a moment, that you’re confronted with a scenario where you will have to survive in the wilderness. Let’s say that you’ve wandered off a hiking trail by accident. Or maybe you followed your car’s turn by turn GPS directions, which guided you miles and miles down some dusty unimproved and virtually impassable mountain road where you promptly got stuck. Maybe society finally broke down and the ensuing societal anarchy has made it necessary for you to hike on foot, away from roads and highways, to your crazy Uncle Larry’s 500 acre compound in Wyoming (funny how crazy Uncle Larry turned out the be the sane one). Whatever the situation, there’s no avoiding the need to have the right tools to make fire tucked away in your survival pack. So, what are the most efficient instruments of fire that you should think about having in your ongoing survival list? Consider a few possibilities.
Waterproof matches – The old-school, no-frills, tried and true box of matches. They’re affordable, simple to use, and ultra lightweight. Make sure you have multiple boxes, tuck them in your pack and then forget about them until you need to make a fire.
Waterproof lighter – Like the aforementioned matches, a lighter’s biggest benefit is that you already know how to use it. Not only that, it is relatively effective, and quite easy to lug around. There’s no reason not to have a handful of them packed. If you don’t want to pay for a fancy waterproof model, just get a few ziplock baggies, throw some plain old Bic lighters in, and stow it away.
Now let’s move on to some more complex, but far more intriguing methods for producing fire…
Fire piston – A fire piston functions by placing a small chunk of flammable tinder whether pre-packaged or found in nature, into a tube-like cylinder. You then rapidly plunge the cylinder into an airtight chamber. The rapid compression of the air creates enough heat to ignite the tinder, which you can then use to ignite your fire. A quality fire piston will be both waterproof and essentially indestructible.
Flint and steel – This reliable means for starting a fire consists of obtaining flammable powder from a small block of flint, then igniting the powder with a spark (also generated from the flint). The burning powder will generate a lot of heat, and as long as it’s surrounded by the proper amount of dry tinder, you’ll have a fire in no time.
Finally, unless you have a great deal of experience igniting fires, your survival list should contain starter materials, like a small package of prefabricated tinder, or basic fire starter sticks available in practically any retailer that sells outdoor goods. These materials are cheap as can be and all but guarantee a fire.
Moreover, it should be noted that carrying multiple, redundant ways of starting a fire is highly advisable. It’s all too easy to lose a lighter or burn through all of your waterproof matches. Be sure to take at least two tools for starting a fire. Three or four is even better.
Chuck Armstrong is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys building and maintaining his custom survival list. You can find out more by reading his articles and learn how to build your own survival list.. This article, The Most Effective Means for Making a Survival Campfire has free reprint rights.
