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cayugad

Dang Dave! - that is a great idea

Sharp Shooter

A candle is the best thing you can have. Depending on the candle they can burn for a long time. They help you build fires to.

Hey Cayugad, care to share your story about your night in the woods? I have stayed in a snow cave overnight and again in a small shelter I built.

cayugad

Not much to tell. A few times I stayed out because I wanted to, and was well prepared. Once, because we were too far back in the federal looking for a friends wounded deer, so instead of walking out and then back in come morning, we decided to stay the night. I normally have a space blanket in my fanny pack, and a little something to drink and eat as well, so it was not all that bad. Also a GPS and compass will get me normally out if I really want to get out.

When we were kids we used to dig snow caves all the time. Mother was not real pleased with us wanting to stay in them over night, but my Dad was pretty easy going. He knew we'd come inside once we froze our you know whats off. Strange though, if the snow cave is small, you have a sleeping bag, and a candle in there, it is not all that bad sleeping in them.

My brother and his buddyon the other hand were out in the night, when it was so dark you could not see your hand in front of your face, no light, matches, blanket, nothing.. and then it started to rain. They were lucky they did not freeze to death. That's the trouble when you go in unprepared. They were back in the middle of no where miles from anythnig, and went off the road. Like fools they thought they could walk out. Well they got down the forest road, and realized it was too dark to even see and when they went back they learned the next morning, they walked right past their truck in the ditch. Talk about two cold, wet, misserable people.

Raider2000

In my hunting pack I keep a Magnisium block & striker for that time I'm too far in to wander out, makes a nice fire pretty quick too...
I do keep a Flint & steel handy for those times I want to teach the basics & survival training.

footofthehills

Quick little fire starter idea for your pack. Get a egg carton made of cardboard, Fill with 1/2 sawdust mixed with 1/2 wax. You can then cut them into individual pieces. they work great and will even light when wet. A bit off of the original subjetc, sorry.
Nathan

cayugad

That's a cool idea.. should you melt the wax, mix in the sawdust, and then pour the egg carton.. or just pour the melted wax over the sawdust and let is soak in?

footofthehills

I always melt mine and premix before they go into the carton.I ruined one pan that way so now i use a pop can with the top cutoff. One of my buddies went to a thrift store and bought a pot for .50 and he uses it strictly for this purpose. I know this is not a "firestarter" but sure helps in the rain, and that seems to be the only time I get stranded! Or in a blizzard of course!
Nathan

dmurphy317

Years ago I bought a neat little fire starter that I keep in my pack. It is a magnesium rod about .25" in diameter and 3" long with a flint rod attached along one side. It came with a piece of steel similar to a hack saw blade without teeth that can be used to strike the flint or to shave off slivers of magnesium to help start a fire when your kindling is damp. The magesium burns at something like 5000 degrees and will dry the kindling in a few seconds so you can get a fire going. The whole thing only weighs about 1 or 2 ounces and takes up very little room in my pack, about as much as a book of matches or less. It last for quite a while too since you only need to shave off a small amount of magnesium to get a fire going and then only when it's damp. I also carry a baggie of dryer lint to help get things going in a hurry. Strips of cedar bark rolled into a ball makes for a good medium to get a fire going in if its available in your area also.

footofthehills

Hey Dave,
Where did you get the fire "stick" i ve been lookin for one to lash to my knife sheath with my emergency paracord.
Nathan

dmurphy317

I picked mine years agoat the TN state fair from the guy who made them. He also had some fancier ones make from antlers but I just bought the small simple one for its light weight and portablity. I think Walmart has something similar but haven't looked at it that close to confirm.