Survivorman
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Senior Member
Registered: 09-03-07
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Duh...I feel stupid. If you are really concerned about the fumes, and that is a valid concern, once yer first fire is going, set you up a cooking fire close by and just transfer fire from an untouched burning piece of wood. I do this all the time when cooking on both of my outdoor cookpits.
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Member
Registered: 08-15-07
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While in the Air Force I had Spam 4 to 5 times a week for many months. I haven't had Spam since 1965. It is however, a good food stuff to have in a survival kit.
I keep a few sterno cans available to use as a cooking heat source. It works well with my mess kit. I used this heat source when teaching Cub Scouts how to use their kits a long time ago. It's pretty effective.
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Senior Member
Registered: 05-13-06
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Good call Fetino, I also keep a few cans of Sterno around... and a sterno stove. Though you can use rocks or small logs or whatever else is available to use to hold you mess kit over the can or the ground, depending on how you use your sterno.
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Member
Registered: 09-01-07
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No need to set up a stand with a fresnel lens. It's starts tinder a blazing fast/
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Senior Member
Registered: 05-09-06
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That's kind of funny with the sterno, because I knew someone who cooked with one too. The problem was that they were using it to heat a griddle to make cheesesteak bits. The meat wasn't even fully brown!
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Senior Member
Registered: 09-03-07
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One thing that I've had as a concept is a folding stainless steel stove large enough to cook on with say a half gallon pot. The difference is that this stove would look like a miniature wood stove, with an adjustable draft and the ability to use small sticks safely to heat your water and food. I think it should be much more efficient than any open wood fire, and would be able to use paraffin blocks, esbit fuel, lint tabs, maybe even cotton/wax mixtures.
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Member
Registered: 08-15-07
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I would like to add a light source that needs no batteries. It's the Mini-Crank LED Flashlight. I like having a backup to my primary light in case I run out of battery power. I purchased this light at LL Bean.
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Senior Member
Registered: 05-06-07
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Has anyone used those Faraday flashlight things? And I mean the actual brand name "As seen on TV" one. Where you shake it for power? Are they worth it when it comes to light? I bought a generic brand of the same design and it only gives me a little bitty spotlight. I never trusted those commercials that make it look like the product they are selling is the greatest thing in the universe, lol.
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Senior Member
Registered: 05-13-06
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quote: Originally posted by fetino:
I would like to add a light source that needs no batteries. It's the Mini-Crank LED Flashlight. I like having a backup to my primary light in case I run out of battery power. I purchased this light at LL Bean.
I keep a couple crank powered radios and lanterns around the house. I have a small faraday flashlight in my kit. |
Senior Member
Registered: 05-13-06
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quote: Originally posted by lindbergh-baby:
Has anyone used those Faraday flashlight things? And I mean the actual brand name "As seen on TV" one. Where you shake it for power? Are they worth it when it comes to light? I bought a generic brand of the same design and it only gives me a little bitty spotlight. I never trusted those commercials that make it look like the product they are selling is the greatest thing in the universe, lol.
The Faraday flashlights are not designed to be bright powerful flashlights, they are simply meant to provide some light in an emergency. I have a real cheap one I got from work that was a "safety prize",(which means it was cheap as 300 employees received them) it has a bad switch now. I bought a few of the ones sold at wally world and they seem to function fine. Though again , they are not the brightest light in the room....... |
Member
Registered: 10-19-07
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I think if i needed to make a survival kit i would follow les strouds example,a good multi tool,some kind of loud obnoxious instrument,fire starting material,such as signal flares,those 2 chemicals he mixed toghther(dont remember the names)thats a must have,maybe a rotted half eaten fish
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Senior Member
Registered: 05-06-07
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quote: The Faraday flashlights are not designed to be bright powerful flashlights
Which is odd considering one of their advertising points, lol. Well thanks for the info, appreciate it. |
Senior Member
Registered: 05-13-06
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quote: Originally posted by lindbergh-baby: quote: The Faraday flashlights are not designed to be bright powerful flashlights
Which is odd considering one of their advertising points, lol. Well thanks for the info, appreciate it.
You're welcome. And yes the commercials do make it seem that they are pretty powerful, but you definitely are not going to spotlight deer with one....unless he is 6 feet away.  *Note* deer spotlighting was simply a humorous example, I do not nor have I ever participated in this unethical and in many cases illegal activity. |
Senior Member
Registered: 05-13-06
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Well, I made some of the cottonball/wax blend firestarting aids and tried one out today in the driveway. It is a fairly breezy day today and I was able to start a fire in under 3 minutes using my magnesium flint and steel with the cotton wax blend as my main source of tinder. Thanks for the tip whoever posted it way back on page one! This item has been added to my fire making kit!  |
Senior Member
Registered: 05-06-07
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Did you try the chunk of wax in the cotton ball or did you let the cotton soak up a bunch of liquid wax? Cause the cotton soaking up the wax nearly produces a roaring fire by itself, lol.
I cut a soda can in half, used the bottom half and poked a few holes in it, lite a small tea candle under it and melt some wax in the parabola. That should give enough liquid wax to soak into half a cotton ball. Should do the trick.
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Senior Member
Registered: 09-03-07
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I used an old grungy crock pot to melt my wax in. Also, if you go to a lot of rummage sales you can usually pick up big ugly candles for not much money.
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Senior Member
Registered: 05-06-07
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Also, since one main thing about survival is to try and use what is around you without using what you have. Pine tree resin makes an excellent fuel for fire starting, since its a hydrocarbon, if you don't want to use your wax or if you left your wax at home.
Take your cotton ball, put some pieces of pine resin into it and spark the ball. The resin will melt and create a candle effect.
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Senior Member
Registered: 06-03-07
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quote: Well if you lose the bag then you deserve to be lost in the woods with nothing, you should have been more prepared, lol. And you should always carry a needle and some heavy duty thread or fishing line in your pack, just in case.
I have had problims with fishing line cutting through clothing if it is under stress. I would recomend floss. Personaly I have used it for a few years and it never seems to rip out. I have stated going over some seems before I have a problim with the floss just to make sure it holds. |
Senior Member
Registered: 05-13-06
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quote: Originally posted by lindbergh-baby:
Did you try the chunk of wax in the cotton ball or did you let the cotton soak up a bunch of liquid wax? Cause the cotton soaking up the wax nearly produces a roaring fire by itself, lol.
I cut a soda can in half, used the bottom half and poked a few holes in it, lite a small tea candle under it and melt some wax in the parabola. That should give enough liquid wax to soak into half a cotton ball. Should do the trick.
I soaked a cottonball with the wax from a tealight candle. I had a couple empty tealight candle shells from wherewe burned some during a storm related power outage this past Thursday, I hollowed out a cottonball in an empty shell and pourd the melted wax from another candle into it and once it had soaked up the wax into thefibers and began to make a ball of wax in the middle of the hollow, I closed the ends of the cottonball up around it and lastly poured a little wax over the bulk of the cottonball, leaving the ends of the cottonball up and twisted together like a wick. |
Senior Member
Registered: 05-13-06
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quote: Originally posted by lindbergh-baby:
Also, since one main thing about survival is to try and use what is around you without using what you have. Pine tree resin makes an excellent fuel for fire starting, since its a hydrocarbon, if you don't want to use your wax or if you left your wax at home.
Take your cotton ball, put some pieces of pine resin into it and spark the ball. The resin will melt and create a candle effect.
Mostly hardwoods around here in West Kentucky, wild pine are few and far between, most pine trees around here are planted by homeowners or the highway department along the 4 lanes and the occasional Xmas tree farm. There are some wild Cedar trees, the dried nettles from the ground around them aregood source of tinder....when you can find a wild cedar growing.... Still useful info though as I plan on doing some hunting out west someday, where I guess there may be more pine forests.... |
Senior Member
Registered: 06-03-07
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quote: Mostly hardwoods around here in West Kentucky, wild pine are few and far between, most pine trees around here are planted by homeowners or the highway department along the 4 lanes and the occasional Xmas tree farm.
LOL so what are you complaining about? It sounds like pine sap is the ideal survival tool for you. If you find some your eather in someones yard or on the highway, eather way your saved. But, I have used pine sap and it dose work really well. |
Senior Member
Registered: 05-06-07
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quote: Mostly hardwoods around here in West Kentucky, wild pine are few and far between, most pine trees
Well since you live in Kentucky, it shouldn't be too hard to find more pine trees. Just stand on a shoe box and you can see across the entire state. |
Senior Member
Registered: 09-03-07
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quote: I have had problims with fishing line cutting through clothing if it is under stress.
Try braided spider wire in about 30 to 40 pound test. |
Senior Member
Registered: 05-13-06
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quote: Originally posted by bearc1aw: quote: Mostly hardwoods around here in West Kentucky, wild pine are few and far between, most pine trees around here are planted by homeowners or the highway department along the 4 lanes and the occasi
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