Ferrocerium & slow match

StG58

StG58

TJ Guru
Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2015
Messages
6,677
Location
Orygun, the wet side...
I'm old, cheap, and I hate things that don't work. One of the things that I've struggled with for more than 50 years is getting a fire lit in the backwoods anywhere and under all conditions. Rain, wind, snow, ice, all the things that can make getting a fire going problematic can be addressed with experience, and through technique. Getting that first little flame going can be an issue though.

Matches of various types and flavors have failed me. Even keeping them in a match safe doesn't really help. At some point you have to drag them out, strike them, and get a fire going. Under some conditions that takes a level of dexterity you don't have. Same with lighters. With the added problem of fuel, or charging the newer piezoelectric types. Flint and steel, fire bow, fire piston each have their own issues.

But, ferrocerium rods and slow match seems to have addressed all the issues for me, anyway. This stuff can be tossed into a bucket of water and left overnight. It'll get a fire going pretty fast when you pull it out and shake it off.

20231116_134609.jpg


I bought the ferrocerium rod online, for cheap. The 1/4" copper tube came from Ace Hardware. The paraffin came from the canning section of Coastal Farm. The Jute twine you can get pretty much anywhere.

20231116_134712.jpg


This is my spare jute and paraffin. Lots of slow match there!

20231116_134650.jpg


This is the slow match pulled out of tube.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: TJ Starting
StG58 said:
Ah! And you can make Creme Brulee too!

I've had problems with lighters and such at the most inopportune times, and prefer something simpler and less reliant on technology.
Click to expand...

That one was recommended at a camping seminar at REI many years ago. It’s great for flying places since you can swing into any gas station and grab a cheap BIC. Never had it not work. It’s worked at the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the base of Mt Denali for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: StG58
Apparition said:
That one was recommended at a camping seminar at REI many years ago. It’s great for flying places since you can swing into any gas station and grab a cheap BIC. Never had it not work. It’s worked at the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the base of Mt Denali for me.
Click to expand...

Ever have one in cold temperatures? Same with Zippos. If they get much below freezing they get unreliable. I guess if you keep it warm, next to you it wouldn't be an issue.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apparition
I’ve spent a lot of time in the backcountry, in all seasons, at altitudes from sea level to just over 13,000 ft. A Bic lighter has never let me down. I was a skeptic when an early mentor told me to use Bics, but decades later, he was right on. You do have to keep them dry and sometimes keep them in an interior pocket for warmth, though. I usually have at least one on my person (along with either Vaseline-covered cotton balls or trioxane tabs), and two more in my pack.

To keep them dry, I used to keep them in Ziploc bags, until I ran across the Exotac FireSleeve during their Kickstarter campaign almost a decade ago:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016VH4YS4/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I’ve submersed them in creeks during crossings, and they keep the Bic bone-dry.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apparition
I melt petroleum jelly in a coffee can on the stove and then toss a huge handful of cotton balls in the liquid.

I stir them up really well and then let them cool.

I transfer a few into an old prescription bottle and carry them with my gear.

They light well with a spark but I typically just carry a bic lighter. They burn for approximately 7-10 minutes.

The added bonus is that you can use the petroleum jelly on the cotton balls as lip balm or chaff lube if that’s an issue.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: Fulton_Hogan, StG58 and lBasket
WV Native said:
I melt petroleum jelly in a coffee can on the stove and then toss a huge handful of cotton balls in the liquid.
Click to expand...
Simply massaging petroleum jelly into the cotton balls works just as well. Store a bunch of them in a film canister, Altoids tin, zip lock, whatever. Super easy and clean way to get most fires started. But in an emergency when literally everything is wet and I'm dangerously cold I want more BTUs than cotton balls can generate. To do that I carry pieces of egg carton filled with hardwood flour soaked with paraffin wax along with a folded piece of aluminum foil. Unfold the foil as a base, put the wax/hardwood flour cup on it, and fire that up with the petroleum cotton ball using a ferro rod. Bullet proof in the rain, cold, wind , and it will burn long and hot to dry out and ignite wet materials.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rickyd and StG58
Apparition said:
That one was recommended at a camping seminar at REI many years ago. It’s great for flying places since you can swing into any gas station and grab a cheap BIC. Never had it not work. It’s worked at the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the base of Mt Denali for me.
Click to expand...



Ok, let me correct what I said. Maybe I don't buy BIC's, I guess it's just any cheap lighter. Been a while since I've used mine.

https://www.backpacker.com/gear-item/editors-choice-2010-soto-pocket-torch/

Backpacker Editors' Choice 2010: Soto Pocket Torch​

Turn a disposable lighter into a weatherproof flamethrower.​


Give us gale-force winds. Give us torrential rain. And we’ll give you a flame for your stove or campfire, guaranteed. Just put a 50-cent lighter into this little widget, and you get a mini blowtorch that produces a searing-hot blue flame.

We’ve used it to spark fires and stoves in the worst weather, from wet Wales to the windy Alps. “I love the convenience factor,” says one editor. “No messing with butane refills—just pop in a fresh disposable.” Note: The Torch works with squarish disposables commonly found around the world, but not Bics. $20; 2.3 oz. (including lighter); sotooutdoors.com
 
Way, way back in the last century I was camping with high school friends and we found the base of a pine tree that had fallen down. The stump was rock-hard with solidified pine sap. I broke off a bunch of that and still use it as a fire starter for those difficult occasions.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: lBasket
Top Bottom
Back