Come on baby start my fire!

August 01, 2014

The Quest for Fire, from the dawn of times to modern times. Fire is a very versatile tool, from providing light, warmth and protection to simply allowing you to a have a cooked meal and a place to meet and gather around. A fire still holds an important place in our modern world.
With that being said, you still have to get it started. Conveniently there are many different options for starting your fire. You could go old school; grab two sticks and rub them together, but you’ll likely you end up with sore hands. So what is there out there on the market to make starting a fire easier? Well there is a multitude of flint strikers that are compact, light and quite easy to use. Many are a strike bar paired with the flint bar. Simply run the striker firmly down the flint and sparks fly. Other styles are designed so that the flint and striker are built together for simple one handed use. We also have a product that provides you with a great multi-purpose knife with a flint bar stowed in the handle. The choices are plentiful; it’s just a matter of deciding which one to toss in your kit. Light My Fire Swedish Fire Knife
Once you have a way of providing spark the next is choosing the tinder. There are just as many options if not more when it comes to different types of tinder starters. Many are made from natural products like wax infused saw dust and wood fibers in varying shapes from sticks to discs that can be snapped into smaller pieces or burned as one larger piece. Tinder sticks with a match head can be lit like a match and tossed in the fire. All natural Fatwood sticks come from Pine tree stumps using sustainable forest practices, these have a very high resin content and the stick can be shaved into piles of tinder or lit as one piece. Wax infused cotton balls and tinder bits come in a variety of styles and forms. Lastly there’s always the classic magnesium bar with built-in flint striker, make a small pile of magnesium shavings and light it with the attached flint.
Keep in mind with all these wonderful options the quest for fire isn’t complete once you’ve made a small burning pile of tinder, it’s highly unlikely that this will light a damp log on fire. A properly built fire ready for your tinder will light with ease.