FIRE! Denver survival co-op Sun Oct 24th

[Irving]

Just open your petroleum jelly, toss a cotton ball in there, and cram it into the jelly until the whole thing is covered. You don't need to wait or anything like that. The idea is that you pull out your PJ covered ball and pull it apart enough to expose some of the dry cotton (better for lighting). Then you just light it.

They actually work so well, that after you're done playing with them and seeing how they work, I suggest just pulling off a portion of the ball and saving the rest. PJ on cotton burns long enough that just a small piece is usually plenty to light your tinder box and start a full fire.

[glock21]

ok brb going to try, i hope baby pj works hahahah, ima try my magnesium blok on it

[glock21]

ok im back. That works awsome, i even had my wife and daughter in awe hahahahaim definetly adding that to my survival bag and both vehicles

[Irving]

Glad to hear it. It took me some experimenting, and after I got comfortable with it, I can't see not having it.

[glock21]

yea i lit up fast with just a spark.

[Wulf202]

My collection of fire starting/kindling stuff at the park.

Well the meeting started off with an example of char cloth being used to hold an ember to start fires, showing off the split pea lighter from county comm, we used some fire gel, showed off mischmetal and Stuart's fire steel, then used a safe and sane flashing firework which is great for signaling and starting wet fires. I showed of a great example of what happens when you coat the matches in too much paraffin. Screen name gnihcraes brought out some OOOO steel wool

Just as we were using some wood shavings the Lakewood PD showed up to tell us that the county had a ban on any exposed fires due to a rural fire a month ago. In the ban even the city bbq grills were subject to it. After some skepticism from the officers we were allowed to proceed as long as nothing else was lit. We will skip the part about the city parks worker who told us it was ok, then called these officers to tell us it wasn't...

We continued to verbally and with poorly drawn pictures on napkins explain different techniques from hand/bow drills and fire plows to carrying cigarette lighters.


estibit stove; a staple of backpackers, the stove folds up to slightly larger than a deck of cards and can hold 4 cubes inside and acts as it's own pot holder. The down sides are the fuel tabs aren't cheap and stink, the stove itself can tear holes in a bag.

Alcohol can stoves; brought by Stuart (no pics sorry)they are great and inexpensive ways to make a cheap stove, and can apparently burn white gas well! Downside is they need a seperate pot holder and are a bit fragile. A possible solution is the kiwi stove http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuXmT7hcQw4

Char cloth; holds an ember well, however it is messy and needs a previous fire to prepare it.


Fire steels; throw sparks well and catch tinder nicely. They do require some level of practice to be able to throw sparks reliably where you want them. Holding the striker correctly is a big part of it. The pictured one is from goinggear.com and has a larger pill bottle as a handle.

Fire piston: Once constructed you can have an ember just about anywhere. Requires special tools and technique in place. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-djD2n2YSv0


Fire works; I carry these flashing magnisum fireworks as signals and fire starting. They are so bright you may not be able to look at them directly, and have the hazards of carrying fireworks.


split pea lighter with a photon knock off for comparison w/Zippo spare fuel container. This combo is great and small but not light weight. It will give you hours of usage and hundreds if not thousands of fires started. The Zippo container has some short comings, the spare flint carrier is junk. The jump ring, a split ring that attaches the cap to the key ring, is a major weak point and should be replaced before carrying.


Matches: carry in a sturdy container, they're bulky for one time use and highly subject to moisture.

Magnisium blocks: Good solid flames even with wet tinder. They take time to prepare the shavings and are easily bumped or blown around accidentally. Also you may have to use a knife when its cold or dark adding to the risk factor.

Cigarette lighters: The fastest and easiest way to carry fire in your pocket. Being built of plastic one person shared the story of bumping into a tree and breaking theirs inside the pack. The cricket lighter, pictured, has a child safety on the gas button and is nearly impossible to depress accidentally in your gear and loosing all the gas. The cricket is also refillable and holds it's gas well, the one pictured has been in my BOB bag for 5 years and is still half full.


Gel or liquid fuels; instant fire with just a spark. The fire gel can be had in ketchup sized packets on the net. The down fall of alcohol based flames is they're barely visible and can cause severe burns.


Petroleum jelly and cotton balls; another staple of BOB bags, I suggest using bag balm for more uses than just fire starting. It works great as a mild antiseptic and a lube for fire pistons along with it's burning capabilities.

It was fun, I wish we'd have been able to do more but I think we did well with what happened.

There's a bunch I'm leaving out, I'm trying to include more pics so let me know what you think. It's late and I'm rambling.

[oscar615]

Wulf202, Do you have a website or online group/calendar? If so what is the address? How do people typically keep tabs on what is happening with your meet ups??

[Wulf202]

We have a calendar at http://www.coloradopersonalsecurity.com/schedule.html but it's still in progress.

I post the co-ops on co-ar15.com ar15.com getoffthex.com and I'm working on zombiesquad.