Best winter/wet fire starter

[wadu1]

I’m not sure about a big emergency fire, but in every backpack and all my rigs I keep a 1 gallon ziplock with a newspaper, 3 bic lighters and a film canister full of cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly.

People under 30 might not know what a film canister is. When was the last time you seen one?

That is a good question. For the record I opened our Y2k emergency packs and yep each one has a film canister without instructions for use?

[boneaddict]

I have a small pill bottle, think it was Benadryl full of cotton, petroleum jelly.   I have used it multiple times.  It has saved my butt.

[idaho guy]

I have experimented with a lot of different fire starters over the years. Some good some not but never really kept track of what was best. I spend a lot of time in the mountains in the winter in snowy but also  really wet conditions. If you had to pick one fire starter for wet conditions what would it be? I usually pack a few flares and some fire starter but looking for opinions on what’s the best. I’m not looking for something to start my campfire but most reliable to start a fire when stuck out there emergency type fire etc.

Have you or anyone else here started a fire with a flare.  I tried to one time and it didn't work, which I thought was crazy.  Asked around and was told flares are designed to not catch things on fire for safety reasons, I guess they suck all the surrounding oxygen which doesn't allow other things to catch.  Probably different kinds of flares though.

Not my experience at all. I’ve lit lots off fires with flares and have caught several things on fire with them unintentionally at work. Only thing regarding what you’re saying I get off the top of my head is it’s adding so much heat it can cause things to burn the fuel too quickly in a small area. The flare is the heat component, it’s not sucking enough air in the outdoors to cause an issue in the oxygen component. All that’s left in my head is fuel. It can burn stuff so hot it is no longer going through pyrolysis enough to sustain fire.

When I use a flare I get a spot going and move it to a new spot to get that going. This all makes sense in my head but is much easier to explain verbally. Sorry if it’s more confusing then helpful.

 

I have used flares a bunch in the backcountry for snowy wet conditions they have worked really well I try to actually have a bunch of wood gathered before I use it.

[vandeman17]

https://pyroputty.com/pyro-putty/#blue

[Okanagan]

I make my own fire starter cookies from pitchwood sawdust/shavings bound together with a blend of Vaseline and paraffin, pressed into a small cupcake paper with a waxed cotton ball on top.  They light with flame or spark from flint and steel, are waterproof and burn hot for 5 to 9 minutes.  Each cupcake/wafer is about the size of a mini candy bar and goes in a separate mini ziploc.  A 60/40 or 70/30 mix of Vaseline and paraffin is softer and easier to light than paraffin alone and not greasy like Vaseline alone. 

They are superb fire starters but labor intensive to make, so probably not worth it but I made a bunch for myself and the many campers, hunters and backpackers in our family. 

In addition I carry some slats of pitchwood/fatwood, 5 inches long, 1/16 to 1/8 thick and from a quarter inch to ¾ inch wide.  I wrap half a dozen of those in a paper towel and put the bundle in a ziploc.  Along with those a piezo lighter, waterproof matches, candle stub, flint and steel, fire wafers and space blanket go in a little zippered school pencil holder.  One of those packets goes in every pack, with some extras handy in vehicle, cook kit, etc.  In addition a big package of such fire starters is under the front seat of my 4x4 along with the TP and wet wipes.

[idaho guy]

Good response so far a lot of the stuff mentioned I have used before. The wet fire stuff I had before and it is great. I hound hunt lions and sometimes by myself so I can end up middle of nowhere and just have to go where dogs go. It’s not like elk hunting where you decide when to turn back you have to go where the dogs go. Just looking for the ultimate emergency fail safe fire starter but I think a combination is best. I think I will just pack the coughlins fire starter,the wet fire, a lighter and a flare I should be covered 👍 for all the bic lighter fans bring 3 don’t ask how I learned this one. The weather where I hunt goes from snow to wet and rainy to freezing all in one day makes starting a fire a challenge.I have used my stove to warm our tent hunting so I have that but when you’re soaked you need a fire.

[actionshooter]

Good response so far a lot of the stuff mentioned I have used before. The wet fire stuff I had before and it is great. I hound hunt lions and sometimes by myself so I can end up middle of nowhere and just have to go where dogs go. It’s not like elk hunting where you decide when to turn back you have to go where the dogs go. Just looking for the ultimate emergency fail safe fire starter but I think a combination is best. I think I will just pack the coughlins fire starter,the wet fire, a lighter and a flare I should be covered 👍 for all the bic lighter fans bring 3 don’t ask how I learned this one. The weather where I hunt goes from snow to wet and rainy to freezing all in one day makes starting a fire a challenge.I have used my stove to warm our tent hunting so I have that but when you’re soaked you need a fire.

My only hang up with the Wetfire is the cost,,, stuff works great, but I save it unless I can't get a fire started another way. 

[Okanagan]

for all the bic lighter fans bring 3 don’t ask how I learned this one.

 

Have had Bic lighters turn into a collection of tiny parts in my pocket and in a pack. 

Re lighters, I prefer piezo and waaay prefer the angled head  "cigar" lighters for starting campfires.  Much easier to get the flame under tinder without scattering it.  Also, my hands get so cold sometimes that I cannot operate the striker on a lighter with fingers or thumb.  Was surprised to find that a flint and steel is easier to operate with stiff cold hands than the lighter, because it uses larger muscles and requires less finesse of movement.  (Hold the steel still close to tinder and pull the fire ferro rod back toward yourself.  Again, that way it doesn't scatter the fine material you are trying to ignite.) Klutz that I am, I carry at least three ways to ignite a fire and several items to keep it going till I can get a sustained fire from wet wood.
 

[madcow41]

Cotton balls and vasoline. Also I use a ferry rod and the backside of the saw on my leather man wave. It shoots a spark 2feet or so so I can make sure I have a good start. Also wood is best found in dead standing trees vs on the ground.

[idaho guy]

Good response so far a lot of the stuff mentioned I have used before. The wet fire stuff I had before and it is great. I hound hunt lions and sometimes by myself so I can end up middle of nowhere and just have to go where dogs go. It’s not like elk hunting where you decide when to turn back you have to go where the dogs go. Just looking for the ultimate emergency fail safe fire starter but I think a combination is best. I think I will just pack the coughlins fire starter,the wet fire, a lighter and a flare I should be covered 👍 for all the bic lighter fans bring 3 don’t ask how I learned this one. The weather where I hunt goes from snow to wet and rainy to freezing all in one day makes starting a fire a challenge.I have used my stove to warm our tent hunting so I have that but when you’re soaked you need a fire.

My only hang up with the Wetfire is the cost,,, stuff works great, but I save it unless I can't get a fire started another way.

 
 
I agree don’t want to use them unless necessary. Try the inexpensive easy stuff first 

[idaho guy]

I am also going to play around with cotton balls a p jelly. I like to try stuff in terrible weather but not when I have to start a fire just kinda a test run. This is an old one but I haven’t really used. Thanks again for all the responses good stuff 

[highcountry_hunter]

I am also going to play around with cotton balls a p jelly. I like to try stuff in terrible weather but not when I have to start a fire just kinda a test run. This is an old one but I haven’t really used. Thanks again for all the responses good stuff 

They way I’ve always done it is put the petroleum jelly in a small pan on the stove or microwave it in a little bowl so it’s liquified, soak up as much as you can with the cotton balls then stuff em em in the canisters.

[CP]

A propane torch and little diesel works very well.

[cbond3318]

https://blackbeardfire.com/products/black-beard-fire-starter?variant=31477581152392


I used this stuff on my backpack hunts this year, it work well. Doesn’t burn real hot but it burns slow and did burn when wet. Seemed to work as advertised. Fairly inexpensive. I think you’re wise to have a few different emergency options.

Disclaimer: I have not tried it in N Idaho wet yet, big difference from Central Idaho. 

[idaho guy]

https://blackbeardfire.com/products/black-beard-fire-starter?variant=31477581152392


I used this stuff on my backpack hunts this year, it work well. Doesn’t burn real hot but it burns slow and did burn when wet. Seemed to work as advertised. Fairly inexpensive. I think you’re wise to have a few different emergency options.

Disclaimer: I have not tried it in N Idaho wet yet, big difference from Central Idaho. 

 

👍 big difference for sure  like the last week has been cold, snow, rain and today feels like spring 😂 thanks I will give it a test run