Practice makes perfect ...
So here I was this evening sitting alone in the house bored then it came to me while everyone else is out now would be a good time to practice making a fire using just items out of the garden and my survival kit.
So i collected some dead twigs from around the bottom of some trees in the garden snapping them into small lengths, then i located some more slightly thicker twigs and so on making 4 small piles of different thicknesses of twigs.
then i had to find some tinder .... easier said then done as it had been slightly raining earlier.
i managed to find some cut grass that had been blown under the bushes in the garden. There wasn't alot but enough to hopefully get it started.
( looked dry so i had my fingers crossed there would be enough. )
Next i opened my survival kit.
Upon inspection i found i had several means to make fire so i started with my favorite. the magnesium block and striker. After shaving the block ( mental note to replace new magnesium block ) i made a small pile of shavings ready to put onto the tinder which i did.
after a few attempts of making sparks from drawing the striker down the flint section the sparks were flying ... but with the strong wind that was blowing the sparks werent really catching onto the tinder ... upon a very close inspection of the tinder i found that the tinder was ever so slightly damp so plan A went out of the window.
so i took out of the survival kit 1 piece of cotton wool ( i carry 3-4 pieces for this purpose ) and i fluffed it out and placed it into the middle of the tinder.
1 strike was all i needed to get the cotton wool to light ... but the damp tinder still refused toflare up even with a little extra help from me blowing on it while holding it all at head height away from myself. so i took out my candle that i use for this very purpose ( mental note to replace candle ) and with the still lit cotton wool i light the candle and using this i managed to get the fire going .
After this little problem ( the tinder ) adding the small twigs to build up the fire etc etc was easy.
Sitting there watching the fire burn away quite happlierly thinking about what could of done an how to improve i came to the conclusion that due to the wind an not as dry as i thought tinder hampened my efforts but using the contents of the survival kit and not just 1 part of it made me think and use what i had in the tin.
next time i do this i really need to find some really dry tinder or maybe some dead dry tree bark instead.
As always I hope this helps you in some way.
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One thing i've consistently kept in my kit over the years is a cheaper, knockoff zippo lighter or two. Even if it's out of fluid,you can still use the b*tch to make a spark,and the cotton wadding and wool inside can be sacrificed as tinder. sometimes if you get very lucky,there is just enough fluid left in the cotton to light it faster.
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