Fire: So Easy a Liberal Caveman Can Do It

by Huny Badger and Chelsea MyAnn Carpenter

Fire to keep you warm, cook food, purify water and keep bugs and critters away.  I will tell all you flapjacks the # 1 tool you need to make a fire and survive in the coming days, it is yer noodle, yer brain!  Makin’ fire is so easy even a liberal cave-monkey can do it!

Fire is beautiful; the Indians of days past used it in their everyday life; hunting, growing food, smoke baths, ceremony, sacred fires, warfare/communication and for warmth and cooking, etc.  I call it, In-dian-genious, and you can learn it!  Here are some methods used:

       1-Bowdrill

       2-Hand Drill

       3-Fire Plough

       4-Flint N Steel

I could sit here and list the countless ways to make fire but here is my Mountain Man logic, KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid.  Some of the methods are actually dangerous and should be practiced to perfection due to the injury risk.  If you are in a SHTF scenario and you are making fire and you injure yourself, you just made your chances drop dramatically.   Here is what I have in my B.O.B as the ignition sources that will light very easy and safely:

       1-Cotton Balls and Chapstick/ hand sanitizer

       2-Non scented candles (The wax shavings make the fire burn longer and can even             be  used to waterproof items in a pinch)

       3-Magnesium Block

       4-Petroleum Jelly

I use old medicine pill bottles to store the cotton balls and with a little digging around you can find very cheap survival supplies to make fire.  I prefer items that have more than 1 use and especially ones that have medical uses as well.  EVERY B.O.B. should have storm proof matches and lighters, they truly are the easiest and safest ways to create fire.

Don’t think you can pull off the “Mountain Man” fire starting methods? Emergency candles are good to have. If you cannot get a fire started with the above methods, light the candle and use that flame to light your fire.

You can also try using storm proof lighters! When in a survival situation, there is no guarantee that the weather will be perfect. Using a storm proof lighter will give you a better chance to start a fire: rain or shine.

Today’s day and age it is more than likely that everyone has a battery or two on them. As long as you have some steel wool. It can be as simple as the ones you find to clean grease in a kitchen. To use it,  all you have to do is connect the battery terminals with the steel wool and it should create a spark. Add the wool to your dry tinder and poof, fire!

As you can see, there are many different ways to get a fire started, whether you choose the traditional no-match methods or choose to use matches/lighters. Keep yourself educated and prepared on at least two of the methods listed above and you will be set should you ever need to start a fire.