(Part 2) Best camping fire starters according to redditors

TL;DR: Survived freezing at -28°C (-18°F) during a solo winter backcountry camping trip. It's a long story, but there are lots of lessons in it for winter survival.

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This happened 8 years ago when I was in my mid/late 20s. I had been going winter camping up here in Canada with at least 1-2 other friends for at least 2 seasons (5-6 trips) and I felt the need to challenge myself, so I decided to do a solo backcountry camping winter trip, and this time all I was bringing were my knife, a small folding saw, compass, a tarp and sleeping bag. The day before, the weather forecast was supposed to be about -3°C
(26°F) during the day, and -16°C (about 3°F) at the coldest at night.

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I left early in the morning to drive 5 hours out to the trail head, and upon arriving, I was doing some last minute repacking in the parking lot when I got a text from my wife that said, "Weather has changed, check it again." I managed to get the faintest hint of a 3G network signal, and the forecast was now a weather alert for -26°C (-15°F) overnight. Dammit. That's pushing the limit of what I'm dressed for. I thought to myself. But I didn't want to drive home 5 hours with my tail between my legs, so I decided to just nut up and shut up.

​

The hike in was 6.5 hours long, and very challenging. The trail was hidden under 18 inches of snow. I had chosen not to bring snowshoes, and that meant I was putting in at least 25-30% more effort into each step, and it really wore me down. After all, the hike was only supposed to be 7 miles in. The trifecta to round out my misery was that the weather went from cloudy, to flurries, to wet snow, to sideways snow in 30mph winds, and back to rain. By the time I got to the campsite, I was exhausted, sweaty, and wet from the snow/rain.

​

I quickly set up my tarp and was able to get a small fire going near the entrance. I managed to sleep in 2 hour stretches and keep the fire going, and by around 3am the wind had died down to nothing, and the snow stopped falling. It was incredibly silent, and I could feel the deep freeze start to take hold. The temperature was plummeting fast. I put on 2 fresh logs and went back to sleep... but I didn't wake up for another 4 hours. The fire had gone out. Worse still, it was covered in snow that must have fallen from the tree above. I was in trouble. The thermometer on my watch displayed -28°C (-18°F).

​

Quickly setting out to find more wood, I was alarmed to find that everything was covered in thick ice. The rain had fallen on everything, soaked through, and froze. I was starting to feel the effects of the cold now that I had been out of my sleeping bag for about 20 minutes. I gathered the driest looking tinder I could find, and was alarmed to find out that my Bic lighter wasn't working. My fingers were so numb through my iced gloves that even if it did work, I would have been unable to hold down the valve button. My matches worked, but required that I take off my gloves, and besides... the tinder wasn't catching fire. It was all soaked. I split some wood and made some feather sticks with my remaining dexterity - no dice.

​

By this time, the excruciating pain in my fingers and toes was starting to subside, and I knew that was a very bad sign. I had also been shivering a lot, and it was starting to get uncontrollable. I retreated back to my sleeping bag in order to stop, calm down, and think about what to do next. I couldn't get a fire going in these conditions, my car was 7 miles away (if I could find my way back), and I was in danger of hypothermia from being soaked in sweat and not having enough layers for the temperature. No good was going to come from me just hunkering down. The weather wasn't going to change for at least another day, and I was definitely dehydrated too.

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I determined that my best course of action was to warm up, abandon my things (my tarp was frozen to the ground), and hike back out with the bare essentials. I quickly packed up my sleeping bag, and warmed up with squats, lunges, jumping jacks and push-ups. I was able to get my fingers back to the stinging sensation of needles, but my toes remained disturbingly numb.

​

Setting off on my hike through the deep snow, I had only gotten about 300 feet from my camp when I tripped on something buried in the snow - it was a pile of firewood processed by a previous camper that had been stacked by the side of the trail!

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Quickly digging through the stack, I discovered that the inner pieces were still dry, having been shielded from the elements by the pieces above. It was a godsend. I ferried the wood back over to my campsite and attempted to make another fire, but ran into another problem. The Bic was still completely non-functional, the matches were all gone, and I didn't have enough dexterity left in my frozen fingers to use my ferro rod, much less make really fine feathersticks. I couldn't even control my shivering by this point. It was hopeless. I had dry wood in front of me, and no way to light it on fire.

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It suddenly dawned on me that I still had my car keys, and what did I have attached to my keychain? A small oil lighter. It lit up reliably, and I carefully set it standing up in the snow, holding kindling above it. I GOT THE FIRE STARTED.

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In summary, I managed to warm up my feet, dry out my clothes, warm up completely, dry out more firewood for the next evening, boil water, and stay another night with better preparation - all because I was able to get a fire going.

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Observations and recommendations: My survival was attributed to 2 things - accidentally tripping over the only dry wood in the area (under a foot of snow, too), and for having an oil lighter.

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1. The advantage of an oil lighter in extreme cold conditions is that it doesn't lose pressure like a butane lighter, nor does it require lots of dexterity in the fingers to hold down a valve or to use a ferro rod. More importantly, you can set it down and it will remain lit, freeing up your hands for other tasks.
   
2. On the hike, remove layers until you're basically freezing. Balance the heat generated by the hike to be just enough to keep you comfortable. Sweating is dangerous. Even if you don't perceive your own sweat, your hiking clothes are getting damp - I guarantee it. Bring a sealed, dry set of clothes (socks, base layers, midlayer jacket/sweater) just in case, and protect it with your life.
   
3. For winter, I bring no less than 4 different ways to make fire (matches, stormproof matches, ferro rod, Bic lighter, Zippo oil lighter), and several different waterproof ways of fueling that fire (fatwood, cotton soaked in vaseline, and lastly, 1 oz of Everclear). On regular winter days, the ferro rod is all you will need, but on the worst days, when you just need that one, single flame to catch, you might need it all.
   
4. Wear snowshoes and don't be an idiot like me.
   
5. Learn how to tell the difference between safe lake ice, and dangerous lake ice. My hike would have been about 3 hours shorter if I had been able to correctly assess that the lake was safe to walk on. I chose to play it safe and not walk on the ice because I didn't know any better at the time. Also, know what to do if you do fall through the ice.
   
   

There are cheaper options you've just gotta hunt for them.

The cheap ones are often slightly shittier but generally not shittier enough to be worth spending the $4-$8 for the Bic version at the store depending on where you are.

Edit: There are still Bic-quality (read: mediocre/good-enough) versions that are refillable and similarly priced to the non-refillable bic ones: https://www.amazon.com/Refillable-BBQ-firestarter-Adjustable-Lighters/dp/B06XJ7LF9H

Not to damp down your experimenting but are you heading to something like

https://www.amazon.com/XINYI-Starter-Survival-Outdoor-Disaster/dp/B07GS248DJ/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=spark+wheel&qid=1571437252&sr=8-3 ?

Spare hiking socks

• in Ziploc bag
  
  Spare underwear
  
  
• in Ziploc bag
  
  Pants/shorts
  
  web belt (2)
  
  Jacket/rain jacket
  
  Pullover sweater
  
  Bandana/shemagh
  
  OR sunbucket hat
  
  Tyvek tarp (w/grommets)
  
  50' hanks para cord (2)
  
  
• with a couple of Figure 9 tighteners
  
  50' orange 3/8" rope
  
  Titanium tent pegs (6)
  
  Mylar emergency blanket
  
  GPS & spare batteries
  
  Digital FM radio & spare batteries (with headphones)
  
  SPF 30 sunscreen
  
  Lip Balm
  
  Headlamp & spare batteries (with red light)
  
  LED flashlight & spare batteries\
  
  Small IFAK
  
  
• mole skin
  
  
• Neosporin
  
  
• lavender oil
  
  
• Band-Aids (various sizes)
  
  
• gauze pads
  
  
• Clear tape
  
  
• cloth athletic tape
  
  
• antibacterial wipes
  
  
• latex gloves
  
  
• foldable scissors
  
  
• plastic tweezers
  
  
• Advil Liqui-gels (200 mg)
  
  Fire bundle
  
  
• Old man's beard, birch bark, etc
  
  Ferro rod, Bic lighter, etc
  
  Mora knife & sharpener
  
  Pocket knife
  
  Multi-tool
  
  50" roll, duct tape
  
  Pen/Notebook
  
  USB stick with scans of important docs along with other files, like a list of Internet bookmarks, etc
  
  Tupperware container (vital records)
  
  
• Birth certificate
  
  
• Passport
  
  
• Social Insurance card
  
  
• Family photos
  
  
• Insurance policies
  
  
• Mortgage/deed
  
  
• Vehicle titles
  
  
• Vaccination record
  
  
• Cash
  
  
• Bank info
  
  
• address book
  
  Food*
  
  KFS
  
  GSI cup
  
  Aluminum water bottles (2)
  
  Sawyer Mini kit
  
  Toilet Paper!
  
  
• in Ziploc bag
  
  Hygiene kit
  
  
• toothbrush/toothpaste
  
  
• soap
  
  
• baby wipes
  
  
• dental floss
  
  
• wooden toothpicks
  
  
• Black garbage bags
  
  
• Ziploc zipper freezer bags
  
  
• Hand Sanitizer
  
  Whistle
  
  Signal Mirror
  
  6" chemlights (4)
  
  Mechanix gloves
  
  Dust masks
  
  Permanent marker
  
  Sillcock key
  
  FuBar
  
  ------------------
  Food
  
  Cereal bars
  
  Dried soup mix
  
  Trail mix
  
  Mountain House meal
  
  ------------------
  Winter
  
  Synthetic long underwear
  
  Wool toque
  
  Gloves

https://www.amazon.com/Yuauy-Emergency-Survival-Camping-Starter/dp/B00PKBFT50

https://www.amazon.com/Yuauy-Emergency-Survival-Camping-Starter/dp/B00QQI2A30/

etc

You mention air-mattresses so I assume you're just car camping, not hiking? Probably a good choice for first-time camping.

REI has a good checklist here. You obviously won't need all of it (like navigation stuff), but it's a good starting place.

Tents are a bit tough without more detail. Are all six of you planning on going in on purchasing a six person tent? Do a select few people want to buy 2-3 person tents to just keep? Are you planning on hiking in the future, in which case you'll want lighter tents - at more upfront cost? How many sites have you reserved? If only one site, there will probably be a limit on number of tents you can have.

Either way, some good starting places:

• ALPS Mountaineering offers a 6-person tent for $140, and is a well regarded brand on here. That's about $24 each.
  
  
• REI also has a good 6-person tent for $150, and this subreddit loves REI (and deservedly so). Can't go wrong with their gear. About $25 each.
  
  A tarp for the tent might not be necessary, but is something worth considering if you're worried about wet conditions.
  
  Air mattresses are an unnecessary expense if you're on a budget. Pretty much any sleeping bag that's not designed specifically to be lightweight will have enough fluff in it to provide some padding. Something like one of these big fat ones for $25. You're camping anyway, not staying at a hotel. A few nights on the ground won't kill you. Bring a few thick blankets if you're worried though. A good inflatable pad will probably be more than you want to spend money on.
  
  You can forget backpacks for now if you're just using your cars at a state park or something. A good pack is expensive anyway. But a duffel bag or small backpack or something is a good idea to carry clothes, food, and supplies. Doesn't need to be anything special.
  
  One important thing to keep in mind is firewood. Don't bring it. You should always buy locally (most parks will supply/sell it) since this prevents the spread of dangerous pests like Emerald Ash Borers and such.
  
  A few more basics you'll want:
  
  
• A first aid kit, probably. Even at a well developed state park, it's still a good idea to have one nearby for smaller injuries.
  
• Some sort of firestarter. Doesn't need to be fancy. Just, if you bring a lighter, make sure you have fluid for it. Something like these guys might be useful though if you're not used to starting fires.
  
• Flashlights/Lanterns are useful. Something like this or this
  
• A cooler.
  
• A pillow. For car-camping a normal pillow will do. Just make sure you don't forget. I always forget a fucking pillow when car-camping.
  
  Food. Personally, I think planning and packing food for a camping trip is one of the best parts. There are more camping food "hacks" and ideas out there than you can imagine. Plan it right and you'll eat better when camping than your average day in the college dorm. A little bit of tin foil, pie pans, and prep the night before and you can eat stuff like this or this or this. Just browse and look around until you see something that makes your mouth water. Most of it is no more difficult than throwing ingredients in some tin foil, and then throwing them on the fire later (in some cases you'll want to pre-cook chicken or fish or beef though).

dang in asia everybody just uses these for lighting gas stoves https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NALESBH/

no gas in it, only makes sparks like a fancy flint gun. basically lasts forever until your kid breaks it or it gets lost.

There isn't any danger, the propane tank isn't going to explode unless you put it inside the forge or something, it's no different from lighting a kitchen stove.

Just get a weed burner nozzle and stick it through a hole in the side of the forge. You can also use an old hair dryer connected to a tube through another hole in the forge if you want to increase the oxygen supply for a hotter flame.

I'd actually argue that it's safer than coal because you can get more controlled temps and immediately kill the fuel supply to the forge in the event of a problem.

I went down a rabbit hole too and ordered this one... I'm not even sure it'll work.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ES54LO8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_kXa8Cb2Y1YQYP

> all that is useful with the Bic is the flame

I light my canister stove with just the spark from my Bic all the time. In fact, fire starting gizmos like this one are just the sparky end of a Bic (actually more like one from a Zippo) and nothing else. You can light tinder with them just as well as with a ferro rod, only without having to use any kind of scraping tool. Same job, different package.

The sparks from a Bic are about as useful as those from a ferro rod: Short lived, short ranged, and not terribly useful without very carefully prepared tinder. But yes, if you do it right you can ignite things with them.

I'm not saying a ferro rod is nonfunctional. Used properly they can, as you demonstrate, start a fire. The problem is that they're sold as either a "survival" tool or people keep them as a "backup" fire starter but they do not carry any prepared tinder appropriate for use with them and/or don't know how to make it in the field. Therefore, the item itself in these cases is a gimmick -- the vast number of people people buy it or carry it either don't use it or don't use it effectively. And for the money, there are more effective methods of starting a fire.

If you want to use the thing and you're one of the three people on earth who actually knows how to use the thing, knock yourself out. I'm not going to tell you how to camp.

Gonne change your life right here. Get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Yanseller-Folding-Lighter-Kitchen-Camping/dp/B00MCHS8YY

The stem swivels to whatever angle to match your bowl.

I used two of the tumbleweed fire starters in the center of the pile. After I lit them I put a few coals on top of them directly and kept the door open for around 20mins. Blew on it a few times just to check that they were going and closed it up. I have done the charcoal chimney start several times for pulled pork, but the seems to make it too hot too fast, and I wanted this to come up slower. Not trying to sell anything but dropping a link for a pic reference tumbleweeds fire starter

I missed your post and commented something similar. I use cotton balls. I make sure they're soaked all the way through and then stuff them in an old medicine bottle or 35mm film case. A couple of these with some kindling and waterproof matches or a BlastMatch and you're set.

Ive been using this for well over a year, only get multi-filtered high quality butane for any torch https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00RA5W5T2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_DKQWAbKGQP9JR

How about $5?

https://www.amazon.com/UEB-Outdoor-Survival-Starter-Emergency/dp/B01FQAKIPU/ref=pd_sim_121_5/133-4828728-0553118?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01FQAKIPU&pd_rd_r=32b09667-82f6-11e9-b428-7d17b7108ea6&pd_rd_w=MlYg7&pd_rd_wg=f4G5E&pf_rd_p=90485860-83e9-4fd9-b838-b28a9b7fda30&pf_rd_r=FD7VDWTKGZFEZT1AC1BA&psc=1&refRID=FD7VDWTKGZFEZT1AC1BA

I've done a lot of camping in the Catskills and harriman, and backpacking on the Appalachian trail. The lean-to's i know of in that area can only be reached by backpacking. Be wary of "car-camping" advice. Honestly you might be better off "car-camping" at Stephens State Park or Mills Norrie State Park, which are both close to harriman, and have "tent" campsites available this weekend. (reserveamerica.com)

But, if your still interested in "backpacking" to a lean-to, here's what i recommend.


Might be better off on Amazon, unless there's a storewide discount at your local REI.

https://www.rei.com/c/sleeping-bags?r=category%3Acamping-and-hiking%7Csleeping-bags-and-accessories%7Csleeping-bags&ir=category%3Asleeping-bags-and-accessories&sort=min-price

I recommend getting two of one of these bags:

https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Brazos-Cold-Weather-Sleeping-Bag/dp/B00363V3OK

https://www.amazon.com/Semoo-Lightweight-Portable-Compress-Compression/dp/B016I9SXL4

and a 4-person dome tent:

https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Sundome-4-Person-Dome-Tent/dp/B019N9W7WC

Also, an alcohol stove kit:

https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Maple-Alcohol-Backpacking-Portable-Ultra-light/dp/B01DA53MP6

https://www.amazon.com/Klean-Strip-QKGA75003-Denatured-Alcohol-1-Quart/dp/B001FOSX9U

https://www.amazon.com/Magnesium-Starter-Flint-Stone-Lighter/dp/B00K5I058Y

Also, grab some Mountain House meals, they are expensive, but worth it on a first time backpacking trip. https://www.amazon.com/s/?field-keywords=mountain+house

Check out Davis Sports Shop in Sloatsburg, ny. They've got a lot of camping gear, as well as hunting and fishing.

http://davissport.com/files/2015/03/10646840_373164796209673_7535081532103820525_n.jpg

I have become a huge fan of Coghlans gear over the years.

Good luck and have fun! :) bring star charts too :)

edit: if you want to practice making fire, this is a very safe way to do it and it is large enough to house the alcohol stove as an alternative https://www.amazon.com/WoodFlame-Lightweight-Burning-Backpacking-Stainless/dp/B01BPUEGNK

There are a lot of review on YouTube of this stuff. I want to pair Firecord with these to lace my boots with. I figure its a last ditch always on me fire starter.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JMYDK8Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2KB6ZYT0WQ3W3&coliid=IYH8ZAFZXFQI8

"who wants to be a bus driver when you can be a bear?!"

I love these, and for the price they are kind of unbeatable in my opinion - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B072J82NS2/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1511554638&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=gibson+lighter&dpPl=1&dpID=41o2vIA2PsL&ref=plSrch

...in a Resealable, Reusable, Waterproof Pouch

BlastMatch

I've had the same one for years. Looks Gimmicky, but it works as well as a lighter if you've got the fire-building skillz.

Peepo - The Female Urinary Funnel

Gag gift.

--SS; Eagle Scout; 800+ nights camping