A fire can save your life in winter
In cold weather, a fire can be important to staying warm and dry. But even in a survival situation, you should still take the time to build a fire in a way that does not put the environment or yourself at risk.
Carry matches in a waterproof case, an empty plastic medicine bottle with a tight lid or a resealable bag. Carry a butane lighter in a pocket close to your body so it doesn’t freeze.
In survival situations, gather three or four times as much tinder, kindling and fuel wood as you normally would. Take plenty of time to prepare the fire before lighting it so you don’t waste matches and lighter fuel.
As with all survival skills, practice fire building in a safe, controlled, super- vised environment. That way, you’ll be better prepared in an emergency.
Click here for more on campfire safety.
I keep the stub of a used candle in my rain jacket pocket along with my hot spark and dryer lint. That and a water purifying straw will help in any weather
I pack a couple of simple “presto logs” made from hamster bedding held together with candle wax (tape shut one end of a toilet paper roll, fill with hamster bedding, carefully pour in melted wax, tape the other end, wait 30 minutes then peel off the cardboard and recycle it. Tape a cotton ball to the log.). Put a spark of any kind to the cotton ball and it will burn for 21 minutes (yes, I timed it) to light kindling. Two fit nicely in a quart bag, but you only need one.
Take the lint from the clothes dryer, put it in a plastic sandwich bag… Its close to weightless. It makes good tinder.
Absolutely! Here in Northern Minnesota I carry firebuilding materials in trunk of my car in case of a breakdown on a back roaf. Not just matches but also paper & a box of twigs because dry tinder is hard to find snowy woods.