Mathias Outdoors

1, Birch -scraping and spark

This method is almost as good as any other method I’ve ever tried including the use of a lighter lol of course a lighter is going to be a bit faster but not much to be honest. it is so simple and it takes just seconds to get a flame.

1st take a price of Birch bark (preferably from a dead birch tree. 2nd use the blade of your knife to scrap shavings into a pile on top of the piece of bark itself, 3rd, make sure you have collected some twigs and other layers to put onto the fire once you have a flame. 4th put the butt end of your ferro Rod directly into the pile of scrapings you created on top of the birch bark and stroke it with the backside of your high carbon knife. You should easily be able to make a flame from this method. Cover the small flame with more birch bark and start applying your layers of tinder.

2. Laundry lint,

This is another tried and true method of being able to create a fire quickly. If you take the lint from your dryer at home, make a ball out of it and keep it scrunched up in a tight ball inside a plastic bag to keep dry then you’ll have the perfect material to make a little nest to use either a bow and spindle, or ferro rod if you have one with you. This works so fast again if you gather some kindling from your surrounding area, you could have a decent fire going within less than a minute. Or take the lint and wrap it around some small twigs and it will hold a flame a little longer.

3. Socks.

If you truly find yourself away from any wooded areas, then look no further than your own footwear. That’s right, your socks are a great resource to pick at and get a fine size lint ball out of in order to get some material that would take a spark and light a fire in no time. If you don’t want to ruin your socks then check in between your toes first, it’s where sock lint loves to gather most. Especially if they are new socks and you’ve been walking in them a while.

Of course I don’t actually think you’ll be doing this but it’s a creative way to find fire starting material when you don’t have any good material around or everything else is wet.