Thursday, July 2, 2015

How To Have Fun Making A Survival Firestarter

By Dorthy Lloyd


Whether you are a hard-core prepper or a happy camper, you are going to need a means of starting a fire. Whether you are planning a camping trip, getting organized for coping with a natural disaster, or making your bugout kit for last-minute evacuating, an essential element in your kit is therefore going to be a survival firestarter. Why? You need it for preparing food, boiling water for washing (or for delivering babies) and for disposing of rubbish.

Fire starters are readily available commercially at prices to suit every budget. Even the expensive ones are within most preppers' reach. A popular type of fire starter comes in the form of a bracelet that is made up of several feet of parachute cord, which can be used to drag stuff behind you, tie stuff together or use as a clothesline.

Other manufacturers incorporate a fire starter as part of a larger kit, like a sewing kit. One kit includes a carabiner and several feet of tightly-coiled paracord. Note, you will never, ever get that cord wound the same compact way ever again. This particular kit also comes with alcohol wipes, wire, needles and other useful items.

The problem with buying a commercial gadget is that, after factoring in the costs of food, water purification tablets, first aid kits, and so on, prepping can get very expensive very fast. As an alternative to a store-bought fire starter, why not make your own out of dryer lint. Strike a flint over a very small parcel of lint and it will ignite quickly and burn cleanly.

With a dryer lint fire starter, there is no complex preparation. All you have to do is have a lightweight plastic case at the ready and a stack of fluffy towels to launder. You can even get the kids involved by helping you get ready for your camping trip, even if it's just in your back yard. They will learn two useful skills: how to launder clothes and how to make a free fire starter.

Dryer lint has an enormous safety advantage in that you don't need kerosene, lighter fluid or other flammable liquid to set it on fire. This makes it a perfect substance with which to teach your kids how to start a campfire. Make sure you make it clear that they are never to practice the art without an adult, and a fire extinguisher, present.

If you are preparing lint for survival purposes, you may want a good two-week or more supply. Take the tedium out of it by sorting your laundry to make different colors of dryer lint. Get the kids to compete with each other to see who can make the most of 'their' color or who can come up with the best mixture of colors. They will learn the science of color and you won't have to wash a load of clothes, towels or bed linen for weeks.

And there you have it, fun, free survival prep. Not only will you have all the fire you need to cook, keep warm and boil water for washing, you will be sparing the environment the build-up of dryer lint. Happy camping!




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