Making your own fire starter kit

Every camping enthusiast is probably going through their list of items that they’ll need this upcoming trip. We’re here to make the task a little easier and help you put together an entire fire starter kit for yourself. There’s a few things to consider for your kit, like if you want the contents waterproofed or the bag itself to be waterproofed. Regardless of which you’ll be doing or what you’ll be including, we’re here to help make your next fire starter kit be the best one.

Waterproofing you fire starter kit

The first thing you want to consider, in my opinion, is how you want to waterproof your kindling. I personally used the bag seen in the picture (I am NOT a veteran, I just prefer tactical bags like these) and some ziploc bags for the different pieces of my fire starter kit for years. It’s a very thrifty and cost-effective option to getting a waterproof bag but a lot of time that just isn’t enough or the kindling pokes through the baggies. I’m personally going for this HEETA bag and I feel fairly confident about this purchase.

I went for the 5L bag and that should be plenty of room for the fire starter kit we’re needing this for.

Kindling

The next part is getting the kindling. This can usually be done around where you live. Just get some dry grass, pine cones, small twigs and even pine needles are all awesome kindling to have on you during a camping trip. I would almost say that having pine needles in your fire starter kit is a necessity, considering how easily they ignite.

The next necessity is usually either a lighter or a flint and steel set. I would honestly suggest checking out our shop for a Lighter Sleeve to protect your lighter and a flint and steel set. You could just find the flint out in nature and use a knife if you want. Those do tend to require some prior knowledge on what kind of rock features to look for and where though. So if you would rather purchase a flint and steel set, here’s this one from Amazon that my friend used for a good two years before needing to replace it.

Another part that you might want to consider for your fire starter kit is rope or a wad of twine possibly. Something to give the fire a bit more easily processed fuel while you’re trying to get it fully ignited on the wood you’ve selected. You could also purchase a hatchet or include a hatchet in the fire starter kit too. The reason I bring up a hatchet is because you can make a kindling log to make the fire ignite a good bit easier. Just take the wood piece you are working with, lay it down on the wood chopping surface where your hand is holding the opposite end of what you are chopping into. Once the hatchet is lodged enough in the wood, grab both the hatchet and the wood and slam them onto the wood chopping surface. For a better idea, the video below provides more insight into this.

Ignition

If you just need one that is all put together already without getting any extra pieces, I would suggest this one with a natural piece of flint and a nice steel striker. If this article produces enough, I’m going to buy this steel striker kit and include it in my fire starter kit. Regardless of which methods of ignition you choose, you are going to need at least two separate ones, possibly three if you want to be safe.

I hope you found this article insightful and if you have any thoughts about this, please feel free to leave a comment below or sign up for our newsletter to see more articles like this. We usually post an article every 2 weeks about camping in general. Please also check out our shop as we are a new company trying to make it in this world.

Again, thank you for reading though.

Written by Jake Cannon from Valhalla Computers