Agree, the aluminum foil fire-base in wet conditions is the bomb.

Because of you Chris, i bought my first real good knife. i got the schrade schf37. Im only 13 almost 14 and i watch all of your videos. I really want to get into this kind of thing but i live in southern california so its difficult to go out into the forest without driving 9 hours north. I just wanted to say thank you because you helped me decide what knife i wanted.

Never Dull, Goo Gone, Rem Oil. . . it's amazing how many thing I have around the shop are flammable if not nearly explosive! Not very bushcraft-ish but immensely practical Great video. Thanks for sharing

Celluloid guitar pick is actually quiet easy to start. Curl a few of the edges first. Lights right off the striker. Compact, light, waterproof (it's frickin' plastic!) and burns hot for about 60 sec. (Be sure it's celluloid.)

Nice kits, I also used the tin from a thru nite flashlight for one of my fire setups. Another option for small tins people may have around are pellet containers, they have a nice secure screw on lid. Thanks for all the great vids.

A lot of ideas in a small packaged video. Knowledge plus action equals fires that we can depend on. Thanks this is a good video for all campers, hunters and fishermen as well as preppers.

Char cloth is easy to make and makes a great fire starter also. As always, another great video.

Amen. I'm not trying to do the bow drill thing either. I do like the fire rolling method that David West does. Thank you sharing your own approach. My cancer means I have to work smart, not hard, regardless. My channel is going to be about getting persons with Disabilities out of the house and getting their survival skills up so they're more self-reliant. It's going to improve their health and prevent atrophy of both physical abilities and mental abilities. Prepared Mind pretty much sums it up. If you set your mind to something & develop the resistance to adversity they're going to survive longer and be much happier with their lives. Self defense consists of a lot of different tasks. Not just weapons. Avoiding the life-threatening situations in the first place is winning the fight by not letting it ever get started. Great channel.

any diabetic will have old blood testing meters and they come in nice little pouches that can be used for small kits and they have belt loops on the back too. ..Nice video bty

I really enjoyed this video and you definitely gave a some ideas about storing up fat wood which is one of the items in my fire kits that I prefer the most to start fires with, thank you

Yes!!! You should make that the PM101 motto. Have it....Make it a Habit!! When you do I want a shirt. Thanks again for your channel!!

I like what you're said about the bow drill as fire/maintaining body heat is so important so trying to find the perfect stick that's bent just the right way is impractical compared to using some simple tinder and a match/lighter or feraciriun rod

Get video as always, love the idea for the cotton rounds get way to save space. Also I alway carry a tampon and a pad for medical stuff but nice to see I am not the only one.

Hi Chris I also use home made fire straws that I fill with cotton and vasaline and sometimes I mix some magnesium powder into the mix for a hotter flame does not take up a lot of room and I do the same thing with containers also the old boys out Moto of be prepared always rings true and I have learned to use steel wool pillows about 1inch square made from steel wool and duct tape can be lit with either lighter,match,ferro rod, or battery ( 9 volt ) just split open and start it gets kindling and fire going fast. Keep up the good work and enjoy your dirt time.

There are a few different types of people when it comes to this sorta stuff it seems. You have the preppers who have 5 pounds worth of fire starting gear, the bushcrafters who have 3+ ways of starting a fire plus their bushcraft knowledge, and the ultralight guys who just have a mini bic. I think I fall more in line with the bushcraft mentality. I have storm proof matches, magnifying lenses, flint and steel and a clipper lighter that can both be refueled and have the flint sparker removed to be used separately. For tinder I just have some jute cordage, some char cloth, and some home made fatrope. My fire kit is in a tin so I can use the tin to make more char material later on if I ran out. Small compact kit that should be all I need. EDIT: I forgot to mention that i'm planning on sticking a pencil sharpener in my kit when I find a good metal one. Good for turning small twigs in to tinder.

OB tampons can also be used for their intended purpose. Might save your life if your loved one is in need. My mom was a nurse during WWII. They used the old pads for groin wounds on soldiers. She said those guys would be all sorts of embarrassed.

One thing i always keep in my fire kit is a mini road flare that you can get at walmart in the camping section. Need a fire in a hurry? Pile wood and toss in the flare.... Fire you will have.

I'm really learning a lot from these videos I'm a single father. And I like to sit down with my daughter to look at these videos .so we can both learn I'm trying to make her a small kit so I'm learning from your channel your videos .we spend more time together her and I it's really great father and daughter time .that way if God forbid something happens at least one of us will be prepared. And once again thank you.

that's what I use at the base of a feather stick 100% cotton catches sparks real good

Having practice the Bow Drill in fire making, I agree 100% with you Why ? Struggle trying to MAKE when you can LIGHT A FIRE! Well done presentation. Look forward to watching more of your videos.

Very good !! Some full sizes bic lighters and no cries of issue in doubt in fire starting

I carry a mini road flare, I bought a bunch at Walmart years ago.i vaccum seal it to keep it dry, and that is for a straight up emergency. Fall through ice or into cold water, or a wicked storm pops up, you need fire RIGHT NOW, not 5 minutes from now. Pile any and all wood/tinder soaked or not and it is going.

Great advice as always. Thanks for the ideas.

Good videos. Dig the humor and Mac Guyver mentality. I'm new. Thanks man. Keep killing it

I got one of those clear Witz cases David at Ultimate Survival Tips recommended and carry a Bic, an LMF ferro rod, magnesium match, and stormproof matches for combustion...then there's about 6 tinderquicks, 2 wetfires, and 6 alcohol pads for tinder...that's in my day pack... Valerie is adorable, Chris...you must be a very proud Dad...

that lt wright bushcrafter is a awesome knife. i have one of the originals back when lt was a part of Blind horse knives

Use paraffin wax instead for your cotton rounds. Can buy it at any grocery store, it works just as well, you get a lot of it in one box and it’s cheaper than gel wax at a craft store.

You can also put lamp oil in a liquor bottle small one and carries around now lamp oil in confined spaces with cotton will combust automatically if it's warm enough

Kudos! you gave some really great ideas here that I have not seen before. Thank you.

Put together a quick and dirty One Hand Fire Starter Kit that uses a large Kiwi Shoe Polish tin 2 1/2 Oz. (70 g). And contains a BIC lighter, 2 x 8 Waxed Tinder Sticks by Zippo and UCO StormProof Matches. The Kiwi tin can be used to make "Char Cloth" and opens "One Handed" with the side twiste ! Thank you for a Great Video !Eyes UP and lights down, tjl Sent by Win7Pro64 w/ADSL

Tin foil also great in kit for wind break for tinder lighting and make soft water boiling container or something to drop some tablets in to make water potable in case anyone reading these didn’t know that already great video as always

Hey, Chris... I'm an A.F. combat unit vet who also teaches survival/bushcraft in my area. I watch a lot of your videos and agree with 95% of what you say. I especially agree about the many ways to make fire without friction. One thing I've never seen you say/do... In my edc/survival packs I keep two small vials, one has plain glycerine which is great for chapped lips or other body parts and a vial of potassium permanganate aka "pot perm" aka Condy's crystals. just a couple grains of that renders water drink-safe w/no fire (20-30 min standing time) and a few more crystals makes sterilizing wash for wounds BUT.... if you combine the two together (glycerine on top of the pot perm) it also makes fire! So you have three-purpose items that take little space with no weight for a big impact in your kit and make fire with no strength in all weather. Check it out! By the way, as to your comment... I have a friend with no hands. He works as a mechanic, plays pool and can do with his hook/clamps more than a lot of guys do with ten fingers! Enjoy life... Boomer

Thanks for the video great tip on the ob tampons !

I'm watching this video again, great stuff. Just a suggestion, maybe think about wrapping your tins in orange duct tape instead of electrical tape. Duct tape can catch a spark and be another firestarting option for you. Hobby Lobby sells small 3/4 in wide orange rolls for just a couple of bucks. Great job Chris, keep up the good work!

very cool video thanks helped me get my kit going loads of stuff i found useful and some i didnt know

Very valuable video kids, this is good info. It's videos like this that make me more prepared on a daily basis. Thanks Chris.

Greatest presentation mate. Very cost effective, thanks for sharing your incredible knowledge. "Valerie" the next Kirsten Rechnitz. Go girl.! All the best from Australia. Stay safe.

Those ferrorods are pretty big, and dont work as long as i want in a SHTF situation. I got the Exotac NanoSpark recently, and i really really like this thing..! With some cotton rope in the compartment, it can be used as an improvised "rope lighter" (trench lighter) - or you could make a DIY "permanent match" to fit inside (silica wick never burns up, and can be bought at vape shops for just a few $ per meter), and carry a small 10ml dropper bottle of fuel for alcohol stoves or gasoline. A few drops placed directly on some natural tinder would make it light up really easily without the match, but i still like to have my permanent match inside, as then i can use it to light a candle and stuff like that. 1 liter of fuel is enough for lighting this match probably well over 1000 times (depending on the wick size), so thats a very cheap way of prepping enough firestarting material to last for several years 👍

The aluminum foil trick I've used that to. People it works everytime.

Great info. Thanks for sharing.

The alcohol swabs can be with or without glycerin. I guess the ones with glycerin burns best. They put it in so your skin dont dry out.

I really appreciate your no bullshit mentality. Always have since day 1!

6:57 Cotton face wipes. No need to buy - just nick a few every now and then from the wife! She won't even notice! ;-) A refinement on that is a little squirt from a hand sanitizer bottle, rubbed in guarantees a first time flame, but I see yours worked fine, even without that. Ditto with the tampon idea! Great one. I agree with you; get me a fire now. I cannot even imagine going out anywhere without a lighter or two - either Bic or a Jet lighter, preferably both, and a spare. Keep the spare in a Zip-loc bag! (For those many detractors who always bring up the "not waterproof" excuse. That's just dumb. ) Wow! That mini lighter is cute - haven't seen that before. (I was not impressed with the mini Bic - maybe it was a dud.) One of my mates gave me a ribbing about Altoids tins, and showed me his alternative. Tupperware!! Their containers are indestructible, and readily available (right in your own kitchen! Just wait till the wife is not around!) They have an amazingly wide range of shapes and sizes, and they are totally waterproof. Lightning strike - don't like it. For one thing it needs two hands! One can buy half a dozen Jet lighters for the same price. Another space saver is the humble plastic school pencil sharpener! With twigs you can very quickly make up a pile of excellent fine tinder, and it's sustainable. It was interesting to me that I saw no candle type things. Now, tea lights are great, dirt cheap (unless you nick some from the Christmas left-overs! She won't notice!) and burn damn hot. Great for getting kindling going strongly. The British Army Arctic Survival candles are superlative. Two of these going in a two-man tent will keep a man alive for a whole night in sub-zero C temperatures! That's no BS they've proved it, and you can even eat them to provide calories! Bulky though, so not too good for this application, it's true. So, to sum up, there are stacks of ways to do this and one needs to sift through and include those that work best in your circumstances. You really have some interesting ideas!

very informative video, thank you Chris for your input

11:24 My TFC for my hands to work idea for zips, sharpen the wooden end of a strike anywhere match and press it through the zip lengthwise

Really like the lighting strike

Outstanding ! You gave me a few new ideas. How about wrapping never dull around some fat wood then seal it up with tinfoil ? Nail polish on wood matches works good too. Thanks again ... S/F !

It's definitely good to have various methods for making a fire, a good knife or two, and other "survival" equipment, especially if your going out into the wilderness. By that I mean putting some major distance between you and your vehicle. But what I haven't seen discussed very much, if any, is the importance of one of the "primary" tools I think one should always have when going out into the "wilderness", and that is a good old fashioned compass, (along with their electronic GPS type devices, if they choose to carry them too). Also, always let someone know where you'll be going and when you plan on returning.

Well done Valerie!!!!

Great video Chris. Agree on carrying tampons. So many uses, however I still get looks from the wife ;)

Get a wax warmer for the vaseline and melt it down then dip those cotton rounds in it and repeat with the wax to water proof it. It's less messy

I use the small bag from HD. You buy the three bag kits from the tool section and I never had a use for the small bag. Now I do. It holds my tinder, lighter, f-rod....

i got like an uber redundant fire kit but then again, can never go wrong with having a dozen or more ways to create a fire cause when you reach for that fire making kit, chances are things ain't going too well

This is one of the best fire kits videos I've seen in a while. Thanks!

Another great informative vid. Peace from the UK.

The bow drill. Not my first choice, but it is a skill to have. It is not a fire tool for survival or emergency use, rather it is a tool for sustainability. I much prefer something fast and easy to get a fire going. A piece of knowledge to add to any firemaking skill set would be making and using a fire roll. Great video! Keep up the good work.

I agree be prepared. But just a thought.... after you start your fire with all your store bought goods and setup camp, take the time to learn the primitive ways. That's a great way to conserve resources and only use your surefire methods when you need them most.

Thanks Chris for the aluminum foil trick that's Awesome I can put that in with my plastic bags

Im glad to see you back to your roots, I watch all of your videos, but I don't comment much. i love the reviews but you are prepared mind 101, not knife reviews 101 , so i really enjoyed this video.

Like the knife sir, thanks for sharing friend have a great day brother man

Chris you should check out a product called HELLS FIRE. That stuff is nuts. Burns super hot for several minutes. Bout the only thing I could compare it to is a road flare for starting a fire.

Thanks again !

When firewood is down to pencil thickness, use a small hammer, and hammer the outside surface into a loose fiber surface. You can make even further fine fibrous fatwood sticks, much like fatwood cotton fibers. You can then have all kinds of fineness and thickness of fatwood slivers and fibers for a very fast tinder fire start.

Great vid! V interested in the Never Dull - not seen this used as a firestarter before. I'm putting both a mini bic AND a 'jet' style lighter in all my kits - bit bulky but the Bic's there for the reliability and the jet works much better in the wind - you'd have to be kinda UNLUCKY for them both to fail....

Great, essential video, Chris. Good work. We're all surrounded by flammable material and items. Office workers who are 'preppers' should clean out the office pencil sharpeners. Slivers of really dry wood mixed with graphite; both burn well. You can literally process hundreds of cotton rounds or cotton buds with a light, quick spray from a spray can of olive oil; wrap in tin foil and they'll be good for years. Your new intro fanfare is awesome; serious percussion!

Hey try using lint from the dryer and soak it in wax. U xan get minutes of glorious fires and heat. They will last until the tinder and sticks catch fire.

Fantastic kit!

Great video as usual...thanks

Thx for the info

Great video mate really good ideas there priceless

Great video Chris

14:08 I though for sure that one tinderquik would end up lighting your entire kit lol

thank you

Hey again, Chris. Once you try the two products, both separately and together, you'll see the usefulness of both. The glycerin is found in health and beauty sections of grocery and drug stores for skin care, Home brew suppliers as a finishing agent for distilling, Dollar stores, Walmart, etc. This product is good for chapped lips and other areas which is great if you are stuck in a hot climate and start chaffing in bad places. it's also used as a vehicle for applying different curatives to the skin. The potassium permanganate is found in water filtration systems, at fish (pet) suppliers, in most flower - fresh packets that comes w/a bouquet of flowers and in bulk form from 8 oz. to 20 lbs. on eBay, etc. The common and broad range of uses for the products means you can find them readily which is what makes it such a useful knowledge tool to have in your bag of tricks. The fact thst you can use them to build fire with one hand and no physical exertion (if you have injured/frozen fingers or hands and can't use a striker) in any weather is important. Simply put a nickel sized spot on your fire base (leaf, etc.) and add a few drops of glycerin on top, very lightly mix and wait for a few seconds. a very small amount will produce a surprising amount of heat. Experiment with amount/ratio for different affects. In a quart container of water add just a few, like three or four of the small grains of pot perm (aka Condy's crystals) shake well (the water will turn light pink) and let sit for 30 min to kill waterborne pathogens. Add a little more in a smaller amount of water (it will turn purple) for a sterile wash for cleaning wounds, use as a mouthwash when getting dirty water in mouth and ears, etc. Starting fires with the stuff is addictive. *laugh * I officially challenge you to try this out and if you provide me with an address I will send you a small amount to try out. A very small tube of each, small enough to fit in an Altoids tin w/plenty of room to spare, is a great addition to your EDC kit and cud save a life in an urban crisis situation (read Katrina /Sandy) The glycerin is only a couple bucks for an 8oz. bottle. The pot perm is a little more expensive but 8 oz. lasts a Looong long time when used for survival type situations. Thanks again for a great channel. "Boomer"

Lol. Those OB plugs work well as ear plugs too!

How about a vid on home preparedness? What happens when the lights go out? Like me, you live in tornado alley, how would you heat? Cook? Light the way? What about a winter snowstorm? A town just northeast of me in southwest Michigan went six days at Christmas with no power last year. Just some ideas. I'd like to see your take on the subject! Great kits man.

I have a small case, about the size of an altoids tin with some matches, a lighter, a ferro rod, a Swiss army knife, vaseline and cotton balls in tin foil, tinder quiks, alcohol wipes and about 30cm squared aluminium foil. Everything's in ziploc bags because the case isn't 100% waterproof. I've taken it out and tested it in different conditions and it works well for me.

I love your motto 'WORK SMART, not hard !!" LMAO...Pyromaniac..lol good one Fantastic options you demo in your vid..thank you cheers ;-)

Thanks Chris. I have been using many of your suggestions already like the cotton round makeup applicators.Wow they light up fine even without petroleum jelly. Being diabetic i have lots of those alcohol preps on hand. I have used squares made from heavy duty oven foil to make base for my home made alcohol stoves but i had not thought of including one in my fire kit. Great idea. I have tampons in my emergency first aid kit but had not thought to put one in fire kit too. I need to acquire some fatwood. I see on wiki it is made from the heart of pine trees. I live in Cheryville, NC and i am right next to a stand of pine trees. Is it possible to harvest some fatwood from a fallen pine tree? Hey, I'm not cheap.....I'm just poor. Living on SSI i need to stretch whats left after rent and food. ( By the way I moved here in May of 2014...took me 6 months to realize we locals call our town " Cherr'ville " The Y is more implied than pronounced. Thanks for the great vids Chris.

I got the chance to use it already and i just got it today. ive already started to cut down some of a bird of paradise thats 20 feet high!

Well done! Always have at least 3 ways to make fire, i.e.: lighter, matches, ferro rod etc..You might want to consider a small container with isopropyl alcohol with small soft wood splinters/tooth picks soaking in it (Dave Pearson), not to mention it's use in first aid, just a thought about multiple uses.

Don't stick anything in the nostils for bleeding. Instead put ice on the bridge of the nose to constrcit the capillaries that are bleeding or wet gauze inside the upper lip and apply pressure. Do not tilt the head back either. Enjoyed the video. You should do a video on the Gastapper, a 12V quality gas siphon. In time of Disaster, a quality electric powered siphon is a Golden Prep item to have. Keep up the good work.

On a side note on the fat wood buy a cheap candle and rub it all over it helps from drying out👊

Great video bro

Awesome video

Most people don't know that they're aluminum rims have magnesium in them and you can use that start your fire by scraping the rims

BTW have you checked out the Ribz front pack? it reminds me of some of the old military load bearing harnesses. its a great pack to keep all of your vital stuff in

I heard smokes are pretty good survival "tool" aswell. Can use the filter as tinder, can stuff the tabacoo in your wounds, you can also transport fire fairly well with a lit smoke too.

I also use the tampons in my fire kits along with my first aid kit along with the ultra thin panty liners ( non perfumed ) they make fantastic large emergency bandages but I am trying to find the live fire for my fire kit also another thing if you do it right I also UAE the cotton rounds with Vaseline and magnesium add into it I make the powder form of it from the rods and bars and after dip them in wax to water proof. Them I carry them in a small zip lock baggie for some what bad weather they work great. but like I said I can't find the live fire where do I find it? Alsofantastic channel keep up the good work.

Excelente....felicitaciones...👏👏👏👏👏👏....muy buena clase.....saludos desde Argentina 🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Holy crap, epic intro... Great video as usual too.

Here's my suggestion. Incorporate some potassium nitrate (KNO3), aka "saltpeter," into the kit. It's the main ingredient in black powder, and is used in many other pyrotechnic compositions. It's an oxidizing agent, and when mixed with a combustible material, will cause the latter to burn vigorously when ignited. Where to get it? It's sold as tree stump remover in hardware stores, and even, Walmart. Just be sure to check the label for the ingredient, since not all tree stump removers are KNO3.

Sterilize water. Distillation or filtration will purify water. Sorry for the nit-pick. But I've been hearing a lot of people saying "purify by boiling" on the prepper tubes lately. Great information and recommendations!

I've been thinking about fire-starting recently and it seems that the cigarette lighter is sometimes overlooked (not by you, but I've seen people who have omitted them). Obviously a lighter is not much good without tinder and so a lot of importance should be placed on that (and when in a survival situation, the acquisition of more), but a lighter will get you a lot of easy lights before it is expended and it can also help your tinder become more flammable by holding the button of the lighter briefly with your tinder near the nozzle. Another good thing about a lighter is that it is operated by one hand, so you can make use of your other hand to sheild your tinder from the wind. In that sense I'd be more inclined to save it for when other methods are troublesome. If you have two lighters and the flint fails on one, you can use the spark from the other lighter's flint to ignite the first lighter when depressing the gas button. This is handy if one lighter has gas but the flint has failed and the other lighter is empty but has a working flint. I found out that trick because I smoke. Smokers can get pretty creative when caught without a lighter lol.

plus the string can be a wick if making a candle with it

Need to update my kits to add a couple items mentioned, thanks.

Tried a buddy burner, good fuel its best used with a lighter. All it is; is cardboard-box and wax.

you should invest in an engraver or a label maker so you don't have to play the guessing game when it comes to your taped shut cases

Three things that I always keep in my wallet are a Tool Logic Survival Card (small ferro rod, small serrated knife, button compass, 8x magnifying glass, whistle, tweezers & a tooth pick), a Victorinox SwissCard Lite (letter opener/small knife, scissors, straight pin, pressurized ballpoint pen, tweezers, 5x magnifying glass, a few different screwdrivers and an LED light) and a small zip-lock style bag with a few Tinder-Quiks inside. (I actually got the Tinder-Quik idea from Chris.) These all fit very easily into my wallet and have the potential to save a life one day, maybe even my own. Regarding the Tool Logic Survival Card, while I've not had any trouble with mine, I'm told that the ferro rod will sometimes pop off, so you might want to check yours to make sure it's securely in place before putting it into your wallet. It's also available as the Survival Card II with an LED light in place of the button compass & magnifying glass. BTW, I like practicing the bow drill, hand drill, flint & steel and all that, but if you ever find yourself in the woods needing -- not wanting, needing -- to start a fire by friction, you need to slap yourself because you've done something very, very stupid!

Alcohol swabs are good idea but you got to be careful which ones you buy cuz they tend to dry out after 6 months in the package you'd be better off carrying a small metal bottle or glass bottle like a alcohol bottle once you get done with your Jagermeister or whatever brand you drink refill a bottle with 100% rubbing alcohol throw it in the pack or any fire kit don't forget your magnifying glass