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Make a Fire

Learn critical fire building skills, primitive fire making, starting a fire with flint and steel, and making fire under emergency conditions, including rain and snow.

Modify Zippo lighter for survival fire making

Five tips to modify a Zippo lighter for survival fire making

600 300 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Modify a Zippo lighter to be a more reliable source of fire in your survival kit. Learn why a Zippo is better than matches and a Bic lighter when needing to start a fire in an emergency. Pimp your Zippo to up your survival game.

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Pitchwood can usually be found at the base of a dead stick on a live tree.

How to: Find pitchwood, a natural, effective firestarter

571 400 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

If you are in an area with pine trees, you can probably find pitchwood, one of the most effective waterproof firestarters ever.

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Video: Try this easy way to make effective survival firestarter

600 400 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

One of the cheapest – and most effective – firestarters is cotton balls infused with petroleum jelly. Here is how to avoid the mess.

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Feather sticks make good firestarting materials and they are easy to carve.

Five tips to make better feather sticks for firemaking

600 318 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Suppose you need to start a fire, it’s been raining, and all the sticks are wet. Here’s how to make dry firestarting materials.

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build a fire, survival fire making, best fire making tools

Survival fire making | Old time flint and steel can be a lifesaver

600 300 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

One of the most effective methods of starting a survival fire is also one of the oldest – flint and steel.  Here is why you should consider adding a F&S kit to your survival gear.

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build a fire, survival fire making, best fire making tools

Video | Five tips to know about using a ferrocerium rod for emergency fire making

600 300 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Your survival gear is as effective as your ability to use. Here is how to use a ferrocerrium rod to make sparks for firemaking.

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Video: Make safe, waterproof survival fire starter out of throwaway recyclable materials

414 400 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Survival gear doesn’t have to be expensive – it just has to work. This very effective – and waterproof – fire starter is easily made out of throwaway recyclable materials you probably already have.

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make recycled fire starter, make firestarter, best survival firestarter

Video: Surefire way to start a survival fire in standing water or really wet conditions

600 300 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

The more desperately you need a survival fire, the harder it will be to start one. That’s Murphy’s Law, and it is generally true. Here are three common items that virtually guarantee that you can get a fire started, even under really adverse conditions. In this case, the technique is used in standing water.

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Top five reasons to include a ferro rod in your survival kit

541 400 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

What is the best survival firestarting method? My money is on the ferrocerium (also commonly referred to as a flint or magnesium stick) rod. Here are five reasons you need one.

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water heater, find urban water, emergency water sources

Five tips for accessing the water stored in a water heater during an emergency

600 300 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

You have a large reservoir of potable water in your house, just waiting to be tapped. Here’s how to use the reserve stored in the water heater when an emergency happens.

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