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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.

Dry sticks can be found in wet situations if you know where to look.

Five tips for finding dry sticks in wet weather

600 338 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Murphy’s Law states that the more desperately you need a fire, the harder it will be to build one. Most firemaking lessons stop with the initial ignition. But that first flame won’t last long if you don’t have dry sticks to feed the fire. Here’s how to find them.

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Be careful! Avoid these five fire safety bad habits

600 300 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

As a prepper/bushcrafter/survivalist, you may be familiar with the idea of starting and maintaining campfires. But what about fire safety?

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Video: Find the right rocks for flint and steel firemaking

600 400 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Flint and steel is one of the oldest methods of starting a fire. Here is how to find a rock that will help you create that initial spark.

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This standard money belt with zipper can carry several survival tools.

Make emergency kits | Use a concealed money belt to carry survival gear

480 300 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

A belt can do much more than hold up your pants. Work it right, and a standard money belt can be a component in your personal survival kit.

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Survival fire making videos: What ignition system should you carry?

448 325 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Your ability to start a fire can save your life! The inability can cost it! Here are some common methods, and how well they work.

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make charcloth, survival firemaking

How to Make Charcloth: A miracle material for catching sparks and making fire

600 300 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Catching a spark and blowing it into a flame is a skill that can save your life. Charcloth is a material that has been “cooked” like charcoal is at high temperatures until it becomes black. Properly-made charcloth will easily catch a spark and grow into an ember. This ember can be transferred to a tinder bundle and blown into a flame.

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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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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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