View Full Version : what do you use to light your stove..matches? butane ligher?
Sounds like a silly question perhaps but i actually pose it seriously. What do you use to light your camp stove when backpacking? matches? waterproof matches? the cheap light and long butane lighters one can fine at a hardware store for 3 bucks? the compact windproof butane lighter you can get from EMS for 30 bucks?
how bout the scenario when it is cold wet and miserable and the stove absolutely HAS to work?
Currently, I use the 3 dollar long butane lighter from the hardware store. Keeps hands away from the stove. But i think I would want matches as back up. i have tried that EMS lighter and find it tempermental and you best be quick if the stove flares up!!!
thoughts and feedback appreaciated.
David
freefall
01-28-2006, 00:25
I always carry a lighter(smoker) and use it most of the time. I do have some waterproof matches that I carry as well. If those fail, well, dry ramen tastes like crap but it swells in the stomach and is filling.
hammock engineer
01-28-2006, 00:26
I was at a talk that Risk was doing last fall. He used a mall piece of magnessium (I think) and alcohol. He would put some alcohol on his candle, then use his knife against the mag to make sparks and light the alcohol.
Seems like a great waterproof method.
freefall
01-28-2006, 00:28
I was at a talk that Risk was doing last fall. He used a mall piece of magnessium (I think) and alcohol. He would put some alcohol on his candle, then use his knife against the mag to make sparks and light the alcohol.
Seems like a great waterproof method.
Almost forgot I do have some mag. in my first aid kit. I was always taught to have 3 sources of ignition when baqckpacking.
For my Zip Stove I use a wooden match, since it will reach below the fuel to reach the paper or birch bark I use as tinder. If things are really wet, sometimes I even use two or three matches as additional tinder. I also carry a butane lighter as backup.
A match is also best for my white gas-fueled whisper light. It keeps my fingers an inch or two away from the flames.
Weary
just thought i would mention..i use an msr whisperlite stove.
I usually use the smallest disposable lighter I can find. Sparks will light white gas and alcohol usually even if the lighter is out of fuel. Don't get the flint wet, however, or you won't get a spark. That's why I always carry one in my mess kit with my stove in a plastic bag. Not much of chance getting wet in there. I also have a Windmill windproof lighter. Heavier, but better in the wind (I know - DUHHHHHHH!).:D
According to this:
http://www.trackertrail.com/survival/fire/cokeandchocolatebar/
...all you need is a can of Coke and a chocolate bar!
Seems like a pretty unlikely and impractical solution to me, but just in case, I started another thread on this subject:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12483
I use an alcohol stove - for warmer times I use a Spark-Lite spark wheel (think lighter without the fuel or wick) and in colder times or as a backup to the Spark-Lite I use small matches (strike on the box type)
Thanks for the link to the trackertrail site. That is some awesome stuff. I am going to get at least half a day's fun at the next scout camping trip out of it.
I've been disappointed more than once with matches, even the waterproof type. So, I use a lighter. Bic's have the best reputation. Because they don't always work when the flint gets wet, I carry a back-up deep with my emergency and repair gear.
jasonklass
01-28-2006, 11:43
Until I can figure out how to attach a Piezo ingnition system to my alcohol stove, it's a Bic for me.
Bic lighter, always in my pocket even though I don't smoke. For backup or emergency: In the pack I got extra lighter in waterproof pouch, waterproof matches (extra dip in melted paraffin makes them burn longer and hotter), magnesium block.
Alcohol stove.
3 bic (Type) lighters. 1 in cook set, 1 (mini) in TP zip lock, 1 (mini) in Sporran (pocket on front of kilt). As stated before, the flint will light the stove most times. And, most times that is how I light it, I don't press the fuel "thingy" on the lighter, just use the striker. The flame from the lighter I use on really cold days as it warms the alcohol enough to light.
There is, just in case, a 1/2 pack of matches in the first aid Zip Lock.
Doctari.
In reference to Coke can bottoms for fire starting. Fire is easily started, however to get the sucker polished you really need professional abrasives, etc. A parabolic reflector is a great way to start fires, however no good for using as a rescue mirror, use a flat mirror for that one. I'm going to try and polish a can bottom and, after removing the bottom from the can, use it for emergency fire starting. Sure beats the shoe-string and bow technique.
jackiebolen
01-28-2006, 13:10
I use a lighter and don't carry back-up. The trail is generally busy enough that if need be, someone can lend you a source of fire if yours is down and out.
gr8fulyankee
01-28-2006, 13:17
I use a lighter and White gas to light my stove :D
How about Liquid Nitrogen?
http://www.doeblitz.net/ghg/grill.jpg
http://www.doeblitz.net/ghg/grill.mpeg
:bse
Bic lighter, always in my pocket even though I don't smoke. For backup or emergency: In the pack I got extra lighter in waterproof pouch, waterproof matches (extra dip in melted paraffin makes them burn longer and hotter), magnesium block.
Wow fiddler..I guess you are making sure! You got back ups for the back ups!!
I guess the lessen or moral of the story is better to pack a few extra ounces to be sure stove lights than to save few and go hungry!!
I think on my hike I am going to do something similar..though perhaps not to same extent. A lighter And matches should be packed. The lighter COULD run out of fuel..and if it does it will happen surely at worst possible time---that murpheys law thing!!
DavidNH
irritable_badger
01-28-2006, 16:10
If your Bic gets wet and will not light it is 99% probable that it is simply the striking wheel that is wet. It cannot make enough friction against the flint to make sparks. If you remove (break off) the metal "safety" clip on top of the lighter and rub the striking wheel around on something dry (pants, shirt) several times it will dry and light just fine. This works instantly after submerging a Bic too so a bit of rain is not an issue.
Wow fiddler..I guess you are making sure! You got back ups for the back ups!!
Well, I always got the Bic in the pocket, in the house and everywhere else. Bic and matches in pack, matches in case bic don't work. Mag block, half ounce, as a last resort.
Whistler
01-28-2006, 17:30
I use an alcohol stove. I prefer a small book of matches, the folding-flap kind, not the sliding-box kind. I keep one with the kitchen, and a back-up or two buried and sealed with other back-up stuff. You can usually find them free at drug stores, gas stations, restaurants...
-Mark
River Runner
01-28-2006, 22:11
I usually use the small wooden matches, and have waterproof/windproof ones for back-up use. I've carried a small lighter, but I don't like having my fingers that close when I light my alcohol stove. I also have carried a small extension butane lighter (the extension slides in for storage and out to use), but I've found it not very dependable - seems like it never wants to keep the flame lit when I need it. I really think I'm just going to go exclusively with matches from now on.
irritable_badger
01-28-2006, 22:36
I didn't state it earlier but I use a Bic lighter for my Whisperlite Intl. I carry two in case I lose one or someone else is in need. A basic Bic lighter (one of the full size models about 3" long) is one of the most indestructible and reliable things on the planet; all for about $1. With the exception of crushing, you just about cannot break them. It does not matter how wet it gets, even submerged for days it can be easily dried in about 5 seconds and they are very user serviceable with a pocketknife (you can take one apart to make a repair kit that weighs nothing and will keep you in fire until the gas is depleted. Take the flint, spring, and striking wheel out of your donor unit). It works better in the wind than matches, it's always handy to light up other peoples smokes with and you get a consistent flame size (unlike the flare-up's with matches) so as long as you don't put too much fuel in your stove during the pre-heat phase you don't have to worry about burning/exploding yourself.
Also, in the event your gas lighter ever stops sparking (no flint, broken wheel supports, etc...) you can still make it light by depressing the gas lever and getting the lighter near any kind of spark or existing flame (flint or mag block). Not "pretty" but it sure beats making sparks over tinder for an hour in the wind.
Useless factoid: Did you know that the Bic company is actually spelled "Bich" but the name was changed for the American market when the French company decided the uncouth Americans would associate the lighters with "Bitch" and it would effect sales.
i carry two mini-Bics... one in my cookset, and a spare in my oddment bag.
i was in the army for a number of years... sometimes we stayed wet for days. never had a problem with a bic lighter failing to function, even wet, muddy, or frozen... all you had to do was dry off the striker wheel, and it would eventually spark, even without gas.
i use an MSR Simmerlite sometimes, and just light it straight off the bic.
i usually use an alcohol stove. there, i dip my finger in the pool of fuel in the middle, touch the edge of the can creating an alcohol trail, and then light it... that flame then jumps down inside the pool and lights it... keeps me from having to stick the lighter down inside the stove.
River Runner
01-29-2006, 03:41
Good idea about the alcohol trail Seeker. I'll use that one.
If you can remove or notch the metal shield from the striker side of an empty bic lighter this would shoot the sparks straight out, making it easier to start fires with said spark.
Good idea about the alcohol trail Seeker. I'll use that one.
i've been watching yosemite sam and bugs bunny do gunpowder trails way too long!:D
(actually, i discovered it by accident one day when i set my fingers on fire, not realizing they had alcohol on them and getting them too close to the fuel reservoir when i lit it... )
Footslogger
01-30-2006, 18:38
I've been using just the long stick matches but one suggest I saw really makes sense. That is to dip a stick (found laying on the ground) into your alcohol, light it with a small butane ligher and then use it to ignite the stove.
On my thru I used only the wooden stick matches and always had to buy more in town (since I only carried what would fit in the round orange waterproof container I had. This way I could lose the container and the matches all together and just carry a lighter.
'Slogger
mweinstone
01-30-2006, 18:43
i use a four hundred thousand dollar sulfer converter witch draws power directly from the earths core utilizing much the same tecniques as magnito used against professer x in last months issue.seriously though ,...got a light
?i use regular paper matches and a candle dripped on toilet paper if needed.i do have a mini bic in case of extream partying.