View Full Version : Steel wool starter
Tennessee Viking
01-07-2010, 23:16
I was just watching a bizarre post-apocalypse survival show. Basically 'Man vs Wild' mixed with 'Mad Max.' But it showed a neat little trick called Juicing. Some of the military guys know this.
All you need to do to start a fire is a 9Volt battery and steel wool. You fluff-out the steel wool, and just touch the 9V terminals to the wool. Instant fire starter. Just don't carry both items together in your pack.
but... wouldn't matches or a bic be easier?
Tennessee Viking
01-07-2010, 23:33
Matches would work, but its a neat trick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kuUPGOGuIs
I saw that show too. I thought it was hilarious. When he was eating and lit that sterno to boil his water, he just let the sterno cook away while he was talking to the camera. I kept yelling at him to put out the sterno, but he didn't listen. Too funny.....
YoungMoose
01-07-2010, 23:53
i saw this the other night i want to try it too.
skinewmexico
01-08-2010, 00:19
Cool trick. We did that in Cub Scouts.
SassyWindsor
01-08-2010, 00:35
It's a good trick. Assuming no bic or matches could be found I probably would have opted for a lighter from an auto. Could have ripped out the whole lighter unit and used it over and over with the 12v battery he carried around. Doing the steel wool and a 9v battery(that actually had a charge) was just showing off. Too Hollywood for me.
Hikes in Rain
01-08-2010, 07:05
Yes, I remember learning about that some years ago. It's a really cool trick. I didn't believe it when I read it, so of course I had to try. It was so neat I ran the battery dead doing it over and over, just to make sure it still worked!
And who knows; that knowledge may actually come in handy some day. Until then, it can rest comfortably in the dusty storage bin of useless trivia my brain has become over the years.
Old science project activity.......
Fiddleback
01-08-2010, 11:15
It's a fun and old trick (reminds me of someone I knew...:D).
But while on occasion I sometimes had a 9v battery with me on the trail I don't remember ever carrying steel wool...
FB
I like to hike battery free for some reason, but otherwise its a good trick.
I wonder how many potato batteries it would take to do the same thing.
Of course I tend to hike potato free also for some reason.
a potato wrapped in aluminum foil in the coals of a fire. mannnn you don't know what you're missing jak
brooklynkayak
01-08-2010, 16:03
If I remember correctly, I used a AA with tiny bit of very fine steel wool and it started the fire just fine. Fine steel wool works well as a fire starter, but haven't compared it to a vaseline/cotton ball.
I tried the steel wool and 9 volt. I used old used steelwool and failed to get a reaction like that.
After about 20 minutes I did short it out enough to get a spark to light my fire though...
Has any one tried cotton ball and super glue (http://www.metacafe.com/watch/613004/spontaneous_combustion_how_to/)? That's the next one I'm trying.