Beginners Firesteel and Tinder Kit for Bushcraft,

You can see from the details that the range of contents and specifications exceeds other kits.

This kit is intended to allow you to practice several methods of fire lighting and includes cards with some basic information.

Practice makes perfect. After all most of the items in the kit have numerous potential uses, the more ways you know to start a fire the greater your chances of success. Knowledge is power! You will probably notice that most kits are put together based on the preferences of the seller, or the Ministry of Defence.

This kit is put together based on what the experts, John "Lofty" Wiseman; Ray Mears etc. have tried and tested.

Beginners Firesteel and Tinder kit Weighs approx. 184g and contains:

Pouch: (Please Note these may vary in style)

This kit is provided in a Quality belt pouch

Hint Cards (In the pouch):

There are 3 cards in this pack that give hints or reminders of basic fire lighting and cooking skills; these are not intended to be comprehensive.

The cards are laminated and are splash resistant.

A Tin (110mm x 80mm x 24mm) with a flip lip and volume of 150ml.

You may want to tape up the tin to make it watertight before carrying it during your chosen adventure.

Fire starters

• Firesteel. When the flint is struck against the steel, or vice versa, a spark is thrown. The tinder can be used to catch the spark; however char cloth only needs one spark and it starts glowing like the end of a cigarette. If you blow on the lit char cloth it starts to burn quickly.

• The tinder should be shredded up and unravelled and formed into a sort of nest. Once your char cloth catches a spark put the char cloth in the 'nest' on top of kindling wood. Blow on the char cloth and it will light the rest of the tinder.
• Put more kindling on top as it catches alight and you can build a fire from there.
• Alternatively you can use the magnifying glass instead of the flint and steel; simply focus the Sun onto char cloth until it catches. Or you could use the matches Fire steel and scraping blade. If you have ever used one of these, you know that loops and handles are not necessary and you can save the weight and space.
• Thousands of lights! When you scrape them with a piece of hard steel such as the back of a knife or hacksaw blade, these emit long lasting sparks of over 3000 degrees.

• A Credit card sized Fresnel lens fire Starter, made from PVC, is a great back up fire starter and will fit practically anywhere as they are only approx 0.4mm thick. It is small, flat, and light. Some practice is required and of course needs a sunny day for it to work. 

• Bag of 6 storm matches and piece of wet and dry paper for striking. These matches are stronger than ordinary matches as they have extra long heads and will continue to burn for approx 8 seconds even in strong winds and rain. They have been varnished and so are are windproof, waterproof, and can't be blown out when lit. I understand that these are exactly the same as those issued to the military, but haven't been able to confirm that.

Tinder

In harsh conditions you may well need that little extra to help start a fire quickly so as well as the char cloth, cotton wool and jute you would expect we have included, Maya sticks, Magnesium, Vaseline.

• Four lengths of Jute, approximately 10cm long. When the fibres are teased out into a ball, jute makes fantastic tinder. Jute is 100% natural tinder (it looks just like sisal) and is an excellent tinder material to use when blowing coals from Flint and Steel, Bow Drill, and Hand Drills into flames. Jute fibre is 100% biodegradable and recyclable, making it environmentally friendly.

• Char cloth in 15ml aluminium screw top tin 40mm in diameter and 20mm high with the lid on. Char cloth (also called charpaper) is cotton cloth that has been combusted in the absence of oxygen. It is easily ignited and is used as tinder, often in conjunction with Flint and Steel or other fire starters. Char cloth does not burn with an open flame; it burns slowly as a hot ember like the end of a cigarette. Even small pieces of char cloth will burn long enough to be used to light a fire.
• 2 Maya sticks approx. 9cm long and approx. 20g in total. This is a natural product so contents will vary, I always round up! They are extremely easy to light and work even when wet. The wood is shaved with a knife and the shavings used to start the fire; so each stick will start a number of fires. All natural and environmentally friendly Maya Sticks are made from Pino De Ocote (fatwood pine). They are Easy to light even in wet conditions because of their 80% resin content and produce extremely hot flames. A must for your fire lighting tinder kit. The ultimate way to start a fire in any weather and it is natural.

• Hexamine powder in a tubular plastic container; these are approximately 10mm diameter and 42mm long and contain approx. 1.3g of powder. The powder is the perfect accompaniment for any fire lighting equipment, be it a fire steel, lighter, matches. You do not need much of this at all to get your fire started. Usually this is achieved by placing a small amount in a tinder 'nest' and then igniting. The powder can also be used on its own for heating or cooking.
• Magnesium powder in a tubular plastic tube; these contain approx. 1.5g of powder. The powder is the perfect accompaniment for any fire lighting equipment, be it a fire steel, lighter, matches. You do not need much of this at all to get your fire started. It can be used to quickly light a signal fire. Be aware that this burns very hot and bright, and is likely to spit, so please take care of your eyes and other body parts! When wet this powder will give off an inflammable gas, so always keep it dry when carrying it.

 

• Petroleum Jelly in 15ml aluminium screw top tin approx. 40mm in diameter and 20mm high with the lid on. The idea is to use this to fuel a self-contained wick that will burn for a long time to start a fire. This can be achieved using cotton wool or other available materials to act as a wick.
• 4 x Rubber tyre patches for tinder.

• 6 x Compressed Cotton Wool balls for tinder