Best Devices For Starting A Fire Outdoors

 Fire can be integral to your survival outdoors. It gives you warmth, it gives you a chance to cook your food or melt snow into water, not to mention that you can dry your wet clothes with the fire. It is easy to see that fire can even save your life outdoors.


 In this article I intend to introduce you to the best devices that you can use to start a fire outdoors. The devices covered in this article are zippo lighters, a magnesium fire starter and waterproof matches.

Zippo Lighter

 A Zippo is a great device, as if you smoke chances are that you have one. They are cheap and they are easy to come buy, they are sold at every gas station, or seven eleven. Even though zippos are easy to come by they are not the best devices for lighting a fire outdoors. They are better and quicker than rubbing two wooden sticks together to get a spark, but zippos are pretty risky. They don't work if they get wet, but on the other hand they are windproof, and they are very easy to use. 

 The biggest upside to them is that they work well in windy conditions. Unfortunately they work with fuel that not only evaporates as time goes on, but it is unbeleiveably hard to find and refill in nature.

Aluminum Fire Starter

 An aluminium fire starter is my favorite device for starting a fire outdoors. It works by scraping off little aluminium pieces off a rod, and then lighting it on fire with a spark. The spark can be induced by scratching the blade of your survival knife or swiss knife to a piece of metal on the side of the aluminium rod. 

 The aluminium pieces burn eight times hotter than normal fire made of wood, so you can start a fire with aluminium in more difficult conditions. Aluminium firestarter can be used with propane or gas grills. The best aluminium firestarters have a carbon steel blade attached to them so that you don't need to use your own knife. The best ones also come with a leather stray so you can clear the aluminium pieces off your blade. 

 The only negative to a firestarter is that you have to practice it a few times before you can use it properly. The trick is to hold the rod in a 45 degree angle when you slide the blade, and apply enough pressure with the blade so that you can induce sparks. This device is harder to use than a zippo or a match, but it can be learned with a bit of practice.

Waterproof Matches

The problem with matches is that they become useless if they get wet. However you can make matches waterproof with an easy trick. All you need is a candle. You have to light the candle, wait for a few minutes. You have to cover the head of the match in the wax, which will provide a waterpoof cover layer for your matches. If you want to use the match just remove the wax, and scratch it to a surface, and you have a fire. 

Essential camping gear for families

Camping is a great family activity.
Source: Wikipedia

 If you have a family chances are that you want to spend some quality time together with them.  One of the best ways to spend time with your family in a cultured, contained environment is to go on a camping trip.

 Camping is a great activity for everybody in the family, as it allows you to try out a large number of activities. Everybody can try something that they enjoy, but would not do otherwise at home. If you are into wildlife, you can go bird watching, you can go fishing, or you can hunt. If you like sports most campsites have several sports courts, and you can always go running in the nearby forests. If you are into cooking you can start a fire, or have a BBQ in the designated picnic area of the campsite. If you just want to relax, sunbathing, reading or listening to music are all viable options.

 You are going to need different pieces of gear in order to be able to pursue these activities, and make the most of your trip. There are different pieces of gear out there, and most of them are really useful, but there are only a few pieces of equipment that are really essential in order to have a great camping trip.

 The first of such pieces is a tent or an RV. No matter which one you choose, you are going to need a shelter. Whether you use a tent or an RV depends a large deal on what kind of trip you want to go on. If your campsite can not be approached by car you should buy a tent, but if there are roads leading to the campground you can easily approach it with an RV.

I don’t know much about what makes an RV great, so I am going to concentrate on the features that make a good family tent.  The tents that are really fit for using with your family are all huge. After all the whole family - your spouse, your kids - will all sleep in it. It also needs to be durable, so I advise you to buy tents that have fiberglass poles and aluminium stakes, these are the industry standards nowadays, so you shouldn't have a hard time finding such tents. I also like tents that have multiple exits, and multiple rooms. This way your family will be able to get in the tent through multiple doors, and you can stay in multiple rooms, so members of your family can enjoy a bit of privacy if they want to.

You will also need a stove of some kind. There is nothing better than a nice BBQ, or freshly done burgers when you are outdoors. What I look for in a camping stove, is some kind of wall or shelter that hides the flames. There will be those days when the wind is so hard that it is impossible to keep the flame burning otherwise.

The other important feature of the stove is a durable design. Most stoves are made of aluminium or stainless steel. Both are durable, the aim is to choose a stove that will not crumble while you are cooking, and will not fall over immediately if somebody bumps into it. This last feature can be achieved by making sure that the stove has heavy legs, with plenty of weight. Some stoves work with gas, others work with coal or wood. The ones that burn wood or coal are better because these materials can be refilled in nature if you run out of them, whereas it is pretty hard to get gas at a campsite.

If you have a tent and a stove, you have the gear needed to get shelter, and make some food for yourself, so the two most important needs of a human can be served. There are other pieces of equipment out there that can be beneficial, but whether you need them or not depends more on the type of camping trip you want to go on, and where you want to go.