This is a guest post from Practical Parsimony. I am fascinated by this crafty little oil lamp! It’s really well built for a recycled project. For other ways to make an oil lamp, check out this bottle lamp instructable, and this jar oil lamp. Now on with your regularly scheduled post! One of my very […]
Fire Help in Your Lunch Box: Burning Chips
I know you’ve always wondered whether those greasy plain potato chips would burn, and what about other popular snack chips like Fritos, Doritos, or even Cheetos? Well, my daughter and I set out to answer the question of whether you could use part of your lunch as fire tinder. Check out the video below to […]
Solo Stove Biomass Stove Review
I recently got to test out the Solo Stove biomass backpacking stove. This little stove is very light weight and burns bio-fuels like sticks, pine cones, leaves, and other dry fuel. I put it through the standard testing and tried to boil some water on it. The stove burns really nicely. The first round I […]
Kelly Kettle Trekker Biomass Stove Review
The Kelly Kettle Trekker is a portable sized biomass stove with a unique design. The stove consists of a fire pan and a chimney that is the water pot. The chimney is double walled and holds water between the walls. Kelly Kettle makes three different sizes of stove–the largest called the Volcano or Base Camp, […]
15+ Great Preparedness Gifts for Kids From Toddler to Teen
With the holidays fast approaching, some of you may be wondering what gifts you can give the children in your life that will help them be better prepared. I’ve thought the same thing every Christmas and birthday for my own kids, so here are some age specific gift ideas for the children (or grandchildren) that […]
How to Start a Fire with a Magnifying Lens
Knowing how to start a fire without matches or a lighter is an important skill to have. One fun way to start a fire without matches is to use a magnifying glass. Now, in case you didn’t do this to poor little bugs as a kid, don’t worry–you can make up the learning curve pretty […]
How to Make Great Char Cloth
When you’re lighting a fire with a flint and steel or other striker that makes fire from sparks, char cloth is your friend. Char cloth can make the difference between getting a fire started and just throwing sparks around. Char cloth is blackened fabric that catches a spark, starts burning, and won’t blow out until […]
The Two Best Methods to Make Waterproof Matches
Regular matches that get wet turn into little wet sticks that do nothing in no time flat. To avoid having your matches become useless due to moisture, you’ll want some waterproof matches. You can purchase waterproof matches, or if you want to save a few bucks you can waterproof your own matches. There are a […]
Making Better Char Cloth
Hey, check out my post on Making Better Char Cloth over at the Utah Preppers site–some good information for firestarting, and something you might want included in your emergency kits especially if you have a striker type firestarting tool (flint/steel, etc.) you plan on using. Keep preparing! Angela *************************************************************** Subscribe to my email newsletter for […]
Come on Baby Light My Fire
Are you singing my title yet? ;) Yesterday morning we played with fire. Yep, matches, lighters, flint and steel, magnesium/steel, battery and steel wool, whatever fire we could find or make. Here’s my disclaimer again: I’m no expert here, but I love a “scientific” study and hands on testing, so we put some firestarting methods […]