Alchohol Hand Sanitizer in your survival kit...

While maybe not the safest thing going, a little spray bottle of REM Lube makes a serious torch with which you can melt a goodly-sized section of non-flammable tent.

Don't ask me how I know. ;)

That same flame can be used on a lot of things. Personally, I like to have the spray lube handy for wet field conditions.
 
I can attest to the fact that hand sanitizer's a great fire starter. I've lit fires with it several times. A LOT easier than drier lint, that's for sure.
 
Well I've actually been in a couple of situations where getting a fire going in less than ideal conditions was absolutely vital.

My survival kit includes a disposable lighter, and a "Blast Match" AND 4 Coghlans Fire Sticks.

Because I was curious as to how dependable those fire sticks would be I once submerged two of them in a glass of water for 7 days, pulled them out, snapped them in half (to create the jagged edge that lights so well) and held a lighter to them. They fired right up. So apparently they just won't get waterlogged and ruined (very important in the back-country or canoeing).

I've also found that if you snap one in half (again, to make the jagged edge that lights easily) and then press a "Blast Match" up against it and "spark" it they will light right up, usually on the first or second try.
 
Look at the label. The active ingredient in most hand sanitizers is alcohol.

The real problem with hand sanitizers is that they will kill off the weak bacteria, but not the strong. In a few bacteria generations, we will have created the super bacteria that nothing will kill.

When I think of the situations I've been in with a sandwich in one hand and god only knows what in the other, my body must have anti-bodies that will kill anything.

We're raising a generation of wimpy people.
 
We're raising a generation of wimpy people.
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I'll second that!!!

I took a friend rabbit hunting today, he's a bit of a city slicker... He missed every rabbit we saw. I bagged two after letting him have first dibs on everything...

Took him back to the house, started skinning them and he puked... I hadn't even stated gutting them yet... Mildly pathetic...
 
ive tried hand sanitizer, several brands. its not verry effective in "inclement" weather, like wind, or damp. the alcohol just cant get hot enough to get moist stuff burning.

i take dryer lint and stuff it real tight in a toilet paper tube, put it in a dish and pour "melted" petroleum jelly into it till its saturated. i then freeze it and cut it into 6 sections.

3 sections fit perfectly into a "snack" sized zip lock bag, and are large enough to get a good fire going in the nastiest weather.
 
I always carry a fully loaded Zippo with extra flints, a couple of the match packs that come with MRE's, a box of Coleman's waterproof matches and an extra pack of smokes in a ziplock baggie.

If I'm headed out for a few days I'll throw in the striker and some pencil flare's. There's always dry tinder around if you know where to look for it.
 
Took him back to the house, started skinning them and he puked... I hadn't even stated gutting them yet... Mildly pathetic...
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You know, with rabbits, squirrels and so forth the skinning always bothered me a LOT more than the gutting. No idea why.

But back on topic, Anybody ever start fires with a battery and steel wool? That's a pretty neat trick too.
 
Ze, Not since my cub/boy scout days...:o C battery and steel wool impressed my young mind quite well!:D
Brent
 
Guns and More said:
In a few bacteria generations, we will have created the super bacteria that nothing will kill.
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I pretty much agree with what your saying, but a "few generations" is a bit of an understatement. There have already been BILLIONS of bacterial generations exposed to hand sanitizer. Considering the wide-spread use of the stuff, probably TRILLIONS of different strains and generations.
 
You know, with rabbits, squirrels and so forth the skinning always bothered me a LOT more than the gutting. No idea why.
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A lot of people don't like that sound of skin ripping from muscle. That's why my Mom is the only person that will help me with deer. Most folks, even ones from the country have a weak stomach when it comes to disassembling a critter.
 
davlandrum

The alcohol will evaporate out of hand-sanitizer after it is open long enough. It will work, but put a new one in your pack every year.

I am in the petroleum jelly and cotton ball camp, myself.
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Melt some parafain wax and mix in 40% of your Pet Jelly for a more stable, less messy cotton ball. I only dip the cotton about 3/4, so there's some raw cotton left. Light that and they burn a good 15-20 minutes and are hot enough to start kindling.
 
Anybody ever start fires with a battery and steel wool? That's a pretty neat trick too.
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Well, yes... but it's not such a neat trick when it's on your workbench, and unintentional... :o

Here's an old trick for getting a fire going in a hurry: lay your fire as usual, pour some of the white gas you're carrying for your Coleman stove onto the pile, toss on a match. Works every time. (Safety note: the gas goes on before the match... :eek:)

The thing about hand sanitizer is that under perfect conditions, it'll light stuff almost as well as a match.

It's sort of pointless to carry, as a survival item, something that will work only under dry, windless, conditions, when anyone halfway competent in the outdoors should be able to light a fire with one match. You want something better than a match-- fire sticks, cotton balls w/ PJ, wood shavings soaked in paraffin wax -- that's going to work in windy, wet conditions, when you're too tired to remember all that stuff about shaving a stick to get dry tinder, and too hypothermic to have the manual dexterity to do it anyway.
 
i find the old wax and sawdust cake fire starters work great, easy to light, burn hot/long, and very moisture resistant...those and water proof matches are all i would need...

just prefer to keep it simple...

cheers
 
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