starting 2nd fire and lit stick gives light like match

[caverdude]

we should be able to use a lit stick same as match for both light and starting 2nd fire with. Many times its best in the coldest situations to start a 2nd fire. Using lit stick it should be easier to get 2nd fire started and faster. Make lit stick an option instead of matches if fire already going.

[AmericanSteel]

I would love to be able to transfer an existing flame source to a new fire using a wick of some kind (like cat tails stalks or some such). However, this would mean a player could transfer a fire from a lantern which would be great. The downside is it would make matches almost completely useless.

Goes back to a request of mine back when I first started on the forums, a fire bundle. This would allow a player to carry "fire" with them.

[bethany]

Thanks to both of you - I'll make note of these suggestions.

AmericanSteel: I dug up the old post you mentioned from last month. I'll add that in as well.

[AmericanSteel]

Thanks to both of you - I'll make note of these suggestions.

AmericanSteel: I dug up the old post you mentioned from last month. I'll add that in as well.

Sweet! There is TONS of material we could make a fire bundle from and as matches begin to dwindle... it would be nice to have a fire source we could move inside. Maybe the devs would let us harvest the headlamps off cars. Use the parabola of the mirror like you can use the magnifying glass. Of course there is also the car battery, or maybe a 9v from a radio + steel wool. The list goes on and on and on...

[bethany]

Thanks to both of you - I'll make note of these suggestions.

AmericanSteel: I dug up the old post you mentioned from last month. I'll add that in as well.

Sweet! There is TONS of material we could make a fire bundle from and as matches begin to dwindle... it would be nice to have a fire source we could move inside. Maybe the devs would let us harvest the headlamps off cars. Use the parabola of the mirror like you can use the magnifying glass. Of course there is also the car battery, or maybe a 9v from a radio + steel wool. The list goes on and on and on...

What else can you think of that might be practical and easy to find? At this point, I'm honestly pretty curious to know just for myself.

[caverdude]

anything electric wont work, geomagnetic storm

[Ysidro]

I for one have been wondering whether all those gas canisters outside would still contain gas, and the barrels at the gas station would contain oil or gasoline. Both would make it easy to start a fire, although with the gas canisters it wouldn't be a very mobile fire and would be better suited as a flamethrower probably (Would be a good wolf repellent though)

[AmericanSteel]

Thanks to both of you - I'll make note of these suggestions.

AmericanSteel: I dug up the old post you mentioned from last month. I'll add that in as well.

Sweet! There is TONS of material we could make a fire bundle from and as matches begin to dwindle... it would be nice to have a fire source we could move inside. Maybe the devs would let us harvest the headlamps off cars. Use the parabola of the mirror like you can use the magnifying glass. Of course there is also the car battery, or maybe a 9v from a radio + steel wool. The list goes on and on and on...

What else can you think of that might be practical and easy to find? At this point, I'm honestly pretty curious to know just for myself.

Let me pull what I learned in SERE school out of my rear and then all the secondary knowledge I learned from hanging with Spec Ops.

1. Lithium Batteries - Lithium has a chemical reaction with water (it can be explosive). While I can see a geomagnetic causing an item to loose a charge, it is not going to change the chemical make up of the substance. So, you can crack open any lithium battery (they can be found in all sorts of electronic devices), scrape out the contents and subdivide. Smear some of the lithium on your tinder bundle and lay in a few drops of water.

2. Brake Fluid + Pool Cholorine - Putting break fluid into a pool cholorine will cause the cholorine to ignite and expel cholorine gas. Deadly as... well.. you get it. This is classified as a Chemical Weapon! This can kill you so DO NOT TRY IT AT HOME KIDDIES!!! However, you can have about a aspirin sized chunk and put a drop of fluid. It will flame up. Just get your fire started and stand back for a minute or two for the gas to disperse. I would not attempt in any indoor environment. Brake Fluid can be found in every car. The cholorine is harder to find. However, cholorine tables were sometimes used to disinfect water, so it could be found in older survival kits and the like.

3. 9v battery + steel wool is an easy stand by. 9v are harder to find now a days. However, you can do the same thing with a cell phone battery.

4. Any battery powered device. Break it apart, all you want is the battery station and the two wire the lead off. You can either use the charge to make a spark OR you can short the wires out to make heat, which you can use to combust something.

5. Light bulb and a battery source - This is a one shot deal. Score and cut the bulb, leaving the wiring exposed. Turn on the light, the filament gets hot, which you can use to combust. If this fails, just go to #4 above.

6. Soda can + bar of chocolate - cut the bottom of the soda can off so you are left with the parabola bottom. Take the chocolate and "shine" up the parabola. Takes about 10 minutes and about a thumb size portion of chocolate (which you don't eat when you are done). You then you the parabola to concentrate light.

7. Parabola surface from any focused light (flashlight, headlamps, etc). - If you have a flash light, this give you another shot at making a fire if the light bulb failed and the shorting out the battery did not work. If the flashlight used lithium batteries, well you get another shot.

8. Friction Fires - Hand drills, fire bows, pump drills, fire ploughs... there are a few more but those are the ones I can recall. None of them are easy and they all take practice. A two man hand drill (using a shoe lace) worked like a charm in SERE school in Panama... though it did take some time.

9. Flint and Steel - This is basically taking a rock that is harder than the steel and striking off a spark. You will usually need a charcloth to capture the spark, but other things can be used. Termite bark, wasps nests, some dried fungus... the list is quite extensive you just have to find it. You strike the rock against the blade, forcing the spark onto the capture surface. This takes patience and not something that I have EVER had work in anything over a light breeze. My Gurkha is steel and I carry around a large piece of chert for this very purpose. I also like to knap chert to make stone points when I am bored. On a side note you can knap the bottom of glass bottles to make points.

10. Matches - I know, it is a match. However, you can split any cardboard match in two if you are careful. That gives you twice the opportunity of starting fire. Also, spent matches (cardboard or wood) make great small kindling. Just because it did lights does not mean you toss it. It is still a resource. Never leave a resource.

11. Lighters - These can still be useful even if they are out of fuel. The wheel that spins is embeded with a flammable substraight (which helps the flint on the striker take the spark better for the fuel). Scrape some of that grey material off. Then push that powder into something else (shredded cigarette butts, cotton fill, etc). Put the wheel back on the lighter. Strike the lighter against the bundle you just made. It will burn. Usually works about three or four times.

12. Strikers - old school strikers can be found in a lot of older heating appliances before electric igniters became common. They are also used in areas where power can fail, so they don't have to be on the grid to use them. Hot water heaters, gas stoves and gas grills may have an old school striker in them. Cannibalize it.

14. Electric Igniters - Some modern grills have a "Spark" Igniter you pump, though it is based on electric principles instead of a striker. They don't wear out (is is basically a small coil system). Cannibalize it.

15. Welding - Most welding kits contain a flint striker and they can be purchased separately. Some people purchased them when their old school striker (see above) failed on their gas stove or hot water heaters. You can use a lighter too, but lighter fuel can evaporate or run out. Strikers last a long, long time.

There are also a ton of accelerants out there, especially in vehicles. Even if the tank is empty, chances are the fuel lines are not. Use it. Does it have oil? Use it. Battery? Most cars are a ton of cheap fill, leather, cloth and plastic (all of which can burn or be used for something else). Use it. Most condensed tree sap (like pine) can also be used as an accelerant. Open pine cones are another great tinder bundle if you do not have many twigs. Animal nests (from birds to squirrels) make nests that are meant to keep them warm and dry, perfect kindling.

All I can think of right now. Starting to grasp at ideas. I will think on it and come back with more later.

[Scyzara]

1. Lithium Batteries - Lithium has a chemical reaction with water (it can be explosive). While I can see a geomagnetic causing an item to loose a charge, it is not going to change the chemical make up of the substance. So, you can crack open any lithium battery (they can be found in all sorts of electronic devices), scrape out the contents and subdivide. Smear some of the lithium on your tinder bundle and lay in a few drops of water.

2. Brake Fluid + Pool Cholorine - Putting break fluid into a pool cholorine will cause the cholorine to ignite and expel cholorine gas. Deadly as... well.. you get it. This is classified as a Chemical Weapon! This can kill you so DO NOT TRY IT AT HOME KIDDIES!!! However, you can have about a aspirin sized chunk and put a drop of fluid. It will flame up. Just get your fire started and stand back for a minute or two for the gas to disperse. I would not attempt in any indoor environment. Brake Fluid can be found in every car. The cholorine is harder to find. However, cholorine tables were sometimes used to disinfect water, so it could be found in older survival kits and the like.

Are you really sure you want to suggest these options for a character who is capable of killing himself by igniting a fire right under his own boots? ;p

Just kiddin. Some of your ideas are quite nice, at least for RL.^^

[AmericanSteel]

There are a LOT of additional things you can use in an urban environment to assist in starting fires or acting as accelerants.

1. Bug Spray - This stuff is crazy flammable. However, I don't want kids turning pressured canisters into mini flame throwers. You can simply spray your kindling and then take a match to it. Poof, fire! (or Poof, eyebrows!) Serious accelerant and very dangerous.

2. Corn Chips - Corn chips make bomber kindling. A simple small bag of fritos will start a fire in moderate winds and damp conditions. Why? The corn and the oil that as used to fry them burns and burns hot. You can use one corn chip as a serious match extender. Adults, try it in your sink at home. Kids, just eat the chips!!

3. Charcoal - You know, the stuff you use to grill outside with. Some of this stuff even has lighter fluid already in it. You could very easily use one brickette to help get things going. They also burn for a longer period of time than just wood.

4. Binoculars or Telescoping Lens - While I would love to be able to scout out an area before I get there OR shoot prey from a safe distance... sometimes you have to cannibalize gear to survive. Break down the equipment and use it like a magnifying lens.

5. Rubber - rubber burns really well. Shave some off a few tires and include it in your tinder bundle. It will help the bundle hold the initial flame in more windy conditions. It also makes excellent signal material as it produces black smoke when it burns, giving great contrast to the white background.

6. Petroleum Jelly - Put this on/into filler material (like cotton balls). It helps protect the tinder from the weather, allows the tinder to burn longer and hotter.

7. Charcloth - Here is a simple way to make it AND this stuff exists in the game world. An easy way we could take cloth and craft something else from it. http://graywolfsurvival.com/3002/make-use-char-cloth/

8. Dryer Lint - Crazy tinder bundle. While we have not found any washers or dryers in the game, it is a real world viable option to assist in fire starting.

9. Birch Bark Shavings - I assume this is one of the things we find when we are searching for tinder out in the woods.

10. Cedar Shavings - See #9

11. Paper Money - I think we can all agree that fat stack of Benjamins is not going to do you any good. When you search a house (or any place with a cash register), the chance to find money should be given. Few people are rich enough to burn money but now that it is useless, knock yourself out.

12. Oil Rags - Only a few places in the game would have them, like the Gas Station, but oil rags take a spark better than charcloth. Players could craft oil rags using existing fuel and cloth. A bin of these rags was considered the #1 reason for structure fires in motor pools or vehicle repair facilities by the FBI and Army back in the 90s.

13. Cigarette Butts - I am not a smoker and I do not condone the habit. However, the butt of a cigarette can be torn apart and made into a a great tinder bundle. Having a few ash trays in the game, butts laying on the ground (like in the gas station) or errant packs would work. For that matter, a full cigarette is basically a fire extender you hold in your hand. Light the cig with a match and then use the cig to start the fire, pinch out the cig. Make it a tinder bundle on steroids.

[caverdude]

Best fire starter is vasoline rubbed into cotton balls.