Here is a recap (in each guys own words of the past week). Remember the rules were any method modern or primitive. Both Kevin aka Buffalo Gobbler and Dino aka DinoRocks achieved fire all 7 days. I drew a name through a random name picker and Dino was awarded the gift card. Pictures to come.
Mark writes:
5 out of 7 for me.
Day 1 - success with flint and pocket knife blade/Vaseline treated cotton ball
Day 2 - success with 9V battery and steel wool/plain cotton ball
Day 3 - success with waterproof match/shredded newspaper
Day 4 - success with emergency ferro stick and striker/dryer lint
Day 5 - success with welding torch starter/dryer lint
Rob writes:
Day 1- I was going to go with another method but when sun came out I figured I would risk the glass lens. I have done this in the past and knew it would be a risk if the sun was not strong enough. I was successful using char cloth and then starting a piece of chaga as coal extender. I put that into a jute twine birds nest and blew into flame. I have a couple of maples in my yard and used dead branches to get a sustained fire going. I used this to make fresh char for some of my other days.
Day-2 Worked late and had to pick up one of the kids and drop her off at work. It was almost dark but I took a walk around block to get materials for a tinder bundle. I grabbed some phragmities, old goldenrod, and some milk weed fiber to tie it all together. I wanted to make an as real emergency scenario as possible so I limited myself to just one match. I normally do not use matches at all and was actually worried that it might not work. The match tips sure are small now a days compared to how I remember them. You can see the match stuck into the bundle bottom center of the pic. Green tip strike anywhere. The one match worked getting the phragmities going and that in turn started the goldenrod. I again used sticks from yard and got a sustained fire going.
Day 3 Did a quick one today as I had a little time in the morning before work. Used the fire piston and just twine birds nest. Went pretty smooth one try and ember was going.
Day 4 Rain all night and most of day while at work. I took a walk to make a tinder bundle. Everything was wet. Went with a sure thing get to fix with Vaseline soaked cotton ball. Worked like a charm drying out set sticks from the back yard. It was a very satisfying fire.
Day 5 I took this as an emergency scenario in which I was some where with my key ring with me that I have EDC on. I chose small Zippo like lighter and gorilla tape. Easy right. Epic fail could not get tape lit in the wind. Lighter kept blowing out. No good. I had some sure fire and a small ferro rod that went right up. I really thought that this would be easy. Better to learn how than when I'm a real emergency. Fail!
Day 6 I had to get a quick one in today with flint and steel. I used char cloth in a nest of jute twine. I ignited a tinder bundle with it for a successful fire.
Day 7 going for gold. Bow drill! Mullen and poplar. Ember caught me by surprise as I was trying to just heat up the board.
Overall my go to in any weather would be fero rod and cotton ball with vasoline. Thank you Brian I learned a lot and had fun every day.
Brian writes:
Flint and Steel Wednesday – Nighttime. Success with both a traditional flint and steel kit and with using a flintlock
Solar Thursday – Early morning was Sunny with a slight wind. Failure – Timed out with using magnify glass. Could not even get a little smoke.
Ferro rod Friday – Success
Stormproof match Saturday – Success
Fire roll Sunday – Success
Zippo Monday – Success
Tuesday – battery / steel wool – Success
6 days Success / 1 day Failure
Based on what I learned when I made the Youtube video and goofing around with the challenge, I would carry at least 3 fire methods along with dry tinder in my hunting coat. The three methods I would pick would be a ferro rod, stormproof matches and the UST fluidless lighter. The matches, match striker and tinder would be in a sealed plastic bag. Might as well include a bic lighter also. Primitive methods are really cool and learning them is excellent but when you fall in the creek and it's 10 degrees and you need a fire quick, I will stick with modern methods.
Kevin writes:
I was successful all 7 days, although I came close to failure trying matches in the rain and wind and trying my first time with battery and steel wool.
Day 1- Ferro rod
Day 2- flint and steel
Day 3- fire piston
Day 4- matches
Day 5- battery and steel wool
Day 6- flintlock ignition
Day 7- butane survival lighter
Dino writes:
That was a fun contest and I enjoyed researching and trying different fire making methods. The method that I thought was the coolest was "the fire roll" (cotton rolled up with ashes and rolled between two pieces of wood). Afterwards, I tried the same method but using natural fibers (dogbane) instead of cotton but didn't get the roll hot enough before it fell apart...I think I can get it next time I try. I was very surprised how fast the steel wool sparked when touched with a 9 volt battery...actually kind of scary thinking that the battery has been rolling around in the junk drawer...luckily there wasn't any steel wool or gum wrappers in the drawer!
My son Colton and I competed together which added a little more urgency in getting the fire started fast. Our definition of "getting a fire" was igniting our tinder bundle and then using it to light a candle.
Day one - flint and steel (Colton over me, 00:56 to 01:30)
Day two - fire roll (me over Colton, 03:00 to 06:40)
Day three - magnifying glass (Colton over me, 01:03 to 02:00)...we caught the only sun of the week...afternoon sun.
Day four - flintlock and charred cloth (Colton over me, 00:45 to 01:04)
Day five - magnesium stick (Colton over me, 00:40 to 00:43)
Day six - steel wool and 9volt battery (Colton over me, 00:18 to 00:31)
Day seven - rub cloth (me over Colton, 01:10 to DNF)...rub cloth is a cotton swath dampened with water and black power rubbed in...I think the sulfur odor was irritating Colton while trying to ignite his tinder bundle.
