Best Survival Fire Starter
Fire brings warmth on a cold night, keeps the darkness at bay, purifies water, and cooks food. In other words, fire is one of the keys to survival. Knowing how to start a fire quickly, and efficiently. Also keeping that fire going is a critical skill to have. Often bushcrafters and survivalists will preach learning primitive fire-starting methods such as bow drills, flint and steel, or fire plow. These are great skills to have. But not the methods I recommend. In a real survival situation use a fire-starting device that requires the least effort, like a lighter, matches, or ferro rod. Buy the best survival fire starter, and pack it in your EDC, get-home, and bug-out bag. With a couple of alternatives as a backup.
The Best Survival Fire Starter
While camping, bushcrafting, or survival training, it’s a great idea to practice starting a fire without a lighter or matches. But in a real survival situation, look for efficiency, speed, and ease of use.
The Best Survival Lighter
ALWAYS carry a lighter with you, any lighter will do. Carry a Bic or a zippo, or any danged lighter you want, as long as it’s reliable. It doesn’t need to be fancy, it just needs to work. I carry 2 Bics’ with me everywhere, one in my pants pocket and one in my jacket.
A little tip: wrap some duct tape around the Bics’ and you not only have a method of starting a fire but some duct tape for quick repairs.
Bic
The top pick of survival lighters, they are cheap and the company has a great record for quality control. I own a dozen, I have them everywhere, 1 in each of my jackets, a couple in my Bug-out bag, Get-home bag, EDC bag, pants pocket, and every danged room of the house. Bic lighters are so cheap, I just buy them by the half dozen.
Advantages:
Cheap
Durable
Reliable
Water-resistant
Disadvantages:
Non-refillable
Finite
Zippo
Looks great, is durable, and is a classic. But is more costly and needs more maintenance than others. Not the best choice as a survival lighter, Zippo lighters fuel will evaporate, which makes this lighter unsuitable for long-term storage in a Bug-out or Get-home bag. It is suitable as an EDC carry though.
Advantages:
Durable
Refillable
Disadvantages:
Expensive
Requires maintenance
If for a long time, the fuel will evaporate
Zippo Emergency Fire Kit
Zippos’ answer to an emergency fire lighting device. The Zippo Emergency Fire Kit is a flint striker wheel with 5 pieces of flammable wax-coated tinder stored internally. Waterproof, windproof, and durable. I am not a fan, of this device, in theory, it’s a great little gizmo, but in practice, it starts 5 fires. For an emergency fire-starting device, that is a pitifully small number of fires.
Advantages:
Windproof
Waterproof
Durable
Disadvantages:
Expensive for a measly 5-time use
Arc Lighters
They look great, are rechargeable, and are windproof. Sadly they are unreliable and can only start a limited number of fires before they lose their charge.
Advantages:
Windproof
Rechargeable
Disadvantages:
Unreliable
Breaks down at the worst times (these lighters are firm supporters of Murphy’s law)
Matches
The traditional method of starting a fire, matches are great, they are like little tinder sticks that light up, and it is easier to start a fire with a match than a lighter. The problem with matches is each match can only be used once and they are at the mercy of wind and rain.
The Best Survival Matches
Matches are at the mercy of moisture, wind and they need a striking surface. Some of these issues have been addressed by high-end survival matches.
Matchbooks, Generic Matches, and Kitchen Matches
These are your standard everyday matches, fragile, susceptible to dampness, and quick to go out. Not recommended for a bug-out bag.
If you have no other alternatives, there are a couple of things you can do to improve these matches. Coat the matches in wax to improve water resistance, store them in a waterproof container, and keep an extra striking surface taped to the inside of the waterproof container.
UCO Titan Stormproof Matches
Best danged survival matches, if you are ever stuck in a survival situation and you only have matches to start a fire, then these are the matches you want to have with you. The ones I tested lighted up on the first strike, and they stayed lit, in windy weather, in light rain, and while it was snowing. They were hands down the best matches I have ever used to start a fire.
Advantages:
Long burn time
Waterproof
Windproof
Value for money
Disadvantages:
Finite number
UST Stormproof Matches
Running in at a close second, these were pretty good, my biggest gripe with them is that you only get 10 matches. That is a dismally low number. I would NEVER want to be stranded anywhere with only the ability to start 10 fires.
Advantages:
Long burn time
Waterproof
Windproof
Value for money
Disadvantages:
Finite number
Ferrocerium Rod
The fire-starting device of choice for bushcrafters, survivalists, and preppers everywhere. There is a reason why most survivalists consider the ferro rod the best survival fire starter. They can be used multiple times, an average ferro rod has 10s of thousands of strikes. They can be used in all weather without fear of failure, require no maintenance, and are relatively cheap. The biggest disadvantage is that it requires practice to start a fire with a ferro rod. Knowledge of the best tinder to use, and practice getting that tinder lit.
The Best Ferro Rod
Not all ferro rods are created equal, some throw more sparks than others. Some are tiny and unwieldy.
Uberleben Ferrocerium Rod
The Uberleben Zunden comes in 3 sizes Trad 5/16″, Pro 3/8″, and Fatty 1/2″ with a scraper and 550 paracord lanyard.
All ferro rods throw sparks when scrapped, but the harder the ferro rod the more effort is required to get a decent shower of sparks. The Uberleben Zunden is the softest ferro rod I have used to date. Making it exceptionally easy to use for beginners.
Advantages:
Value for money
Thousands of strikes
Softer material
Great for beginners
Work in all weather conditions
Disadvantages:
Softer material means it will wear out faster
Takes practice to start a fire
Baylite Survival XL Ferro Rod
A solid chunk of a ferro rod, this is a good ferro rod for intermediate users who want to practice using a ferro rod, it is harder than the Uberleben model, which means that it will last longer, but requires a little bit more muscle to get a decent amount of sparks going. Although once you get the hang of it, it showers the tinder.
Advantages:
Harder, so it lasts longer
Large
Disadvantages:
Quality control is spotty (a couple of the rods I got were cracked)
Light My Fire Army
A classic compact ferro rod that can be struck 12 thousand times, this is the perfect ferro rod for experienced users. It throws a lot of sparks quite easily, is of medium hardness, and is compact enough to be carried in an EDC, Get-home, and Bug-out bag.
For those used to using a larger ferro rod, this compact design will take a little bit of getting used to.
Advantages:
Compact
Ergonomic grip
Whistle build into the handle
Disadvantages:
For its size, it is quite expensive (but its quality makes it well worth it IMO)
Editors Choice: The Light My Fire Army is the perfect size, weight, and quality for a bug-out bag.
Flint And Steel
Hardcore survivalists are firm advocates of the good ole flint and steel. I have started a few fires with flint and steel and while it is a great skill to have. I do NOT recommend a flint and steel in a survival situation. It takes a LOT of practice to be able to consistently start a fire with a flint and steel. While there are a lot of flint and steels that you can buy. If you are just learning, I wouldn’t waste the money. Instead, just get an old metal file and a rock and try to start a fire. Once you have mastered starting a fire with a metal file, you can consider getting a real flint and steel kit like the ones sold by ESEE.
ESEE Fire Steel
The most versatile fire steel. Made of 1095 Carbon Steel, this little chunk of steel is designed to be used as a striker, it also has a little divot so it can be used as a socket for a bow drill. It is ground to a 90-degree angle so it works well as a ferro rod strike.
Advantages:
High carbon steel
Divot for bow drill
Suitable as a ferro rod striker
Small enough to be an EDC item
Long-term use
Durable
Disadvantages:
Expensive
Takes a lot of practice to use
Does not throw as many sparks as a ferro rod
Requires the perfect tinder to start a fire (preferably Vaseline-soaked cotton balls or char cloth)
Summary:
In a survival situation, you do not want to mess around with unreliable methods of starting a fire, the aim is to get a fire started quickly, efficiently, and with the least amount of effort possible. In order of the best survival fire starter to the least advisable fire starter for a survival situation. Fire is one of the keys to survival
Lighter
Matches
Ferrocerium Rod
Flint and Steel
Other fire-starting methods such as the bow-drill, fire plow, magnifying glass, and Fresnel lens are great skills and devices to have handy, but should NOT be relied on. These skills and devices are meant to be used as either hobby (bushcrafting) or survivalist training (in extreme unforeseen survival situations).
ALWAYS carry multiple methods of starting a fire.
