Fire steel

The ability to create fire is so important that I cannot emphasize it enough, fire creates heat, light, signaling, safety and can be used to purify water (by boiling it) and it can also provide a much needed moral boost in a stressful situation, being able to create fire will place you in control of your environment (or at least make you think you are) and as such provide a jolt of moral and confidence with regards to the days to come.

Mental survival is just as important as the physical aspects, without the will to survive the chances of survival lessen.

The bic you have in your bag (see my previous post) works great to start a fire, it is easier than using fire steel and its unlikely that it wont work. However this blog is not about what may or may not happen- its about survival taken to the basics.

Fire steel is also known as “artificial flint” and can be used to create fire under most conditions with practice, they are made by various companies but the most famous is the swedish “Light my fire” fire steel, its absolutely brilliant and can be bought in various sizes (and colors) for a reasonable price (10$). Look on ebay for them!

Light my fire

Ebay

Having fire steel on hand means you will always have a source of fire, I take this survival doctrine so seriously that I superglued a fire steel to the back of my favorite’s knife (a mora 740) sheath.

I use the spine of the knife to strike the fire steel, so far it has yet to fail me.

Signaling mirrors

Using a mirror to signal for help has been used for many years as a way to reflect the suns ray to gain the attention of planes, helicopters and search parties. They are light, don’t have moving parts and take up virtually no space.

Should you ever be stranded somewhere it is likely that people will be looking for you and in such a case building a fire and using a signaling mirror may save your life.

Doug Ritter has written a brilliant guide on how to use them and as such I won’t even try to compete with his well written instructions-

Find Doug here.

Find the article regarding signaling here.

And while you are at it; check out the rest of his website- its full of great information from a known survival expert.

Duct tape

Strong, resilient, versatile and cheap- all the ingredients for a useful survival resource.

Like para cord duct tape can be used for uses other than originally intended and like para cord all it requires is some creativity.

• The sole of your boots are falling off?- fix them.
• Your clothing has a tear?- close it.
• It’s an emergency, no medical facility around and you have a major wound, close it until you can find assistance.
• ruck sack falling apart? fix it.
• no cord and you need to tie 2sticks together to create a frame for your shelter?
• etc.

Duct tape is beyond useful, it can be used to attract attention by burning it (thick smoke) and do a quick fix on just about anything- no reason to leave it out of your BoB.

No much can be written about duct tape because you know what it is, how you will use it will be based on your creativity and situation at the time.

Can be bought anywhere.

Super glue

Super glue, krazy glue and other names for this adhesive is super useful, most will think of using it for fixing things but in my experience it doesn’t work on stuff that will be flexed (shoes) or strained in anyway. The true power in super glue is that it bonds skin together extremely well.

The most common injury when out in the field are small cuts and scratches, super glue is great for closing them up; all you need to do is clean the wound (with sterile water/disinfectant or if you have to saliva) then apply some super glue.

You will feel a slight burning sensation but your cut or wound will be closed in a waterproof bond of hardened plastic.

Unlike bandages a small tube of super glue will be able to heal more cuts in size/weight ratio, it will not fall off and will not let any harmful bacterias enter the cut.

So with that said, is it dangerous?

Googling provides a mixed opinion regarding using super glue from a medical perspective however I have been using it to close small cuts for about 3years and have yet to have any problems. Its up to you.