Smiths-50635-Tinder-Maker-Starter

Yeah, this forum should be for stuff that has been tried. All the same, has anyone tried this out yet? Looks a good scheme, but without a review, I'm not sure it offers a lot of advantages.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VTO5FZQ/?tag=survivalmonke-20

 

It seems legit, and the tinder grater is in interesting idea....a small nutmeg grater would perform much the same function to rough up the bark to make the tinder easier to catch alight. Not sure whether the product price point is reasonable or not but it seems worthwhile.

 

It'll keep you from stealing your wife's cheese grater.

 

Meh.

The box would be better used to hold some primo tinder. But if it isn't waterproof it's no good for storing tinder. And with a cheesegrater lid, I'd be willing to bet it isn't waterproof.

In any case, I'd swap out the box for an ordinary plastic pencil sharpener. It can make tinder in a hurry from random twigs--and splints of lighter pine. And probably do it better and faster than a grater.

There are a lot of ways to attach a pencil sharpener to a cord if it isn't already drilled for a keychain.

I'd also put the "fire-kit" in a small ziplock--right along with a couple of splints of lighter pine, a couple of cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly, and a mini-bic.

Making a fire when you desperately need one should be a fast, easy, and utterly certain process.

 

My concern would be, how do you keep it sharp? cutting cheese is one thing, but our knives need to be sharpened after carving wood or making shavings for fires, how does this hold up to being dulled by the wood?
I'll stick with my fixed blade knife for now I think.

J-Woodsman

 

I did at one time carry a four-in-hand rasp/file in my pack but it saw so little use it wasn't worth the weight.

 

I have a metal pencil sharpener for tinder. Two hole sizes. Made in Germany. $2. I got them metal one because I figure it is more robust. Barely even use it for pencils. I much rather have a good knife for tinder prep and carry a chunk of fat wood for waterproof wet weather cheating accelerant. I bet a comparable size chunk of fatwood would serve you better. The back of the knife can scrape up both the tinder and the fatwood pretty quickly.

 

I used the metal pencil sharpers also since they work really well on the small drier sticks that normal lay off the ground. You can also use them to sharped sticks for a leanto or for stabby weapons or for defensive perimeter alerts stuck into the ground (pointy end up). I lay rows of them outside my sleeping area, easy to make and passes the time around the fire at night. Use them to keep the fire going in the morning.

As far as the fire starter I use the "UST BlastMatch Fire Starter with One-Handed Operation" unit off of Amazon that costs around 12-13 bucks. Many times around my area if I didn't have my second hand to shield the flame while starting I would have ended up cold and wet.
I also keep several of the UST wetfire tinder cubes 9others make them) that will ignite and burn floating on a pool of water, anything to get it started. They are cheap and can be cut into shavings with your knife.

 

Maybe take your chuck of fatwood to the lathe and spin them down to pencil size, then you could get pretty sweet shavings with that pencil sharpener.
Now I need to find someone with a lathe. Hmmm.....

 

I just use the back of the knife to scrape the fat wood.

 

Too simple, has to be more complex, more elegant.
I prefer to start all my campfires via Rube Goldberg machines.

 

I sometimes scrape it with my lightsaber and ignite it at the same time.

 

The lightsaber is too large and unwieldly for such an action. That is why I made a small firesteel size one for this exact purpose.

 

Not if you are skilled with it.