Like any person who's had a panic attack about being stuck in the wilderness听alone for a night,听I always carry some kind of fire starter when I go into the woods. I spent the past two weeks听testing five of the most popular tools, ranking them based on ease of use, price, and packability. Just be sure to practice with whichever you choose so you鈥檙e not learning in the field during an emergency.
#5:听Leatherman听Signal听Multitool听with Fire Starter ($100)
Best For:听Being prepared for all kinds of backcountry emergencies.
How It Works:听There鈥檚 a听ferrocerium听rod inside this听Leatherman. Use the back of one of the tool鈥檚 blades to scrape the rod and get a spark.
Results:听I found this听ferrocerium听rod more difficult to use than the Aurora Fire Starter because it was smaller and produced fewer sparks. It took me a full 30 minutes to get a dry fire started. That said, the听Leatherman听comes with a sharp saw and blade for cutting kindling, plus a host of other useful backcountry tools.
#4: Aurora Fire Starter ($23)
Best For:听Backcountry ounce counters.
How It Works:听听that sends sparks flying when it鈥檚 scraped听with the included striking blade. It doesn鈥檛 work well when wet, but comes in a waterproof case.
Results:听It took me six strikes to scrape the rod correctly, but once I did, it sent a powerful flame onto the cotton ball I used as fuel and immediately set it ablaze. I like that the whole kit comes in a听ChapStick-size听tube and weighs just 1.7 ounces.
#3:听Cotton Balls Covered in Vaseline ($.25)
Best For:听Cheap, lightweight insurance.
How It Works:听No, this isn鈥檛 a fire-starting tool, but I wanted to include this concoction anyway because these swabs are so useful in the field that I always carry at least a dozen with me. I let the balls soak in the jelly for about an hour, then pack them into a plastic container. Since Vaseline is petroleum-based, and petroleum is extremely flammable, these balls catch fire as soon as they come into contact with a spark.
Results:听The balls will burn for more than 30 seconds when it鈥檚 not raining and up to 20 seconds during a drizzle. The petroleum adds extra fuel and burns hot, making these useful for lighting damp wood.
#2:听UCO Titan听Stormproof听Match Kit ($10)
Best For:听Pyro听novices.
How It Works:听鈥攖hey鈥檙e just waterproof.
Results:听To test the waterproof claim, I dunked each of these matches in water for 30 seconds. Each one still lit immediately and went on to burn for more than 20 seconds鈥攑lenty of time to ignite a well-prepared kindling-and-paper fire. The matches are also wind resistant.
#1:听Pocket Bellows Weatherproof Kit ($25)
Best For:听Starting a fire in the rain.
How It Works:听听that includes a waterproof听ferrocerium听rod and striker (for sparks), waterproof beeswax/olive oil wicks to catch the sparks, and a metal tube that you blow through to aim your breath and fuel the fire.
Results:听This kit worked flawlessly. The rod and striker were easy to use. The wicks, which burn for more than three minutes, caught fire even after I鈥檇 soaked them in a glass of water. Blowing through the metal tube made the wicks roar with enough heat to catch sticks and grass on fire almost instantly.