[pct-l] To Flare or not to Flare

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

For emergency fire, I had 3 waterproof matches and 3 trick birthday  
candles. I never had to use any of them. I don't know if the trick  
birthday candles would work or not, but it seemed worth a try.
Diane
On Feb 13, 2011, at 7:03 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Dear Altathunder,
>
> A flare seems so  heavy that I never considered carrying one  
> although I share a desire to carry fool proof emergency  
> firestarter.  Among the myriad emergency firestarting solutions I  
> carry, my kit contains what I consider my secret weapon:  pre- 
> drilled magnesium shavings.  I core drilled my (heavy) magnesium  
> block and carry a substantial amount of just the shavings in a  
> sealed bag which is much lighter and easier to deal with in wind  
> then trying to shave a mag block in a survival situation.
>
> Sincerely, Lollygag
>
> PS  Some of the other redundant firestarting tactics I carry are  
> listed below, perhaps it's obvious that I live in the rainy state  
> of Washington...
>
> matches
> lighters
> waterproof matches
> mini Swedish fire steel
> waxed tissue off of homemade cereal bars
> bag balm (or vaseline) coated cotton balls
> alcohol based hand sanitizer
> Heet
> Esbit
> char cloth/tinder (sealed)
> pre-drilled Magnesium swarth