[pct-l] To Flare or not to Flare

[John Abela]

I go about it a bit differently.

I carry two REI matches (or uco stormproof).  (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8BY6AbHL9w - turn your speakers down)

And I carry one ounce of liquid hand sanitizer (in my potty bag) and we all
know that stuff is flammable.

The two together is really about all I need to feel comfortable. I use to
carry the cool little magnesium bars and Firesteel and at one time I even
carried some fatwood with me. But as with most things 'experience from use'
allowed me to lighten my load a bit. Do not want to argue the merits of my
choice verses firesteel, firesteel of course wins out - I can only start a
limited amount of fires. Than again, I do not hike in the remotest places of
Alaska or Siberia. Once you know the SHTF you bunker down and try to stay
dry and stay warm. My choices make my options highly limited. But, I feel
comfortable with my skills with my selection. I suspect that is key. Like
most of our gear - especially those who take nothing but a poncho or a tarp
- they feel comfortable with the gear they have.

Personally, I am with just about everybody else, the weight of a flair does
not seem beneficial at all. If you feel the need, throw in a 6" AmericoGlo
stick http://www.ameriglo.net/catalog/lighting/6-sticks - green is the
brightest, than orange, than red. Chances are pretty good if it is night and
you are lost and people are looking for you, and they seem this 6 inch green
or red light, (which goes for 12 hours, longer than any darkness on the PCT)
they are going to come running your way. Plus they make a great way for a
group to hike a night and know where each person is.


On Sun, Feb 13, 2011 at 7:47 AM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <
diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:

> 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
>
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