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Chances are you will need to keep warm. Nothing like a good fire to help out. If you were hoping for a tutorial on how to make a bow drill to start a fire you're not going to find it here. I'm just a beginner survivalist so I have to work with cheater fires.

First thing you need is some sort of fire starter

Water proof matches are pretty common to find. Any sporting good store will have them for cheap. If you get a knife with a hollow handle you can put some matches inside safe keeping.

Butane lighters are cheap and you can find them anywhere. These aren't my first choice since they usually make small flames and are very easily blown out. With my experience it's like even the slightest breeze makes it near impossible to light a fire with one of them. It's still an option and I still carry one in my kit.

Wick lighters are my personal preference. I have Zippo I use. Zippo is often used as a generic term for wick lighters and most wick lighters I see are Zippo brand. They're a good lighter that is easy to use and easy to maintain. A wick lighter can burn just about any flammable liquid you put in it so you have a lot of options. I wouldn't recommend alcohol since alcohol has a high water content that seems to make a less reliable flame but alcohol works too. You can use lighter fluid or even gasoline. They also come with a lifetime warranty. If it doesn't work you can take it in to their shop in Pennsylvania and they will fix it right in front of you for free. If you can't walk in you can mail it to them and they fix it for free then mail it back to you. My only complaint with the zippo is that it leaks fuel. You can completely fill one and not use it. A couple days later it's empty again. If you do get one I would suggest getting a small bottle to keep extra fluid in and maybe some extra flints. I have a 1 fl oz bottle that used to hold gun oil that now keeps fluid in it and I have a pack of flints. I keep the two together in a ziplock bag in case the bottle leaks. It's just an extra safe guard to keep everything clean.

When all else fails there are magnesium fire starters. It's a shiny chunk of metal with a stick of flint on the side. You scrape off some metal then strike the flint with a piece of metal. The idea is to throw sparks on the scrapings to ignite them. I've seen mixed reviews for these. Some work well and others are cheap garbage that can't be relied on. Off hand I can't really say which ones are the good ones.



Once you have your fire starter you will need some tinder to keep the fire going. You can use dried grass or dried leaves. I use dryer lint. I have a ziplock bag full of the stuff because it lights easily. You can even cover it in wax to make the fire last longer.


Stove and other fire ideas

Once the fire is going strong you need good wood to keep it going. Nomads with a bug out bag are at a disadvantage here since you probably won't be carrying fire wood. After all that stuff is heavy. If you're surviving out of your car though you can carry fire wood with you.

If you're on foot with a bug out bag there are other options. Sporting goods areas sell canisters of camping fuels that are a can of fuel with a wick so kinda like an oil lamp. Just light the wick and you have an instant fire. I haven't personally used one so I can't give any real review. It's a small fire, but it's still better than nothing.

The Kelly Kettle is a popular little stove for heating water. It has a small can on the bottom you stick twigs and other small fuel in. The kettle itself is kind of a donut shape. The center if the kettle is a hollow tube that acts as a chimney for the fire. The water storage part of the kettle surrounds the chimney. It's small and light weight and a good option if you want to boil water to kill any germs.

The Swedish Stove is a fire method where your fire is the stove. You split up a log for fire and stack the pieces up on end almost putting the log back together but keeping a little space between the pieces. You build your fire in the middle of the log and let it burn. You can put your cooking pot or pan right on top and let it cook.

An Alcohol Burner can be a cheap stove that's easy to make yourself. The burner in this video takes a lot of extra work. You can make one of these really easily with a couple pop cans and a pair of scissors but this version makes a better quality burner that can last longer.