Cooking, Fuel and Fire · Guide

Fire Without Matches: Ferro Rod, Flint and Steel, Lens, Battery, Bow Drill, and Chemistry

Every one of these works, and every one of them fails without tinder and patience. Six ways to make a flame when the lighter is dead or lost, in the order I would actually reach for them: the ferro rod that lives in every kit, flint and steel with char cloth, a lens on a sunny day, a battery and steel wool, the bow drill that is a skill and not a trick, and the potassium permanganate reaction from the book. Plus the tinder that makes all of them work.

Quick facts

CarryA ferro rod and striker, a lighter, waterproof matches, and tinder that works wet: three ways, every kit
Ferro rod3,000°F sparks in any weather; scrape slowly with the spine of a knife, rod held still, striker pulled back
Flint and steelCooler sparks that need char cloth or true tinder fungus to catch; the historical method
LensAny magnifier, eyeglasses, a water-filled bag; full sun only, dark tinder, a fixed focal point
Battery and steel wool9 V battery on 0000 steel wool ignites instantly; keep them apart in the pack
FrictionBow drill: dry softwood, a good notch, hours of practice before it works once

A fire is a small hot spot and the tinder to catch it and the wood to feed it, and the second and third parts are where every method here succeeds or fails. The lighter is the best fire starter ever made, and a lighter is wet, empty or in the other jacket exactly when it matters, which is why every kit I own carries a ferro rod, waterproof matches and tinder as well. These are the six ways to make the hot spot without a match, in the order I would reach for them.

3Ways to make flame, every kitLighter, ferro rod, matches

3,000°FFerro rod sparkWorks wet, works in wind

3xThe wood you think you needGathered before the spark

0000Steel wool gradeFiner catches faster

Tinder first, always

What every method below needs ready before the first spark

Tinder: a fist of something dry, fine and fluffy. Cotton balls with petroleum jelly (the recipe, and the best there is), fatwood shavings, birch bark shredded fine, cedar inner bark rubbed to fiber, dry grass, cattail fluff, the lint from a pocket.
Kindling: an armful of pencil-thin dead twigs snapped from standing branches, then thumb-thick, then wrist-thick, stacked within reach.
A dry base: bark, split wood or flat stones so the fire is not sitting in wet ground.
Wind block: your body, a log, a rock.

The order of failure is the same for beginners every time: a spark or a coal, no tinder ready, gone. Build the nest and the wood pile first, then make the spark.

The six methods

Ferro rodA rod of iron and rare earth alloy that throws 3,000°F sparks when scraped, in rain, snow and wind, for thousands of strikes. Tinder on the ground, rod tip on it, striker or knife spine against the rod, and pull the rod back while the striker stays still so the sparks land in the nest. Slow and firm shaves off burning metal; fast and light makes fireworks. This is the one that lives in every kit, on a lanyard, with a strip of fatwood taped to it.

Flint and steelThe historical method: a high-carbon steel striker hit against a sharp edge of flint, chert or quartz shears off tiny curls of steel that burn as sparks. They are cooler than a ferro rod's and need a tinder that catches at a low temperature: char cloth (cotton cooked in a sealed tin until black), tinder fungus, or charred punk wood. Catch the spark on the char, fold it into a nest of dry grass, blow it to flame. Slower, and satisfying, and it works forever.

A lens and the sunAny convex lens focuses sunlight into a point hot enough to char and then light dark tinder: a magnifying glass, a Fresnel card from the wallet, reading glasses, a camera lens, a clear bottle or a bag filled with water, even clear ice shaped and polished. Full sun, dark tinder (charred cloth, black punk wood, dark bark), the smallest point held dead still until it smokes, then blow. Useless at dusk, in overcast, and in winter's low sun.

Battery and steel woolA 9 volt battery's two terminals touched to a loose wad of 0000 steel wool shorts through the fine strands, which glow and spread like a fuse in a second. Set the wool in the tinder first, touch the battery to it and release, then blow and feed. Two AAs held end to end with a strip of foil, or a phone battery, do the same. Store the battery and the wool in different places; together in a pack they start the fire without you.

Bow drill and hand drillFriction fire. A dry softwood spindle spins in a notch in a hearth board of the same wood, driven by a bow's cord, with a hard socket pressing down; the hot dust collects in a notch, becomes a coal, and goes into a tinder nest. The hand drill is the same with the spindle rolled between the palms, harder still. Materials, notch, pressure and speed all have to be right at once. It is a real skill, learned at home over many failed attempts, and it is the last thing to try cold on a bad day.

Potassium permanganate and glycerinFrom the compounds cabinet: about a teaspoon of the purple crystals in a small pile on a dry, non-flammable surface, a few drops of glycerin on top, step back. After a delay of up to a minute it smokes, then bursts into a vigorous flame that spits, with the tinder nest beside it to catch. Slow or dead in the cold; warm the glycerin in a pocket first. Never premixed, never carried in the same container; the two ignite on contact. The emergency flame reaction page is the full method from the book, and the compound page is the storage.

From spark to fire

The spark or coal goes into the center of the tinder nest. Fold the nest loosely around it.
Blow long, steady and gentle from below, not hard puffs. The glow spreads, smokes thick, and flames.
Set the burning nest on the base and lay the pencil twigs over it in a loose teepee, a few at a time. Do not drop a handful on and smother it.
Thumb-thick wood once the twigs are going, wrist-thick once those are, and only then something you would call a log.
In rain: split dead branches for the dry center, build under cover, and start small.

The cooking, fuel and fire guide is what the fire is for and the fuels that feed it; the wilderness survival page is where fire sits in the order of a bad day.

Safety, briefly

Clear the ground to dirt in a circle, and keep the fire small; a big fire is not a warmer fire, it is a fire you cannot control.
Steel wool and batteries: apart in the pack, and the wool held by a corner or set down before the battery touches it.
Permanganate and glycerin: never together until the moment of use, on a non-flammable surface, face back, in warm conditions.
Fatwood, petroleum jelly and every solvent on this site are fire starters, not fuels for a lamp. Nothing gets poured toward a burning fire.
Out means cold to the touch: water, stir, water, feel.

What I carry

A lighter in a pocket and a second in the kit
A ferro rod with a striker, on a lanyard, a strip of fatwood taped to it
Waterproof matches in a sealed case, or the wax-dipped matches
A film canister of cotton balls with petroleum jelly, and a few fatwood sticks
A Fresnel lens card in the wallet
A 9 volt battery and a pad of 0000 steel wool, in separate bags, in the vehicle kit
A tin of char cloth if I am carrying flint and steel for the fun of it

Three ways to make flame and tinder that works wet, in every kit, every time. The bow drill is a skill for the backyard, so that it is there if the day ever comes when the kit is not.

Questions this answers

Tap a question for the short answer.

How do I start a fire without matches?

With the ferro rod that should already be in your pocket: a fluffed cotton ball smeared with petroleum jelly, or a pile of birch bark or fatwood shavings, on the ground with a wall of dry twigs ready beside it; hold the rod tip against the tinder and pull the striker back along it slowly so the sparks land where you want them. It lights in rain and wind. Without a rod, the order is a lens in full sun, a battery on fine steel wool, flint and steel with char cloth, and only then friction. Every method on this page is a way to make a small hot spot; tinder and the wood stacked ready are what turn it into a fire.

How do I start a fire with a battery and steel wool?

Pull a wad of very fine (0000) steel wool loose so air can get through it, set it in the tinder bundle, and touch both terminals of a 9 volt battery to it at once; the fine strands short the battery, glow red and spread like a fuse. Blow gently, feed the tinder onto it, and build up. Two AA batteries in series or a phone battery's contacts work in a pinch. It happens fast, so the tinder and kindling are ready before the battery comes out.

Is it safe to start a fire with a 9v battery and steel wool?

Reasonably, with three rules. The steel wool ignites instantly and burns hot, so hold it by a corner or set it down first and touch the battery to it, not the other way around. Never store the battery and the steel wool in the same pocket or pouch; a 9 volt rolling against steel wool in a pack has started more than one fire. And a shorted battery gets hot fast, so touch and release; do not hold it on. The current is too low to shock you.

How does a bow drill work?

A spindle of dry, soft, dead wood (cottonwood, cedar, willow, yucca) spins in a notch in a flat hearth board of the same wood, driven by the string of a bow sawed back and forth, with a socket of hard wood or stone pressing down from the top. Friction grinds hot wood dust into the notch, the dust piles up on a leaf or a chip beneath it, and when it smokes on its own it has become a coal, which is transferred into a tinder bundle and blown into flame. The materials, the notch, the pressure and the speed all have to be right at once, which is why it takes hours of practice at home before it works once and why it is the last method on this page, not the first.

Where can I buy potassium permanganate?

Pool and water supply stores, farm and hardware stores that stock well water treatment, aquarium suppliers, and online, sold as a water treatment oxidizer or a pond treatment. The compound page on this site covers grades and storage. It is an oxidizer: stored dry, sealed, away from glycerin, fuels and anything organic, in its own container in the compounds cabinet.

Where can I buy glycerin?

Any pharmacy, in the skin care or laxative aisle as pure vegetable glycerin, and in the soap-making and baking sections of craft and grocery stores. It has a dozen other jobs on this site, from soap to skin care, so a bottle is on the shelf anyway. It is not stored with the potassium permanganate; the two are kept in separate containers in separate places until the moment they are combined.

How do I use a ferro rod?

Tinder first: a fluffed cotton ball with petroleum jelly, a nest of birch bark or fine fatwood shavings, dry grass rubbed fine, all on a dry base with the twigs stacked and ready. Kneel, hold the tip of the rod on or just above the tinder, and put the striker (the spine of a knife, or the scraper that came with it) against the rod near the tip. Then pull the rod back toward you with the rod hand while the striker stays put, so the sparks fall exactly on the tinder instead of scattering. Slow, firm strokes shave off burning metal; fast, light ones make pretty sparks that land nowhere. When the tinder catches, feed it, and do not smother it.

What is the best tinder for a spark?

Cotton balls worked with petroleum jelly, pulled apart so the fibers are fluffed: they take a single spark and burn for five minutes, wet or dry, and they weigh nothing. After that: fatwood shavings, birch bark shredded fine, cedar bark rubbed to fiber, dry grass, cattail fluff, and char cloth for flint and steel. Whatever it is, it has to be dry, fine and fluffy with air through it, and the twigs to feed it have to be within reach before the first spark. The petroleum jelly fire starter page is the recipe.

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