Fire and Cooking · Black Beard Fire Starters
Black Beard Lifeline Fire Kit
Three ways to light, in one bin, with tinder that ignores rain
Worth the upgrade
Why it's on my list
The fire bin of my grab-and-go kit, bought as one piece: fire starters, a ferro rod, the arc lighter, fire plugs and stormproof matches in a chest bag. The rod always works and the lighter is the one you reach for first.
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What it is
Everything fire in one chest bag: four Black Beard fire starter ropes, a ferro rod, the plasma arc lighter, a bag of fire plugs, stormproof matches, the Tac Pac chest bag and a patch. The brand's own count puts the pieces at $175 bought apart.
What's in the kit
Three ways to light, tinder that ignores rain, and the bag they live in
This is the fire bin of my grab-and-go kit, bought as one piece. The rule behind it is simple: never one way to make fire. The lighter is what you reach for first, the ferro rod works when the lighter is dead or soaked, the stormproof matches work when your hands are too cold for either, and the tinder is what turns a spark into a fire in weather that does not want one. Black Beard prices the pieces at 175 dollars apart; the kit is less.
The three lighters
Plasma arc, ferro rod, stormproof matches
Why it's included
The arc lighter lights tinder in wind and rain and recharges from the same USB everything else does, which is why it's the lighter in my power outage gear list. The ferro rod has no fuel, no battery and no moving parts, so it is the one that always works. The matches light after a soaking and wind does not put them out; they're the backup for cold hands and the one you hand a kid to learn on. The techniques, from the first spark to a fire in the rain, are on essential fire-making techniques.
What's in it
- Plasma arc lighter: windproof, waterproof, USB rechargeable
- Black Beard ferro rod
- Stormproof matches
The tinder
Fire starters and fire plugs that burn wet
Why it's included
Dry tinder is the thing you never have when you need a fire. The fire starters and the fire plugs burn whether it's raining or not: bend one, break it, light it, and it burns for minutes, long enough to catch damp kindling. The fire plugs have a 30-year shelf life, so the bag outlasts the bag it's in.
What's in it
- 4 Black Beard fire starters
- 1 bag of fire plugs: about 8 minutes of flame per plug, 30-year shelf life
The bag
A Tac Pac chest bag and a patch
Why it's included
A fire kit scattered through a pack is three things you cannot find in the dark. The chest bag keeps all of it in one place that moves between the truck, the camp table and the house as one piece, which is the whole idea of the grab-and-go kit.
What's in it
- Tac Pac chest bag
- Black Beard Velcro patch
The pieces on their own
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Three ways to light, tinder that ignores rain, and a 28 gram stove.