This is my Adaptable Fire Kit – What I Carry, Why I Carry it and How it Changes.
What’s in your kit and how is it different than mine? How does it change with each of your adventures?
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For this episode I wanted to talk about my fire kit and go over what I carry, why I carry it and how it often changes. With my kit, there are certain items which I just about always bring with me and with each trip I will alter specifically for that trip. For how I like to organize, my fire kit also includes my cook kit and cutlery.
Bag : Kifaru Ultralight Pullout Bag – (I have review on this kit if you search on my channel)
Pot : Toaks 750ml Titanium pot with bail handle
Cup : MSR Titan Cup
Some times : If Susie is going to be with me, I will add in an addition cup. If I am alone, I may put my stove inside of the cup to conserve space.
Wash Cloth : Inside the pot I usually keep a wash cloth; you’ll be surprised at how often one of these will come in handy. Use it to grab a hot pot, hot cup, use it to clean up your cookware, use it to clean up yourself, and so on. You can even use it to protect your tarp from a jagged stick in case of a rushed setup.
Paper Towel : 1 full paper towel cut in half; excellent for cleaning up, fire starter, and so on. There are million reasons to have a full sheet and it weights virtually nothing.
Tin Foil : This is a piece of foil which I always keep with me and can be used for many purposes including a wind screen, you can cook with it, you can use it as a lid to a pot, cup, etc.
Fire : I always make sure to have two forms of starting a fire – lighter and matches; there will be times when a simple lighter may not offer you the best solution for starting your fire or getting your stove going. For an example, lighting an alcohol stove can be a pain with a lighter but using a match can make it nice and easy.
Fire Starter : Generally I will carry with me a few of these Trioxanes just incase I want to get an easy fire going or if for some reason that I can’t use my canister stove and can heat up some water. An example of use is this; you are out of a trip and as you are setting up your tent, it rains for twenty minutes; everything is damp but not soaked; you can use one of these and get a fire going for the evening. Items like this are great for no fuss fires and there will be times when you simply are too tired to fool around and this makes fire possible easily
Wire : This is something that I always carry with me as I have found that it can serve many purposes; I can hang something from my pack with it, I can hang my pot over a fire or some trioxane, do a repair with it, etc. It weighs nothing at all and can potentially save your butt.
Bellows : This is a nice product to have with you especially if you live in locations that get a lot of rain; it can make the difference between having a fire and not having one and makes it nice and easy to develop lots of oxygen to your fire.
Ferro Rod : This is something that I just about always take with me on my trips- this is a back up to my backup. If you have some extra time, it can be fun to hone your skills and also, if you have children it can keep them entertained for hours and hours.
Cutlery : This is something that changes with every trip as I carry what I need for the specific trip that I can going on. If it is just me, there is no need for two spoons. If I’m only heating water for meals, I don’t need the spatula. Some times I may have a sharp food prep knife for cutting and processing.
Stoves :
WARM WEATHER : Butane stove such as the Soto G Stove ST-320 are great for warm weather use and can be pushed down to around 40ish F. This is a great stove, very efficient, fuel is super inexpensive. A Little heavy.
COOLER WEATHER : MSR Pocket Rocket 2 Deluxe and a small fuel canister. This version works slightly better in cooler temps than the Pocket Rocket 2 but not substantially so. What I really do appreciate is the integrated wind screen as it is a substantial improvement over the 2. Butane and Propane mix is a very common fuel type and really performs poorly when approaching freezing. You can warm a can before use but that only allows for good performance for a short period of time. In cold conditions, you can take your hands and place them on the can and you will notice a boost in performance. Note : I always keep the fuel in a ziplock bag just in case of spills.
COLD WEATHER : Stoves and Fuel Examples : Alcohol stove and fuel system which I may use for cold trips. The stand is from Mil-Tech, the stove itself is an Esbit spirit burner, the bottle is from Vargo and the fuel is plain Jane denatured alcohol. Alcohol is a great fuel for really cold conditions but it isn’t the most efficient of fuels and you may need a lot of it depending on the trip that you are going out on.