The Greatest Firestarters of 2024

We’ve researched and examined over two dozen choices that can assist you select the perfect firestarters to your wants. Packing the best firestarter is among the greatest methods to outsmart any of the difficulties the surface world tries to throw at you, whether or not you’re tenting, searching, backcountry snowboarding, or stranded on the facet of the street.

Writer and Senior Editor Chris Carter has thrown collectively his justifiable share of fires throughout tenting journeys and survival conditions alike all around the world. He put over a dozen of the perfect firestarters available on the market to the take a look at final yr and mined the collective data of GearJunkie’s staff of bushcraft fans to create the choice you see beneath. He spewed sparks over numerous tinder bundles in all types of circumstances and climates whereas testing these, and left no stone unturned in researching the perfect of the perfect. For our newest replace, Andrew Potter examined two new potential additions to the listing and deemed them worthy. Over a couple of chilly nights exterior of June Lake, CA, he examined these additions, pushing their limits with wind and water to make sure they’d operate in harsh circumstances.

Whether or not you need the general efficiency of our high decide, the Wolf & Grizzly, or a less complicated, funds choice of the Mild My Hearth MayaStick-on-a-Rope, now we have you coated.

As a be aware of warning: Know your native hearth restrictions and think twice about whether or not you really want a fireplace. By no means depart your hearth unattended, and be ready to utterly saturate it till the bottom beneath it’s moist and chilly. Unattended campfires are the reason for a number of the largest, most expensive pure disasters within the U.S., consuming hundreds of thousands of acres of forest and destroying whole communities. A hearth can save your life in chilly, moist circumstances, however we have to be accountable outdoor individuals.

Try our helpful comparability chart on the backside of the listing for a fast comparability, or observe our purchaser’s information and value and worth part to seek out the perfect firestarter to your package.

Editor’s Word: We up to date this information on October 20 2024, by including a value and worth part and the dependable and straightforward to make use of UCO Titan Stormproof Match Package, and the SOL Magazine Striker with Tinder Twine.

The Greatest Firestarters of 2024

Firestarter Comparability Chart

How We Examined the Greatest Firestarters

From skilled survivalists to weekend warriors stoked on bushcraft, the GearJunkie staff is made up of out of doors fans who know the significance of getting a fireplace began in any situation. We’ve spent infinite hours gathering tinder bundles, snapping sticks, and getting light-headed as we blow flames into life. Whether or not it’s a campfire to cook dinner dinner over or an emergency warmth supply, fire-making expertise are key for anybody going tenting or backpacking within the backcountry.

Writer and Senior Editor Chris Carter understands the significance of not solely having the means to make a fireplace in any scenario but additionally having the talents to whip one up in unfavorable circumstances. When matches and lighters fail, firestarters rise to the problem — however provided that you know the way to make use of them. Carter has began lots of of fires with conventional firestarters in all types of environments, at informal campfires with mates, and in downright survival conditions.

Carter grew up within the bush of Kenya, East Africa, the place he realized a complete slew of primitive survival expertise, together with the way to mild a fireplace with a hand or bow drill, hearth plow, and conventional flint and metal. In lots of eventualities, fires should not only for a comfy camp environment however are important instruments for staying heat, cooking a kill, or maintaining wild animals at a distance.

Whereas matches are a simple resolution, Carter wouldn’t be caught useless within the wilderness with out a secondary, extra dependable approach of securing a flame. For this information, he accrued quite a few his favourite firestarters he’s used through the years and examined new alternatives from high manufacturers available on the market. He partnered along with his different bushcraft mates and threw spark after spark over numerous tinder bundles to carry you the streamlined number of 15 starters you see right now.

Andrew Potter applied Chris’ rigorous testing methods for the most recent additions to our information. Whereas it was his first foray into testing firestarters, we had been excited to see how a novice may induce flames with some techy firestarters just like the SOL Magazine Striker.

We all know the competitors for the firestarter podium is consistently evolving, which is why we’ve slotted this information into an everyday replace schedule. We’re perpetually speaking with specialists, bugging manufacturers at gear reveals, and scouring the web to ensure we cowl probably the most related and deserving choice doable. Be totally ready for all of your adventures by trying out our guides to different necessities, together with the greatest compasses and greatest handwarmers.

Purchaser’s Information: Methods to Select the Greatest Firestarter

Whereas matches or lighters could also be a number of the quicker methods of beginning fires, they aren’t all the time probably the most dependable. It’s essential to have, and know the way to use, a stable firestarter for when the sudden occurs. You unintentionally fall right into a river and soak all of your gear. You break all of your matches or your lighter runs out of fluid.

Having the ability to begin a fireplace in any scenario is among the greatest steps you may take to enhance your possibilities of survival. We discovered the highest tried-and-true firestarters and examined them for this information, providing a variety for each sort of journey.

Kind of Exercise

Totally different actions require totally different firestarters. For instance, carrying the heavy Bernzomatic Torch on a long-haul backpacking journey may make for a great snort, however you’ll remorse it fairly rapidly.

Should you’re going automobile tenting, one thing greater and heavier like that can be a a lot better match. Backpacking calls for light-weight gear that’s simple to carry alongside, so that you’d be a lot better off with a easy ferro rod and flint firestarter.

Dimension & Weight

Each ounce counts when backpacking, and each inch of your backpack is efficacious house. The little issues like firestarters are the place the ounces can rapidly add up. An additional inch of fabric means much less house for meals and extra weight to hold.

Discovering the best stability between measurement and weight is essential to getting the best software. Too small, and it’s unimaginable to deal with; too massive, and also you’re lugging further weight you don’t want.

Ease of Use

On the finish of a protracted day of mountain climbing, the very last thing you need is to struggle together with your firestarter to get heat. The simpler the firestarter is to make use of, the higher. One of many best to make use of on this listing is the UCO Titan Stormproof Match Package.

There are specific methods to make life simpler within the backcountry, particularly whenever you’re simply beginning to learn to use a firestarter. Should you’re new to the talent, pack further firestarter sticks. They don’t weigh a lot or take up a lot house, they usually’ll be greater than value it within the lengthy haul. Or, select one which’s geared at learners, just like the UST BlastMatch, a firestriker that primarily does the give you the results you want.

Varieties of Firestarters

The three major kinds of firestarters — flint and metal, ferrocerium rods, and magnesium bars — can be utilized in quite a lot of totally different eventualities, and every has its place in a firestarting package. This information covers different distinctive firestarters that use electrical sparks, a blowtorch, and even a sizzling beam of sunshine, however these are the extra widespread starters you’ll see in survival kits.

Flint and Metal

Flint & metal is among the oldest tried-and-true strategies of beginning a fireplace. The flint may be quite a lot of totally different laborious rocks, comparable to quartzite or chert. The metal striker element is constructed with a excessive carbon content material and is normally heat-treated. When the metal strikes the rock, it breaks off tiny particles of the metallic, which oxidize and ignite when uncovered to oxygen.

One of many negatives of flint and metal is how boring the sparks are, and charred material or naturally charred supplies are normally required to successfully maintain the spark and switch it right into a flame. The worth of flint and metal lies of their means to be simply reproduced with available supplies.

Ferrocerium Rods (Ferro Rod)

The sparks created by a ferro rod are extraordinarily sizzling in comparison with these of flint and metal, which makes it simpler to mild a dry tinder bundle. A few of the starters on this information, such because the Wolf and Grizzly, and the Zippo Hearth Starter Package, use a ferro rod as a part of their set.

To make this course of simpler, it’s a good suggestion to hold some extremely flammable tinder in your survival package, comparable to cotton balls coated with wax, Vaseline, or dryer lint, however there are many pure assets that can be utilized in a pinch.

The Exotac Firerod is slim sufficient to slip into the ferro loops typically featured on bushcraft knives, however the rod’s deal with nonetheless leaves room for a water-resistant tinder capsule to retailer flammable tinder in case of an emergency. In case your ferro rod doesn’t include its personal striker, you must guarantee that you’ve got a sturdy knife or spare striker available in case you plan on bringing it alongside. Ferro loops on the sheathes of bushcraft knives are useful additions to make sure the entire household stays collectively.

Ferro rods are constructed with totally different metals, which make it simpler or tougher to scrape relying on the composition. Softer rods don’t have as lengthy of a lifespan however usually present extra sparks with every strike. Most ferro rods are made with about 50% cerium, with numerous ratios of lanthanum and iron making up the remainder of the combination.

A ferro rod doesn’t create a flame when struck, so it’s essential that the tinder bundle you utilize is as dry and flammable as doable. Many ferrocerium rods may have a black protecting coating on them after they come out of the field, which is able to must be scraped off earlier than use.

Magnesium Bars

Sometimes called “magazine bars,” this can be a bar or block that normally has a ferro rod hooked up to the highest of it. As an alternative of getting to collect a tinder bundle that may catch a spark, or bringing cotton balls, you should use magnesium shavings from the bar as a lot of your tinder bundle, which is able to ignite with a spark from the ferro rod.

Some magazine bars include their very own striker, however you should use the again facet of your bushcraft knife to shave off magnesium, and strike the ferro rod. Keep away from utilizing the sharp finish of your knife for this, because it may boring or harm it considerably.

The SOL Magazine Striker is the one conventional “magazine bar” on our listing, but it surely was an integral addition, because it’s among the best methods to start out a fireplace in damp circumstances.

Firemaking Suggestions

Hearth is such a primary, elementary aspect to human existence, however may be surprisingly laborious to make — significantly if the climate is in opposition to you. It’s essential to follow utilizing any firestarter that you just plan on having in your emergency package beforehand, as matches and lighters can fail on adventures.

Whether or not utilizing flint & metal, a ferro rod, or a magazine bar, you have to a bone-dry bundle of tinder to catch your spark and switch a flame to bigger kindling. Fatwood shavings, birch bark, cattails, dry fluff from vegetation, or dried animal dung typically work effectively as tinder bundles.

Many firestarters, comparable to Exotac’s Firerod and Prepared4X’s Survival Torch, include dry, typically waterproof tinder that makes this essential step a lot simpler. It’s also possible to premake tinder bundles to retailer in your package by soaking cotton balls in wax, or gathering dryer lint from dwelling in a water-resistant container.

Consolidate loads of medium-sized dry kindling (ideally from conifers) and have it available to construct up your hearth as soon as you identify a flame in your tinder bundle. Make one thing of a “fowl’s nest” together with your pile of tinder, utilizing fluffed-up dry supplies. Place fatwood shavings or a feather stick (a stick that has been shaved to supply clusters of skinny curls protruding from the wooden — see illustration above) on high of the fowl’s nest.

Upon getting a tinder bundle you want, maintain the scraper at a 45-degree angle to your rod, with the tip of your rod nearly touching your tinder. Pull the rod — not the scraper — again sharply. This lets you get sparks nearer to the tinder. Thus, it makes it simpler to manage the place the sparks are spraying.

When a spark takes in your tinder bundle, it ought to produce a powerful however short-lived flame. Resist the temptation to instantly blow on a spark or small flame, as you would simply extinguish it earlier than it has an opportunity to catch any greater gasoline.

Construct a teepee of small match-sized twigs and pencil-sized kindling over the rising flame, which inspires the flame to go upward. Steadily add greater and greater sticks and logs till you’ve established a stable base of embers and warmth.

Blowing barely in your hearth close to the start can assist, however solely after the flame has caught and the tinder is smoldering. Make sure to not blow out a brand new small flame in an effort to provide it extra oxygen. If there’s ample airflow, the flame will do its job and transfer onto greater dry gasoline.

Reliability

The issue with matches and lighters is their reliability. As soon as they get moist, too chilly, or too excessive in altitude, they don’t work effectively, except they’re made to climate abuse just like the UCO Titan Stormproof Match Package.

Getting a dependable firestarter in all circumstances and environments helps make sure you received’t be left shivering on the bottom with an empty abdomen after a protracted day of trekking. We’d really feel snug counting on all the firestarters on this listing within the backcountry. Although some are higher suited to a backup light-weight “survival package” than others.

Worth & Worth

Simply as with each piece of substances, value issues. Figuring out a funds earlier than even shopping your choices is essential that can assist you get the perfect firestarter to your wants. Firestarters on this listing vary in value from $4 to nearly $250. We cowl a broad vary of firestarter sorts on this information. Our “Greatest Price range” choice doesn’t supply the identical stage of versatility as a number of the conventional ferro rods we cowl.

Take into consideration the kind of journeys you intend on utilizing your starter on. Use this to assist formulate a funds, and slim in on the perfect firestarter to your wants. However don’t purchase one thing simply due to a excessive price ticket. It doesn’t all the time imply it’s the higher piece of substances. Worth could be a reflection of high quality, however it will probably additionally result in pointless and over-the-top merchandise.

Price range

A couple of firestarters on this listing fall beneath the $15 mark. Our greatest funds choice, the Mild My Hearth MayaStick-on-a-Rope ($4), and our greatest pure choice, the UCO Stormproof Sweetfire Hearth Starter Factors ($6), are simple to make use of in most circumstances and proved pretty dependable in our testing.

The UCO Stormproof Kits on our listing (Stormproof Matches and Sweetfire Factors) will solely make as many fires because the matches and factors included within the kits. Their ease of use, nevertheless, will increase their worth for sure makes use of. The SOL Magazine Striker comes with a bottle opener, and at $13.50, it’s laborious to beat the worth of a enjoyable package that’s been examined to supply over 100 fires.

Mid-Tier

The vast majority of choices on this listing fall inside the vary of $20-33. For a lot of of those, their worth turns into extra obvious when you think about what number of makes use of you’ll get out of your package. For magnesium bars and ferro rod-style firestarters, take into account what number of strikes you’ll get out of the fabric. The UST BlastMatch offers you 4,000 strikes. whereas our greatest total decide, the Wolf & Grizzly ($27), offers you 20,000. And if that’s not your major concern, take into account whether or not the package has a number of makes use of. The Morokaniv Companion Spark is actually a knife, so the added worth there’s obvious.

Premium

Aside from the Flash Torch ($249) and Bernzomatic Torch $99), not one of the firestarters on this listing will take a piece out of your pockets. These firestarters are high-tech and use gasoline, additionally, which makes it a bit trickier to gauge their long-term worth.

Regularly Requested Questions