Prepper’s Guide Starting fires in emergencies

Photos and Text

By DAVID HOSKING

Previous Pepper’s Guide articles have discussed why emergency preparedness is important and some of the steps that one can take for emergency readiness.

For this article, I thought it would be fun to look at primitive fire-making methods for when your matches are wet, butane lighters don’t work, and you have no other modern way to make a fire in your fireplace or campsite.

IMPRESS YOUR KIDS

This is also a great way to impress your kids with your skills as a wannabee Grizzly Adams mountain man. Before friction matches

(e.g. strike-anywhere wooden matches) were invented in the early 1800s, lighting a fire, or even a candle, was difficult.

In early times, pioneer homes and every mountain man, trapper, and soldier carried a tinder box containing a flint, a steel striker and tinder. To start a fire, they would strike a hand-held bar of steel against a piece of stone flint to create sparks that ignited the tinder.

When the tinder started to smolder, they would gently blow on it to keep it going and then they placed it under some very small twigs, which would begin to burn. Gradually, larger pieces of kindling were added to make a heartwarming campfire.

Before starting the process, it was critical to gather together all components, such as tinder, shavings, kindling and firewood, and to have them readily on hand throughout the process.

A traditional steel striker works best with a piece of stone flint. This combination has been used since days of old, and the steel’s bent shape prevents injury to your knuckles when striking the flint. This kit was very convenient because the flint, striker and tinder were small enough to carry in a pocket-size leather bag or tinder box. or scraped with steel, such as the backbone of a carbon alloy knife blade (stainless steel knives don’t work), it produces many sparks that can quickly ignite tinder.

A more modern replacement for the stone flint is a Ferro rod made of an iron-cerium alloy and only a few inches long, available today for very little money on Amazon or eBay. When struck

Another option is a short magnesium block with an embedded Ferro rod. A knife is used to shave off flakes of magnesium onto the tinder, and then the Ferro is struck with a piece of steel (e.g. knife) to produce sparks onto the magnesium shavings and tinder; the magnesium will erupt into an intense flame.

This is my favorite fire starter, but instead of a knife, I attach a short section of a broken hacksaw blade to the block with a string. I detach the blade and then use the serrated saw blade to shave off magnesium tailings onto the tinder and then strike the Ferro rod with the back of the hacksaw blade.

This fire starter combo works exceptionally well even under wet conditions, and a magnesium fire starter bar costs only about $2 or $3.

Many kinds of tinder can be used, and I thought it would be fun to experiment with several, including a mouse nest, shavings of cedar bark, lint from a clothes dryer, pure cotton balls soaked in melted Vaseline, and char cloth.

I tested these five types using sparks from a Ferro rod and knife:

• Tinder from a mouse nest ignited quickly and burned long enough to kindle small twigs.

• Tinder from cedar bark shavings was difficult to ignite with sparks from the Ferro rod but eventually caught fire after further shredding the bark into tiny pieces.

• Tinder made of clothes dryer lint was very effective. It caught fire almost immediately and burned with a strong flame and for long enough to ignite the twigs. Note that lint made from polyester or other manmade fabric will likely just melt instead of burn.

• A Vaseline-soaked cotton ball offers the best tinder that will work under wet conditions and provides a long-lasting hot flame. These balls can be squished into wafers and a dozen or more can be carried in a pill bottle. From personal experience, these work best with magnesium shavings and a Ferro rod.

• The sparks on char cloth produced only small glowing embers, but blowing on them was sufficient to ignite twigs and kindling.

Char cloth is the time-tested tinder carried by nearly all early pioneers and frontiersmen. It is made by heating small pieces of cotton fabric in a metal can until the fabric converts to carbon.I cut pieces from an old cotton T-shirt, placed them in a shallow can with a small hole in the top, and then heated the contents over a hot flame. A flame will spew from the small hole for a short time, and when it stops the process is finished. Let the can cool before opening it, and then you’ll find blackened pieces of tinder.

Final Words

Kits like these are easy to assemble and every home, gobag, get-home bag and camper should have one. Frankly, these are fun to use, and your fire-starting skills using primitive means will likely impress your kids on your next camping trip.

State offers prescribed burn workshop July 6

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will offer a free prescribed burn workshop from 1 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 6, at the Nodaway Valley Conservation Area east of Mound City in northwest Missouri.

Prescribed fire can help landowners reduce unwanted vegetation, and the burns can boost native grasses and wildflowers that enhance wildlife habitat. Prescribed burns can also be used to improve forage conditions in grazing or haying pastures.

Once registered for the workshop, participants will receive an email from instructors with links to an online course that must be completed before attending the workshop. The combined online and in-person sessions will give participants the knowledge they need to safely conduct prescribed burns on private land.

Instructors will provide information on how to plan a burn, neighborhood burn co-ops, equipment, weather conditions, and safety. All ages are welcome. If weather permits, a demonstration burn will be conducted. Participants should have leather boots, leather gloves, and wear all-cotton clothing. Bandannas are also helpful. Registration is required.

To register, visit https:// short.mdc.mo.gov/4Pg .

Claudette’s Kitchen

Photo and Text by CLAUDETTE ROPER

As I sit and write, I’m only a few steps away from a remarkable view of the Colorado Rockies. It has not inspired my writing, but the breath-taking view never grows old, regardless of how often I visit.

What being here is teaching me is not about cooking, but about life. My uncle passed away in December, and now my aunt and I are preparing for her move to a retirement apartment. At almost 93 years old, she is still tending to her home, the landscaping, the fruit trees and the vegetable garden. She impresses and inspires me.

One of her most-repeated phrases lately has been, “I didn’t know that I had so much stuff.” In a home with lots of storage, it’s easy to accumulate too much over 63 years. Divesting oneself of it is not as easy.

THE THRIFT STORE

Where are we going with this? Potentially, we could go many directions. For starters, it has encouraged me to know that I have been doing the right thing over the past few years by making regular trips to the thrift store with my “treasures.” even with all of those out of the kitchen.

Secondly, it has helped me put some things into perspective. Who really wants to look at your slides from a trip to Mexico? The scenery is gorgeous, but you can find that online or better yet, go see it for yourself.

When she had me dump literally thousands of slides into the trash can, I swallowed hard and my heart skipped a beat.

Now before anyone gets up in arms (can we still say that?), she had already sorted through all the old prints with photos of family members and friends.

She didn’t dump everything, but what is left will go to me, and then what?

Thirdly, we removed a lot of unused or seldom-used kitchen gadgets, pots and pans and sundry items.

Back To The Kitchen

Now for a quick step back to me and my kitchen. I have resisted the purchase of an air fryer since they came out.Avisit to a son and daughter-in-law changed my mind. Whether it was chicken or asparagus, grilled cheese or warming leftovers, it came out perfectly!

All of you know what a tightwad I am. After Googling air fryers, it didn’t seem like such a great idea. On the other hand, with being alone, a smaller model would be great for me, and in the summer heat, it could replace my oven.

Since Mountain Man was the griller in the family, I could actually use the air fryer in place of the grill and feel at ease with it.

You guessed it, I talked myself into it. Thankfully my aunt – the bargain-finder extraordinaire – found a used one online, and of all places it was in Colorado and not far away.

Aside from the ridiculously low price, it was rather exciting to know it was the head chef of the Colorado Avalanche who sold it to her. Instead of getting packed away for the trip home, it has been getting used like crazy and with impressive results.

Homemade Is Best

While here, a lovely Mexican family across the street confirmed my belief that homemade salsa is best when at least the peppers and even the tomatoes are roasted first. The caramelization adds so much flavor, which benefits many other dishes, not just salsa.

Considering the hot weather when tomatoes and peppers ripen in the garden, the thought of turning on the oven after coming in all hot and yucky is repulsive. Hello air fryer!

The guides I used for time and temperature can be found here:

• https://bitesofwellness.com/ air-fryer-roasted-peppers/

• https://www.momknowsbest. net/2020/08/roasted-tomatoes-made-in-air-fryer.html

Unlike the instructions on the website, I prefer to place peppers in a paper bag and roll the top down to hold in the steam for 10 minutes.

The recipe here is based on one that I use for canning. It is scaled down and slightly changed for making fresh salsa. I also learned from the neighbors that when making fresh, you can throw the peeled and seeded tomatoes, peppers and onions, etc. into a blender or food processor without chopping them first.

For canning, I still prefer to chop by hand to maintain chunks after the canning process.

Peach Salsa

1 cup tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 cup peppers, seeded and chopped

1 1/2 cups onions, chopped

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup lime juice

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

4 teaspoons oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/8 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar

Pinch of habanero powder (about 1/32 teaspoon or to taste)

1 cup peaches, chopped

Combine all ingredients and serve.

We’re still cooking delicious meals without any feeling of inconvenience, Peaches are great for warm-weather salsa.