07-06-2008, 09:36 PM
Im not a big fan of this method as something for me to constantly rely on during my outtings.
For one, as many things in life, it isnt as easy as it sounds which is sort of odd since it really does spark up very quickly and well when the battery comes into contact with the wool.
However as most things it really does take a bit of practice to be able to reliably start a fire with this method on a consistant basis.
If you place tinder around the wool, and expect it to catch the tinder on fire, I find it more times than not simply would not catch.
What works best for me is to get my tinder pile ready, with the rest of my fire material nearby and ready, and than to ignite the wool with the battery and while blowing on it, which really makes it hot, catch a smaller, more flammable bit of material or tinder (such as a vaseline coated cotton ball, or some rolled up dried grass) and than placing that into the awaiting tinder pile to ignite it.
I also find that it takes a decent amount of wool to reliably use, and that a single 9 volt battery becomes more or less drained after 4 or 6 uses with the wool. I dont care to lug around enough wool nor batteries to afford me the luxury of relying on this method on a regular basis myself.
But it is a pretty cool little trick.
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For one, as many things in life, it isnt as easy as it sounds which is sort of odd since it really does spark up very quickly and well when the battery comes into contact with the wool.
However as most things it really does take a bit of practice to be able to reliably start a fire with this method on a consistant basis.
If you place tinder around the wool, and expect it to catch the tinder on fire, I find it more times than not simply would not catch.
What works best for me is to get my tinder pile ready, with the rest of my fire material nearby and ready, and than to ignite the wool with the battery and while blowing on it, which really makes it hot, catch a smaller, more flammable bit of material or tinder (such as a vaseline coated cotton ball, or some rolled up dried grass) and than placing that into the awaiting tinder pile to ignite it.
I also find that it takes a decent amount of wool to reliably use, and that a single 9 volt battery becomes more or less drained after 4 or 6 uses with the wool. I dont care to lug around enough wool nor batteries to afford me the luxury of relying on this method on a regular basis myself.
But it is a pretty cool little trick.
[signature]