Did you ever go hiking into the mountains when it rained and everything got wet? If everything includes the only box of matches, then it is cold comfort not hot coffee in the morning. The solution is as simple as popping a fresh nine volt lead battery in your pack so you can use it to start a campfire.
This is not something out of the lost kingdom, although we will assume you manage to lay your hands on some dry kindling, sticks, and branches. Does it help if we tell you the cloudburst was local? Let’s move and lay the fire boy-scout fashion with a stack of small sticks over tinder.
Are You Ready? Let’s Start a Campfire
Next, get some steel wool out, and form it into golf ball size lump making sure you do not squash the strands together.
We hope we did not hear you right when you said you don’t shine pot bottoms when out in nature. If necessary, pop a fresh nine volt battery AND some steel wool in your pack before you start.
Next, push the steel wool ball into the tinder and press the battery terminals against it. You should see a spark running through the material. The heat will light your fire. If you do not believe us, watch this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgB69B4N0J0
How the Battery and Steel Wool Gig Works
If we get enough electric current running through a resistor, the resistor heats up the same way as the filament in a pop-up toaster.
We just need to get the balance right. Too little steel wool, there is no fire. Too much, it melts.
Therefore practice makes perfect before you need to start a campfire. Experiment with different types of steel wool, and different brands of batteries.
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