According to the ancient Greeks, Prometheus lay the foundation of civilization by stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mankind. The mythology of the ancient Greeks does not accurately represent the one true God, His holy character, or His plan of redemption. But the Greeks were remarkably perceptive regarding the role of fire as the foundation of civilization. Heat, light, protection from wild animals, food preparation, the forging of metal tools, and a host of other possibilities all lay hidden within the glow of a tiny flame.
Effective fire starting is so foundational to survival, that I try to take along at least three distinct methods of starting fires when venturing into the great outdoors.
My primary method of starting a fire utilizes a ferrocerium rod and a cotton ball with a daub of petroleum jelly on it. I have experimented with a number of different brands of ferrocerium rods, and have had good results with all of them.
My back up method of starting a fire utilizes waterproof matches stored in a waterproof case. Storing waterproof matches in a waterproof case may seem redundant. One somewhat damp and chilly canoe trip many years ago made me dedicated to the proposition that keeping matches dry is a lofty goal that is worthy of efforts that go far above and beyond the call of duty.
I have vacillated greatly regarding my tertiary method of fire starting. A butane lighter is inexpensive, light, and easy to carry, but does not always work reliably in cold weather. Naptha evaporates from Zippo style lighters within a week or so. Gasoline and especially kerosene evaporate more slowly from IMCO style lighters, but also do not ignite as well during cold weather. A flare generates a great deal of heat, but even a small flare is somewhat bulky and can only be used one time.
Eventually, I began to toy with the idea of trying a higher-tech solution. My wife has a couple of plasma candle lighters that seem to work well. I began to wonder what kind of field performance I could get from a waterproof plasma lighter.
On December 1, 2020, Mr. Rawles announced that I had received honorable mention in Round 91 of the SurvivalBlog writing contest. I received an Amazon gift card as the prize. I already had one item firmly on my wish list: Mr. Rawles’ newest book, The Ultimate Prepper’s Survival Guide. But I had more money on the gift card than I needed to buy the book. I decided to explore waterproof plasma lighter options.
One option that I ran across was the Morisk Waterproof Flashlight/Plasma Lighter. The idea of combining a plasma lighter with a flashlight was appealing to me. This would add the functionality of a lighter to a piece of equipment that I would likely be carrying anyway. So I decided to give it a try, and placed my order. Five days later, the shipment arrived.Continue reading“Gear Review: Morisk Waterproof Flashlight/Plasma Lighter, by The Novice”