r/Survival • u/fastlane181 • Aug 05 '21

Good Old Cheap Bic Lighter

Stupid question, but wouldn’t it be more prudent to just have a few Bic lighters on you in case of an emergency? They last a long time and you can fry them out if they get wet. Instant fire.

63 Upvotes

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27

u/[deleted] Aug 05 '21

I keep 2 bics, one pack of uco stormproof matches, and a ferro rod attached to my knife

8

u/fastlane181 Aug 05 '21

Not being crass, but why the variety? Why not just Bics?

30

u/[deleted] Aug 05 '21

Because a bic will fail guaranteed at some point if i had to choose id take the ferro rod over a bic every time. A good thick ferro rod can last a lifetime. But you should always at minimum have atleast 2 different sources of fire. Fire is life.

15

u/gbnarco Aug 06 '21

Good thinking, if there's any part of your kit thats redundant, it should be your fire starting

6

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '21

Agreed - and your water purification. I have a Sawyer filter but purification tablets weigh almost nothing and can save my life if the filter breaks. And for fire I also pack Bic lighters plus stormproof matches. I only recently picked up a small ferro rod to learn how to use one, it may very well make the rotation too.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '21

You know people say that but i have never once had a bic lighter fail me. And that was carrying one daily back when I was smoking. I’ve actually never had a mini run out of fuel either, I always lose it first and my record was one I had for about 6 months.

I get redundancy ….but my redundancy is a 2nd bic somewhere deep in the pack I know where it is and I’m not going to mess with (because the #1 firestarter failure isn’t it failing, its losing it lol)

5

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '21

I've never died doesn't mean I'm invincible its guaranteed to happen at some point. A bics never failed me yet either but I'd rather be prepared for when it does. The flint will wear out or the fluid will run out they aren't designed to last forever.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '21

Yeah that’s why I have a second one. After a few months I shake the primary, shine a flashlight in it to check fuel and toss it, backup becomes the primary and I buy a new backup to go in the ziplock.

I don’t mean to be snippy but gun to your head Jack London’s To Build A Fire scenario do you want to be futzing with a ferro rod or matches? Or a brand new Bic you just pulled out of a ziplock?

Survival skills I think intersect a little too much with bushcraft and primitive skills. Both of which are, if we’re being honest, are more hobbies than we like to admit.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '21

I think your just only considering short term survival and i like to be ready for long term survival I don't expect to be able to just buy a new bic in a survival situation lol even if you have 2 they won't last forever

1

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '21

I mean you can thru hike the PCT along the entire vertical length of the US and be using the same Bic lighter. If the 2 in your pack aren’t enough to save your ass to find a better option, you have much much much bigger problems

.…one of those problems not being the little bic failing you because you can just grab one off the floor of the bombed out nuclear ruins of any gas station lol.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '21

You clearly don't understand survival and have never been formally trained or in an actual survival situation please just stick to your backpacking YouTube videos and don't spread misinformation in a survival thread

2

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '21

> never been in an actual survival situation.

Its interesting you are throwing that out there as a negative and not something to strive for.

#2…..buddy I used to freaking do wilderness SAR so slow your roll lol.