Steel Wool Fire at Alpha Outpost

This episode will focus on creating a steel wool fire. We've talked at length about the importance of fire in a survival situation. The trick is knowing how to get your fire. Can you make a fire using whats around you, or will you need to pack a one or two items to help that fire get going?

Using the steel wool fire technique, you'll have the ability to create fire in relatively short order. Another benefit of this method is that you won't have to worry as much about waterproofing your materials. All you'll need is a nine-volt battery and some steel wool. These two items are extremely lightweight and won't make a large impact on the overall weight of your survival kit. That in and of itself is just one of the many additional benefits of this method. Survival is a tricky business, you want to be prepared, however, you can't be expected to lug everything including the kitchen sink around. Your survival kit should be able to fit on your person and be with you at all times. It does no good to have it packed away somewhere in the event of an emergency.

After making sure you have sufficient kindling to sustain and build your fire, simply touch the nine-volt battery to the steel wool where the positive and negative ends are. The steel wool should spark and quickly start to burn. Wrap your kindling up in the steel wool and add a little oxygen to the process by lightly blowing on the wool and kindling. In no time at all, you should have a nice little flame going.

Once you have this flame going, you can add slightly larger pieces of wood/fuel to the fire and increase its size. A simple and lightweight solution that answers the question of where your fire will come from.