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Spark-Lite Firestarting Kit

"A firestarter with a very high spark density/weight ratio. Basic kit includes firestarter, eight Tinder-Quik tabs, and case..."

Spark-Lite Firestarter Overview

Lightweight backpackers struggle with reducing the weight of their first aid and emergency kits as much as any category of gear in their equipment kit.

As your level of skill as a lightweight backcountry traveler increases, the number of items and their weight in your first aid and emergency kits will decrease. You will pare down these essentials to the absolute bare minimum, keeping only those things which have real utility in an emergency situation.

For most hikers, one of those items will be a firestarter.

So, we set out to find the absolute lightest and most compact firestarting system possible that would still function in cold, wet, and windy conditions with a minimum of fuss. We think we found it in the Spark-Lite.

Spark-Lite Firestarter Performance

Backpacker Magazine called the Spark-Lite Firestarter their "Best Buy" in a recent issue that reviewed several firestarting kits. Of course, we don't take anyone's word for it, so we tested these kits ourselves:

• Test #1: Water Resistance. We submerged each kit's firestarter in water, and stored the tinder in a saturated humidity environment (suspended in a cheesecloth bag in the headspace of an aerated fish tank) for 24 hours. The Spark-Lite was the only firestarting kit that lit its tinder within five attempts at activating the firestarting mechanism.
• Test #2: Weight and Size.We weighed the bare minimum kit to start a fire. The Spark-Lite Firestarter (0.19 oz / 5.4 g) and the Spark-Lite Tinder-Quik Fire Tabs (0.024 oz ea / 0.7 g) combined to make the lightest - and most compact - kit possible.
• Test #3: Wind Resistance. Once the Tinder-Quik Fire Tabs are lit, they resist wind very well. We were able to expose the tabs to significant winds and they remained lit, burned hot, and kept their flame for an average time of 2:15 (mm:ss). At 0.024 oz apiece, the Tinder-Quik Fire Tabs offer outstanding performance.

Applications

Tucked away in a remote corner of your waterproof emergency kit, the Spark-Lite and a Tinder-Quik Fire Tab or two serves as the ideal emergency firestarting solution: light enough to go unnoticed but powerful enough to actually work when you most need it to do so - in inclement conditions.

As a general firestarting tool, the Spark-Lite system is far lighter and more effective than a Bic (or heavier) butane lighters, which are negatively affected by moisture, altitude, wind, and fuel capacity. Do you realize that for the weight of a full butane lighter, you can carry one Spark-Lite Firestarter and a package of FIFTY Tinder-Quik Fire Tabs?

Using the Spark-Lite Firestarter

The Spark-Lite is the official firestarter adopted by the U.S. Military. The military contract was won because the Spark-Lite is compact, easy to use with one hand, has a long lifetime, very reliable (even when wet), and is extremely light in weight.

To use the Spark-Lite, you simply roll your thumb over a knurled thumbwheel to generate a flood of sparks that are directed into a pulled-apart and "fluffed" Tinder-Quik Fire Tab, which easily catches fire. Then, you have a hot, wind-resistant flame onto which you may carefully stack small tinder (1-2 mm diameter), and then pencil-sized fuel (5-10 mm diameter), and then larger wood fuel as the fire's heat increases.

Disclaimer

The Spark-Lite is no substitute for naivete, stupidity, or ignorance about backcountry hiking, camping and survival techniques.

The Spark-Lite is approximately 98.9% lighter than a personal locator beacon.

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