Road Flares for fire starting

upnorth

upnorth

Joined
Nov 25, 2006
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Road hazard flares. You can buy a multipack fairly cheaply. You can leave some in the trunk of your car and toss one or two in your backpack. I see them as a long burning, very hot fire starting source under poor conditions. I havent tried this out but it seems practical to me in theory. I welcome any comments on this idea.
 
The idea is good, but my concern would be with the high temp of the burn and possible dangerous chemical inhalation. I could be wrong but if true it wouldn't be a good thing in the wilds. If I am wrong then why not.
 
It's kind of an extreme idea, but it would definitely work. Just BE CAREFUL lol...

That reminds me, I've seen in survival manuals to light up a whole pine tree for a signal... if you did that in my neck of the woods, you'd be ALL over the news! And deeply in debt...
 
done it before. No better way to light wet tinder. Only problem is it takes up space and if the flare gets wet (really has to sit in water) it's not much good, so keep it in a plastic bag.
 
When I was in scouts in the 70s, one of the other scouts would bring flares for firestarting. In the Adirondacks, we frequently had to build fires in pouring rain, and the flares sure worked.
 
Thanks for the confirmation guys. Ill try to find some type of mini road flare.
 
ive done it. works great. you dont want to ignite it and then sniff the fumes, but you probably dont want your face that close to any fire.

most road flares have a 3-5 minute burn time. so the fumes are gone pretty quick.
 
We used a flare under a big pile of green alder that would not burn w/ anything we tried. It worked well with the flare, but as soon as the extra heat from the flare quit, the fire went out. The green wood w/ the flare under it put out much more heat than the flare by itself, but it was not self sustaining.
 
Odin (maker of street flares and parachute flares and other emergency stuff) actually sells cut down versions for this purpose.
 
I use to work around the Texas and Oklahoma area doing Household cleanup fairs. That is an event where the local city or county will let you bring chemicals, fertilizers, used oil, gas cylinders (did I hear Forging?), and other items they would rather not go into landfills. People would bring flares and we would put them in 5 gallon buckets of water. I would usually take a bag of these to the house with me. Check around your area. It might be a good place to pick up items like this if you contact the person running the show. Usually the emergency response team in your area might know about the event. Just an idea.
 
I haven't tried it myself; but I have heard of people cutting road flares into several inch sections then embedding a birthday candle in the center of each, for use as fire starters.
I find trioxane tabs to be much handier and they will start almost any properly prepared fire.
Enjoy!
 
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