Aside from heat, and the ability to cook food, boil water, etc., being able to start
a fire is vital to your morale. In fact, I would place fire as the second most important
factor of survival, as without a good morale, and will to live, your survival chances
are very slim. The ability to start a fire “grounds you” – it gives you some sense
of normalcy, lets you feel like you have power over the environment, and helps to
make you think that things are “ok.” So at least having the ability to start a fire
is critical
Now you could go all "caveman" and start a fire by rubbing two sticks together.
There is the hand-drill method where you apply pressure and spin one piece of dry
wood at a right angle to another piece of wood so that the friction between the
two creates an ember (which can then set dry grass, etc. on fire). Or you could
also slide one piece of wood along a groove you’ve made in another piece of wood
to achieve the same result.
But we are "preppers"! And the point of prepping (like
being a Boy Scout), is to “Be Prepared.” Being prepared means making sure you have
the right tools, and supplies before a disaster occurs - it is proactive, not reactive.
So we will not discuss how to start a fire like caveman here. Instead we will point
out various fire making devices that you should consider as part of your core survival
gear list.
Three such devices are a fire pistons, a magnesium fire starters, and solar fire starters