Wetfire Tinder by Ultimate Survival Technologies

Fire starting is a two part process:
1) Spark
2) Tinder

Everyone has an opinion about what makes the best fire starting tinder and there have been hours of debate and research of the subject.

One of my "aces" for fire starting has always been trioxane bars as a "fuel accelerator" to light tinder and start a fire in the most dire of circumstances.

Wetfire Tinder

Ultimate Survival Technologies has really done their homework in creating Wetfire Fire Starting Tinder. Wetfire is designed to be a tinder and a fuel accelerator all in one easy to work with cube.

Pictured left is the package with 8 individually wrapped Wetfire cubes. These are about 1/2" wide x 3/4" long x 1/2" tall of a soft wax feeling substance. It's easily cut so you can subdivide as you wish or use the whole cube.


Initial Impressions:

When you are in a situation that you need to start a fire, Murphy's Law will be in control of everything around you. It WILL be wet, high winds, dark and you will have limited supplies! For years I have carried Trioxane fuel bars for this (even the earlier made fuel tabs, which the compound of these escapes me at the moment) as my "ace in the hole" to start a fire. One match and a piece of Trioxane will light quickly and burn for a couple of minute to allow me to get my fire started in the most extreme of times.

Wetfire Tinder is neat, individually wrapped cubes ready to be stashed in your kit for those time of emergency need.



Testing:

First thing I did was time them. Package says it's good for a burn time of 6 minutes. So I lit with a match and timed it - 6:12 minutes.

Actually, I would say the usable time was more like 5 minutes as the flame after 5 minutes is really ineffective, but it lit IMMEDIATELY! (See pic left of match after I lit the Wetfire and blew it out.)

Barely a 1/4 of the match was used! That how well Wetfire lights!

Second thing I did was cut off a piece, about 1/4 of the cube in the bottom of a still wet coke can and lit that with a match.

Burn time was 3:03 minutes! It burned all of the fuel except the part that was laying on the wet water beads in the bottom of the can. I think I could get more burn time sectioning out the Wetfire too. (I just didn't get a chance to try that before deadline.)


I also tried lighting this with the Doan Magnesium Fire Block. A single shower of sparks and the Wetfire lit!

I rolled the Wetfire into some of the magnesium shavings too!

I also was able to light the Wetfire and blow it out - and then relight it several times! This stuff is GREAT!

Storage:

Package says Wetfire in its original wrapping can be stored up to 5 years. Unused portions are to be stored in a plastic bag or air tight container for up to 3 months.


Final Analysis:

I like Wetfire Tinder better than Trioxane for lighting fires. Wetfire ignites more easily. Easy to subdivide and reuse.


Rating: 5 out of 5!

Buy it! I am!

Ironhand