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Three Ways to Start a Fire with Trash Found in the Wild

Since all survival situations are by their very nature, unpredictable, it’s important to learn as many fire crafting methods as you can. You can never know too much in this category.

fire public domainThere are so many ways to get a fire going in a survival situation, but you can never know too many of them. That’s because all survival situations have one thing in common. They’re all different, and quite often very unpredictable. If you knew what you were getting into, you could prepare yourself, and then it wouldn’t be a life or death struggle now, would it?

Since all survival situations are unpredictable by their very nature, it’s important to learn as many fire crafting methods as you can. You’ll never know exactly what tools and materials will be available to you in any given situation, so it’s always a good idea to add a few new techniques to your repertoire. With that in mind, I want to show you three nifty ways to get that fire roaring that you might not have been aware of.

More specifically, I’m going to show you several methods which involve trash that you’ll probably be carrying when you’re in the wilderness, or (unfortunately) you’re bound to find lying around the forest floor. First up, is how to start a fire with a water bottle. Lots of people bring water bottles on hikes and camping trips, and they’re fairly easy to find outside of civilization.


Of course, they’re not as common as plastic bags and saran wrap. Many of us have reusable bottles, some of which are not perfectly clear. However, just about everyone brings snacks when they’re in the woods, so there’s a good chance that you’ll have clear disposable plastic bags/wrap on hand. There’s also a good chance that you’ll find something like this in the wilderness, and it should still be used so long as it hasn’t been outside for too long.


That guy was fortunate enough to have a steady stream of water for his experiment, but you may not be so lucky. In that case, you may have to turn to one of the most common sources of trash in the wilderness: the humble soda can.

It’s unfortunate that some people are careless enough to leave their trash behind in an otherwise pristine environment, but should you ever find yourself alone and stranded in the wild, you might just thank those careless tourists who left it there.

This article was originally published at Ready Nutrition™ on September 11th, 2015