No! And if you answered anything except "no", maybe you need to do some research. You can start here and get back to us..... early fires.

There are many ways to start a fire or light a stove. Some easier than others of course. Lighters are probably the most common method carried into the backcountry now at days. Followed by matches and then some sort of flint and steel. Beyond that we're sure there are a couple of die hards that are rubbing sticks together or melting army men with a magnifying glass just for kicks! But our main focus here is the flint and steel.

These simply tools remain a mystery to many even with their huge advantages over the lighters and matches. The obvious resistance to the flint and steel is that you have to practice. But the truth is that if you can flick a Bic, you can scrape a flint and steel together. The only requirement is having opposable thumbs, and that's not even completely necessary. So yes, were saying bears have a chance someday at starting a fire....so what! The key is to practice and know efficient and easy ways to build fires, not just having the tools to actually start one.

Holding a flame under a stick usually doesn't develop into a blazing fire. But strategically starting with small wispy fuel sources (cotton balls, dryer lint, dried leaves, etc.) that light easily will definitely start with a single flame, or a spark. The other part of this is to have plenty of wood pre picked and sorted in increasing size to slowly feed this baby fire until it can grow into bonfire adulthood. This takes practice, but is necessary to know for any extended outdoor activity.

The point we actually want to make though is that flint and steel (once the mystery of firestarting is dispelled) are actually more logical to carry outdoors. Lighters can break or run out of fuel. Matches could get wet, you could snap the head off while striking and you normally have a limited supply. Flint and steel will work when wet, have 3000+ strikes available and you have to really try hard to break a set. The coolest part is that with one well placed spark, you can start any camping stove out there eliminating a need for a more expensive heavier stove equiped with a piezo ignitor. So we have a hard time seeing a downside to the flint and steel as long as you take the little bit of time to practice building a fire, which you should practice anyway even with a lighter on board. The only exception to this is if you can find a very rare Gas Tree. A tree that seeps gasoline instead of sap. We heard these were extinct though.

-The AOG Team