Never venturing into the wilderness without a tampon will be a lifelong rule for someone who experienced survival camp.
In the world of wilderness survival, creativity and resourcefulness are key. A German survival expert, Stefan Winkler, runs Survival Camp Wense in Peine, where he teaches people how to navigate the wilderness using unconventional methods. One such method involves leveraging the physical and chemical properties of everyday items to ignite tinder and start a fire.
Tampons as Tinder
Tampons, surprisingly, make for excellent tinder due to their highly flammable cotton composition. To use them effectively in a survival situation, simply tease apart the fibers for better airflow and easier ignition. Once ignited, they burn steadily to help start a fire.
Batteries and Steel Wool: A Spark-Producing Duo
While steel wool is often used with batteries to start fires by short-circuiting and causing it to smolder, tampons themselves do not ignite batteries. However, they can catch fire from the sparks produced. If you have a battery (like a 9-volt) and steel wool, touching the steel wool to the battery terminals creates sparks that can ignite highly flammable tampons.
Kinder Chocolate: More Than Just a Treat
Kinder chocolate, while not flammable, can be used to polish the bottom of a metal item like a soda can to create a reflective lens. This lens can then focus sunlight onto tinder, igniting it like a primitive magnifying glass. The chocolate’s oily surface helps create that shine.
Practical Steps for Survival
- Use Kinder chocolate to polish the bottom of a metal item like a soda can, creating a reflective lens.
- Focus sunlight through this polished lens onto finely teased tampon fibers acting as tinder.
- Alternatively, use a battery with steel wool (if available) to generate sparks and ignite tampon fibers.
- Once the tampon catches fire, transfer it carefully to larger kindling and fuel.
Birch Bark: A Natural Fire Starter
In the absence of tampons, batteries, or Kinder chocolate, a birch tree can be used for survival. Chop birch wood into small pieces, scrape small pieces of bark off, and use a fire starter to create sparks and set the birch bark on fire.
A Lifetime Companion: The Ferro Rod
A ferro rod, a tool used for making fire, consists of carbon-rich steel and an alloy. It is a reliable fire starter that can last a lifetime and can work even when wet.
Stefan Winkler, the founder of Survival Camp Wense, has demonstrated these methods and more. He has gathered his knowledge through books, personal experiences, and military training. The Survival Camp offers day and weekend courses on essential wilderness survival skills, including fire-starting, filtering water, building shelters, and other survival techniques.
Remember, always prioritise safety and practice these methods before relying on them in emergencies.
[1] For more information on unconventional fire-starting techniques, check out [source].
One can utilize tampons, with their highly flammable cotton composition, as an effective tinder alternative in survival situations, by teasing apart the fibers for better airflow and ignition. Home-and-garden items like Kinder chocolate can be used in creative ways, such as polishing the bottom of a soda can to create a reflective lens that focuses sunlight onto tinder, or to ignite a fire using a battery and steel wool in an outdoor-living scenario.
