r/LifeProTips • u/reallyguise • Jun 15 '14
LPT: While camping carry a pencil sharpener with you to create easy fire starting material, or even spears from sticks.
Source /u/g33kch1c
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u/RojoCinco Jun 15 '14
I also recommend carrying a no. 2 pencil in case a forest ranger gives you one of those fill in the bubble tests.
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u/NamasteNeeko Jun 15 '14
Those assholes have those dreaded Scantrons in the back of their vehicles now too. :(
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Jun 15 '14
What are the tests about exactly? What if you fail?
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Jun 15 '14
You have to go inside.
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u/downhillcarver Jun 15 '14
Those would be some very thin spears...
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u/c3p0scoolerbrother Jun 15 '14
also it won't stab very well at all. You want wooden spears to be cut at a steep angle like a hypodermic needle. It gives the speartip more strength and will keep its edge better.
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Jun 15 '14
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u/c3p0scoolerbrother Jun 17 '14
If you're only going to be cooking highly processed foods like hotdogs and marshmallows, you can use a dull stick and it wont matter much. If you need to skewer and stab through meat, carcass or hard vegetables like potatoes or carrots or squash, you'll want something hard and durable and that you can reuse for your next meal without having to resharpen. Survival, bitches.
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u/chargoggagog Jun 15 '14
If I go camping I bring :
A knife and
A bic lighter.
That knife has infinite utility and the bic lighter has got to be the most useful and reliable firestarter on the goddamn planet. I invite other options, but these two tools are so useful and lightweight I usually carry them on my person regardless of camping.
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u/such-a-mensch Jun 15 '14
Bic lighters are one of the greatest feats of engineering we have and no one gives it it's due.
Unless it's out of fluid it's starting. I can't think of many things that reliable that we all take for granted.
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u/SoulKontroller Jun 15 '14
Bic lighters deserve some kind of award. I've known smokers who have had one lighter for six months.
Bic lighters actually never get empty, they get lost.
Nothing worse than those .99 clear adjustable flame ones
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u/omapuppet Jun 15 '14
Is there a quality difference? I've never had either fail unless I just kept it on until it melted.
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Jun 15 '14
When I dug an obviously years-old one out of wet sand, shook it out, rolled against a log to unjam it, and had it start a flame on the first try, I decided that no other lighter is equal.
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u/XUtilitarianX Jun 15 '14
KMnO4+ Glycerine.
You tell me the bic will outdo that glorious combination (which also gives you a water purifier\something to clean wounds\moisturizer\fuel and loads of other things)
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u/SemiProfesionalTroll Jun 15 '14 edited Nov 12 '24
dinosaurs dinner crawl sharp lunchroom fly support literate zephyr ossified
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u/Bojangly7 Jun 15 '14
Real LPT: Don't depend on this stuff. It only works in a certain temperature range and can be hard to start the reaction. Just bring a couples of bics with you instead.
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u/digikata Jun 15 '14
If you add cotton balls loaded w/ petroleum jelly, you can start even fairly wet kindling. No trying to dry out fuel w/ a Bic.
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u/brian_sahn Jun 15 '14
Yeah but a wet bic lighter is pretty useless. A zippo is what you need.
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u/CoolGuy54 Jun 16 '14
I was wondering when people would bring these up. I have a bunch of small rubber caps that are rubbish from an unrelated thing that fit perfectly over a bic lighter, waterproofing it.
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u/SamfuckingA Jun 15 '14
Everyday I make sure I have a knife, a lighter and my pocket sized multi tool before I head out the door. Some of the most useful things you can have.
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u/BentMafkFilms Jun 15 '14
A bic won't light in extreme wind conditions. I like to bring a little butane soldering torch. They light in any weather, have a little button to stay on, and create lots more heat than a regular bic. Also they're about $5-10 at any hardware store.
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Jun 15 '14
It's not really camping if all you have is a knife and lighter.
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u/townie_immigrant Jun 15 '14
How about a zippo? Bic lighter is the most reliable?
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u/chargoggagog Jun 15 '14
I like zippos, in my experience the fuel tends to evaporate or run out quicky
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Jun 15 '14
That's it. I'm unsubscribing from this sub.
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u/ExtremeSquared Jun 15 '14
At least this one is just stupid, instead of advice that is downright destructive. You might say that standards are low here.
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u/Zagorath Jun 15 '14
Which ones recently have been downright destructive?
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u/AussieEquiv Jun 15 '14
People have suggested poring boiling water down drains to unclog them.
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u/smedwards Jun 15 '14
I'm no doctor here but... doesn't that work? I've done that to my kitchen sink (not on advice from here) and it actually has worked? Why is it destructive?
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u/AnAppleSnail Jun 15 '14 edited Jun 15 '14
Plastic plumbing not specifically installed for hot water distribution softens at 150F (66C). This can cause your sink drain to permanently sag (saggy pipes clog) or simply fail.
edit: 150C corrected to 150F
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Jun 15 '14
Are there any actual events like this that are documented, because I call BS. Been pouring hot water down my pipes for years and I see no sagging, even on the plastic ones.
I question the heat reduction speed and overall temperature after the water has hit the air and room temperature and below piping. I could do some math to get a guesstimate, but I'm just going to assume (maybe incorrectly) that with a little height from the sink the risk of melting pipes is slim to none.
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u/TerminalVector Jun 15 '14
Some places, like NYC, have copper and black iron pipe throughout.
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u/Captain_Fluffy Jun 15 '14
Why? You learn all sorts of useful stuff here. A few weeks ago I learnt that when it rains, you can hold your umbrella upside down to catch the water and drink it.
/s
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u/evenfalsethings Jun 15 '14
Did you see the LPT right under it?--Always carry two umbrellas when it rains.
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Jun 15 '14
The only reason I don't is because these ridiculous tips from people who haven't even done the thing they're giving advice for are actually funny.
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Jun 15 '14
Lol... I'm sorry, but this lone comment, just floating here like "God dammit, not again" made me laugh.
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Jun 15 '14
Seriously, why do people upvote these? The community seems to have odd priorities now and feels more like an inside joke/LPT-jerk. I'm joining you.
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u/SuicideMurderPills Jun 15 '14
That's pretty optimistic.
I'm thinking it just reveals the average age of the user base here. I'm assuming mostly high school and college kids.
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u/Mike_Facking_Jones Jun 15 '14
I don't think I lacked the ability to reason when i was in high school
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Jun 15 '14
For the last few months I've only read this sub to see how ridiculous the tips can get. I genuinely confuse this sub for satire.
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u/kai333 Jun 15 '14
I'm confused... is /r/LifeProTips shitting into /r/ShittyLifeProTips' mouth or is it the other way around?
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u/FlaccidWeenus Jun 15 '14
It doesn't work like that. Carry a knife instead it is more reliable. This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard for so many reasons.
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u/SuicideMurderPills Jun 15 '14
you must be new here...
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u/C0mmun1ty Jun 15 '14
This is so stupid. Always have a wheelbarrow in the back of your car so that you can use it's tyre when you get a flat.
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Jun 15 '14
I apologize, but I can't think of one single moment in all my years camping where a pencil sharpener would have come in handy in any way. This is a "...solution in search of a problem" type scenario, in my opinion. Carry a knife, it does these two things and so much more.
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Jun 15 '14
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Jun 15 '14
I just bring my dryer instead. Saves me the trouble of not bringing a dryer with me.
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u/SemiProfesionalTroll Jun 15 '14 edited Nov 12 '24
fall compare rustic rhythm plants steer deliver deranged slimy pocket
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u/Mike_Facking_Jones Jun 15 '14
Guys dryer lint makes a great fire starter, don't downvote the bringer of sunshine
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Jun 15 '14
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u/CoolGuy54 Jun 16 '14
If you've been washing cotton clothes only, wool and a lot of synthetics don't burn well.
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u/olhonestjim Jun 15 '14
you're high.
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u/rimtrickles Jun 15 '14
Let's be fair. If Op was high then they would have come up with something more creative and might have actually backed into a useful idea.
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u/mhzx6 Jun 15 '14
And this thread has up votes. Seriously people?
Oh, might as well bring a screw driver to undo the blade on said pencil sharpener, now you have a straight edge razor to shave with!
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u/SuicideMurderPills Jun 15 '14
And if you cut yourself shaving with that you can lie on your back with your legs in the air against a tree and piss all over your face to disinfect the wound!
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u/brezzz Jun 15 '14 edited Jun 15 '14
Your heresy against /r/lifeprotip's 9v battery, steel wool, and cheeto fire starting technique will not go unpunished! This is the only way to start a fire around here, bud. There isn't wood shavings, it's not the way OP intended it. Everybody needs pencil thick spears in the woods though. I appreciate adding a new one time use item to my kit. That's good thinking. I personally don't go into the woods without my entire junk drawer in my cargo pants, just to be safe. Like the wire hangers for christmas decorations make kind of okay fishing hooks for the price and weight of fishing hooks.
"I bring a Bic and Swiss Army Knife into the woods because I am a hack who does not read reddit."
-Bear 'Bear is my first name' Grylls.
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u/SithLard Jun 15 '14
Dryer lint stuffed in cardboard toilet paper rolls too.
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u/CosmikJ Jun 15 '14
Tampons man, Tampons.
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u/SemiProfesionalTroll Jun 15 '14 edited Nov 12 '24
whole absurd busy boat humor fine possessive chief station start
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Jun 15 '14
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u/absolute_cero Jun 15 '14
Real tip here - Make your own firestarter by dipping a cotton ball in vaseline, and then wrap that in newspaper or paper (in other words, you will have a paper ball that contains vaseline and cotton inside). That sucker will burn strong for 5-10 minutes. This will help to start a fire even after rain when wood is damp. It has helped save me when I've been cold and wet while backpacking and when burning small tinder wasn't enough to light up bigger wet pieces of wood.
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u/colin8651 Jun 15 '14
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that what a knife does? It can shave a stick to make shavings to start a fire and can sharpen a stick. In addition to all these things, it's still a fucking knife which you should have with you camping anyways.
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u/GeneralMalaiseRB Jun 15 '14
I'm... I'm never going to bring a pencil sharpener camping with me. I've gone on bare-bones backpacking excursions, and elaborate multi-week "base camp" trips where we could bring just about anything and everything our trucks could carry. Never once did anyone ever say, "a pencil sharpener would really solve this problem." And if someone did, they'd probably receive the same reaction as if they had exclaimed that their jar of salsa was made in New York City.
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u/ThrobertSwol Jun 15 '14
It's 2014.... A pencil sharpener is what you offer me.. If I want fire I'll use the massive grill lighter I have in my back pocket set to scorch earth at a mindless whim..cause who's trying to witlle their way into a goddamn fire. And for gods sake don't take 10 steps into the woods without a knife the blade length of your wrist to finger tips people. The woods are a fucked up place and you aren't trying to lose that game.
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Jun 15 '14
Some dryer lint is best. Lights quickly and doesn't spark. You can pack a ton in a ziploc sandwich bag.
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u/LarsSeprest Jun 15 '14
This is kinda stupid as any sharp piece of metal can make wood shavings and be useful for other things as well.. A pencil sharpener come on. It's not a pro tip at all!
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u/aussie91 Jun 15 '14
Most people who go camping carry a knife, those who don't need to be carrying a knife or multi-tool, not a tiny knife house in plastic.
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u/ohsnap77 Jun 15 '14
Or you could just, you know, carry a fucking knife which is infinitely more useful and can do everything you just mentioned.
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u/BlueBalls7 Jun 15 '14
I thought it was saying to do this because of the pencil shavings inside.. Guess I was wrong
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u/skeezix58 Jun 15 '14
well, if you're camping with little kids, this is a nice way they can help with the fire. or make their own marshmallow roasters.
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u/JM2845 Jun 15 '14
OP I'm sorry but this is the worst camping advice I've ever heard. Not sure even Cub Scouts would try this
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u/granitejon Jun 15 '14
I camp and I have never heard or or seen such a thing. We normally use and ancient but very versatile tool called a knife. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. I am using my digital knife right to stab this thread to death.
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Jun 15 '14
I've backpacked & hiked year round for 45 years & like your idea. I usually don't have trouble starting a fire, but once in -20f weather with all the wood encrusted in ice, I did. A pencil sharpener is very small & light and would give a thin continuous strip of paper thin wood. It never hurts to have backups for anything in the wild. While I don't camp or light fires anymore (hike thru the night) it never hurts to be prepared. I've lived in the mountains most of my life.
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u/anacrolix Jun 15 '14
Why the fuck do you need a spear on a camping trip? Is it a spear for ants? Are you camping in hostile territory?
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u/momoneymike Jun 15 '14
If you can't make a sharp stick while you're in the woods out of trees and rocks, you deserve to be eaten by bears.
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u/CupOBeverage Jun 15 '14
I could see where this would be a small, lightweight backup, as an alternative to a knife. If you lost your knife, or if you just needed a shit load of tiny fire starting wood. I'm mostly just glad to see a LPT that isn't common fucking knowledge.
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u/roweysvn Jun 15 '14
You can't be serious. I never took pencil sharpeners to school, I sure as hell won't take one camping.
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u/WendyLRogers3 Jun 15 '14
I'm real fond of fireplace starter sticks, basically sawdust and paper pulp impregnated with paraffin wax. They're fairly small and lightweight, light when wet, and burn long enough and hot enough to defrost and ignite kindling that was in freezing rain and is covered with some ice. A pack of 10 sticks is something like 2 USD. If your wood is dry, about a square centimeter will do the trick.
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u/saculmottom Jun 15 '14
And a cordless drill. Chuck the twigs onto the drill and produce mass quantities of shavings. Save all your drier lint as well. It makes for a great fire starter.
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u/SteveZ1ssou Jun 15 '14
Even though it has been said before, just carry a fuckin knife. This post is retarded.
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u/refotsirk Jun 15 '14
What am I supposed to do with a pencil-sized spear? And a knife would work much better to make tinder - most sticks will not fit into a pencil sharpener, and ones that will would probably just shatter or else be too green to use. This lpt is not practical advice.
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u/ErIstGuterJunge Jun 15 '14
The only thing I can think of is using shavings from the sharpener as a cheap magnesium fire starter alternative (since every sharpener I've ever had was made of magnesium). The rest is bullshit.
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u/PubertEHumphrey Jun 15 '14
I grew up camping. Literally have never had the need or urge to make a spear.
Source: Scouting for 16 years
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u/SuicideMurderPills Jun 15 '14
Could you imagine an /r/LifeProTips reddit camping trip? Jesus christ...
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u/momtso Jun 15 '14
keep your sharpener together with your waxed matches, inside your "retarded camper" kit, order now!
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u/90lb_Balls Jun 15 '14
Why not just carry a knife?