Always test your prepping supplies

    Last year the ole guy bought a new firestarter.  It looked good and they are cheap but it never worked.  The metal was so hard it wasn't magnesium and wouldn't flake off.  China makes a lot of fake ones which is really terrible.  How would you like to be in an emergency situation and think you had something to start a fire with and it wouldn't work.   In an emergency being able to start a fire and stay warm is of top priority because most people die from hypothermia.  Especially day hikers who don't carry anything with them not intending to get lost, but do.

    So I did some research and bought a good one. And we tested it out.  I don't want to just think it works, I want to know it works, and it did, well.   I also wouldn't depend on just one method of starting a fire.  Bic lighters are cheap and even when out of fuel you can start a fire with the spark, waterproof matches dyer lint.    I keep all that for my fires. 

   These are the 2 side by side.   The junk was bought in our local Fleet farm store.  The other I bought from the manufacturer.   The China junk ones are really shiny.   Now the thing about the junk one is I really like the saw type blade on it so put that with the good fire stick.

 No matter what type of things you buy for your emergency prep bag please make sure you test them out before you ever need them.   It would just suck to find out they don't work as promised.  Try your little solar battery charger, your little camp rocket stove, try them all out first before you pack them away and periodically get them out and make sure they still work.   

    Most of the places we hike in our neck of the woods it would be impossible to be lost for long.   Still I do carry a little pack that has a reflective mirror type surface, a whistle, something to light a fire and a rain poncho.  You could fall and injure a leg and be unable to hike out, it could rain and getting wet and cold would be a bad thing.  We tend not to hike when it is really hot so if we had to be out overnight we would be cold.  Dress in layers.  

   I always told my kids to think about the worse case thing that could happen and prepare for it, but also prepare to have a great time, if the risks outweight the benefits don't do it.

  So that is my prep tip of the day.  I plan on getting groceries today and as usual getting a couple cans of things to add to my prep pantry as we rotated some out this week.  The new cans go in the back and the old cans move forward.   Have a great day if anyone is reading this.