Flint and Steel

You need to have a flint and steel in your bug out bag. Your lighter will eventually run out of fluid and your matches can blow out or get wet and stop working. When this happens, a flint and steel becomes a crucial tool for creating fire.

Flint is a hard, durable rock that sparks when hit with a piece of steel. You hold your tinder in your hand along with the piece of flint and then hit the flint with the steel. It might take dozens of strikes to catch, but eventually one of the sparks will light up the tender.

Char cloth works great as tinder with a flint and steel and is another necessity in a bug out bag. If you don't have char cloth, look for moss, dry fungus or dry, flaky bark

In a pinch, you can hunt down a quartzite rock and hit it with the back of your pocket knife to create a spark.

Once you've got embers going in your tender, set it down while gently blowing on it to get it to light up. Place it in the tinder nest you created in the middle of your fire pit and keep gently blowing until it lights up.