Would putting smokeless gun powder in a water proof match container make good fire starter. It would blow up if you lit it with

[Christian Emter]

Would putting smokeless gun powder in a water proof match container make good fire starter. It would blow up if you lit it with a match it would just burn really fast and make a good flame.

[herbie57_57]

As long as you pour it out to light it it shouldn't blow up. I've lit smokeless powder and it does burn pretty fast but it is also a hot fire.

[Beekeeper]

Smokeless powder will explode if confined. Loose, it does produce a hot, intense flame for few seconds. I don't know what value it would be as a fire starter.

[kolbster]

i use a small 2 oz bottle of paint thinner.

[dukerjj]

i also use paint thinner gives you a nice hot burn and great to start a fire

[buckhunter]

Powder will burn too fast to ignite most materials. I carry a small piece of log starter I use to start fires in my fireplace.

[summit229]

I suppose it would be worth a try if you were stuck without anything else to use, and wanted to empty a cartridge, but if you are thinking ahead to take something there are better fire starting materials to pack. I would suggest either a commercial tungsten firestarting stick, a 35mm film canister with dryer lint, or extra fine steelwool to start and also, like buckmaster said a piece of logstarter. Another thing that I always carry with me is a couple of the 'joke' kid's birthday cake candles that start back up when blown out.

[idahooutdoors]

Some cotton balls in the container covered with petroleum jelly would serve you better. If in a pinch some other items you may already be packing work quite well--Duct tape, most potato chips, pocket lint, most ear plugs, experiment sometime in a safe environment with other items in your pack, playing with fire, what is more fun than that.....

[AlaskanExile]

Smokeless gunpowder is hard to ignite, and it burns very hot and very quickly once you get it going. You would be better off with a magnesium fire starter, and a sandwich bag full of cotton balls soaked in vaseline. A plumbers candle, or some tea-light candles would be a good addition too.
Building a fire is not that cosmic, you don't need jet fuel or explosives or gunpowder to get a fire going. Just gather lots of very small dry tinder (dry grass, very small sticks) and an armload of pencil-sized sticks and then your larger wood. Get everything ready, then light your tinder (magnesium+cotton ball) get your dry grass or other tinder burning and then get the pencil sticks burning then regular wood. Practice in your back yard if that sort of thing is still allowed where you live.

[mdhager115]

I would only use that as a last resort like in a survival situation.

[bonnier-admin_2]

Although easy to like and will burn the hair off your knuckles (LOL!), smokeless powder is a flash in a pan!

Looking for something that really works and I mean really works even after being stored wet for a long long time! Well by’golly get’ya a small jar of good old fashion Vaseline from and a magnesium fire starter stick from your local Wal-Mart. So simple of an operation I bet David can do it. Take a 2x2 inch piece of cloth and saturate it with Vaseline and scrape a little magnesium on it and hit it with the flint side and now you have instant fire 6 to 10 minutes of flame, now compare that with any other lighter and remember you haven’t really used your fire starting resources at all. I still got the same Vaseline jar in my back pack some 10 years ago and still work as good as the day I put it in.

[bigbassfisher]

i've never tried it but i think i might

[jobobdogg]

I would get a fire striker that you strike with you knife you can get them at walmart

[Charley]

I work in an ER as a trauma RN. I see too many idiots using explosives as fire starter. either they get burned or get impaled by flying wood.
Learning the basics of fire building will teach you how to do it correctly without explosives.

[kjflorian]

I agree, it burns in a flash, I tested it myself before. Plan ahead and pack the proper materials, but if your caught in a situation that leaves you no options but that...game on. Then it's about survival.