I deal with literally hundreds of outdoor companies every year, and Smith Consumer Products is by far and away the most creative outdoor company on the market. I’ve dealt with them since probably 2006, and even I can’t keep up with all the new gear that they release. I recently went on a horse-packing trip into the backcountry and took one of their Tinder Maker With Fire Starters with me to test.
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Let’s cover the parts first. The Tinder Maker With Fire Starter has basically 3-parts.
- Tinder box that has a stainless-steel grating plate top
- Stryker
- Fire starter rod
The three components are connected with a lanyard, so you don’t lose any of the parts, which is good since all parts are crucial to operating the Tinder Maker with Fire Starter. It is a small, compact, lightweight unit, so you can throw it in your backpack or coat pocket and forget you even have it there.
The Tinder Maker With Fire Starter is an ingenious little item that helps you build a fire when camping, hunting, or fishing. It is super simple yet ingenious. To use it, you’ll need a dry limb. I guess you could make it work with any size stick or even a log, but I used a small 3/4” by 8” stick. Rub the stick across the grating plate surface, which resembles a hash brown grater.
Pretty fast, you will have a tinder box full of tinder. There are numerous ways to start a fire, but I’d suggest putting some tinder under some small sticks, either stacked in a log cabin design or, better yet, the tepee design. Then it won’t hurt to sprinkle some tinder over the top as well.
Then using the striker, throw sparks on the tinder to start a fire. As the fire starts building, lay some sticks that are a little larger on the fire and repeat until you have a roaring fire. Viola’, you’ve got a fire!
I always carry a couple of fuel bars with me in case all of the wood is wet or it is raining or snowing. Just throw the sparks on the fuel bar to light it and hopefully the bar stays lit long enough to fire up your wet sticks.
Here are a few further fire-starting tips. If it has been raining in the last few days, don’t gather wood lying on the ground. It will have absorbed ground water and be damp. Gather squaw wood. This will be any dry limbs underneath the limbs of a larger tree. If they’re dead twigs under the larger pine boughs, they’re most likely dry. You might also be able to peel the bark off of a dead log and retrieve some dry wood out of the middle of the log.
I really love the Smith’s Tinder Maker With Fire Starter and recommend that you add one to your survival pack. The MSRP is $11.99 and as is usual we will close with the company specs.
Product Features:
- STAINLESS STEEL GRATER – Smith’s Pack Pal Tinder Maker with Fire Starter allows you to grate your own tinder using any piece of dried wood using the stainless-steel wood grater.
- GRATER BOX – The self-contained grater box conveniently collects and holds the tinder to make it easy to collect and transport.
- FIRE STARTER W/ STRIKER – This outdoor survival tool features a fire starter with a striker for an all-in-one fire making tool. This multitool is a must have in case of emergencies.
- PORTABLE – To store safely, flip the wood grater over to protect the stainless surface from damage. It also features a lanyard loop for easy attachment to any bag or pack.
- DIMENSIONS – The Pack Pal Tinder Maker measures 3.6” x 1.55” x 1.5” and weighs 2.5 oz for lightweight travel. The fire starter & striker are connected by a nylon cord and fit inside the grater box.
- PACK PAL – Smith’s Pack-Pal Series features a line of must-have products for camping, backpacking, hiking, climbing, & adventure enthusiasts.
- Lanyard loop
About Tom Claycomb
Tom Claycomb has been an avid hunter/fisherman and an outdoor writer with outdoor columns in the magazine Hunt Alaska, Bass Pro Shops, Bowhunter.net, and freelances for numerous magazines and newspapers. “To properly skin your animal, you will need a sharp knife. I have an e-article on Amazon Kindle titled Knife Sharpening #ad for $.99 if you’re having trouble.”
And after you make the fire you can use it to grate some mozzarella cheese for a quick snack, or cheddar cheese for some few tacos.
That is correct. I see this more as a training aid to teach children. For the money you could have a dozen disposable lighters stashed all over the place.
Perfect for a cub-scout troop….with no wind.
Hmmm is there still cub scouts or is it now “Gender Free scouts”?
Is the lid reversible so you do not grate through whatever the kit is packed next two? Does the notch in the box allow the striker and rod to be stored inside? Is there room for anything else in the box like some waterproof fire starter tabs? How long does the grater last with various wood densities? Anyone who owns a microplane knows they grow dull fairly quickly.
Grab a few cast metal cases from an older so called “light weight” grey colored Dell Laptop. They are made of a magnesium alloy. (A guy in my shop didn’t believe me, so I took a pair of metal shears out and cut a thin tapered chunk out of one of those cases. Lit the thin end with a propane torch, and held the other with a pair of needle nosed pliers. Burned like crazy.) It takes a little bit more to get it burning than straight magnesium, but once you get a small piece burning, it really goes to… Read more »
how many rims and engine blocks are magnesium, , and working on them you have to KNOW watched an idiot try to remove a stud with a torch turned a Porsche into trash
For the money, a knife and a dozen lighters are the backup to a good working system. Use fatwood to grate up tinder and keep some in the box ready to go. That is a better answer for fire starting on the quick. A good kit is redundant and versatile. From the pics, it looks like a small butane lighter will fit inside, too. This beats a pencil sharpener in the fire starting kit and neatens up the carry. Then add some gel tabs to keep a damp fire going long enough to get a good blaze. I can see… Read more »
RoyceChurche: Good points – “That is correct. I see this more as a training aid to teach children. For the money you could have a dozen disposable lighters stashed all over the place.” Even less expensive and much more effective are cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly that are wrapped in a 3″ x 3″ sheet of aluminum foil. I carry a half dozen or so n a small pill bottle tucked in my field pack. Need a quick in winter when there’s 4′ of snow or in the spring when twigs and small dead branches are wet? No problem.… Read more »