Scout Challenge - Troop 35 Columbia, PA

A few months ago, we decided to hold a Scout Challenge through our Facebook page. We had asked for troops from all over the country to send us their information and tell us a little bit about their troop. We received an overwhelming response from troops wanting to participate! Ultimately, we ended up choosing 10 troops for the Scout Challenge. Each of these troops were sent 9 fire starting items, ranging from fire starters to tinders. The troops were asked to take photos of their use of the fire starting materials, as well has give brief reviews of each item and state which ones worked well together.

The reviews below are from ASM Troop 35 out of Columbia, PA. Here is what the troop had to say about the items they received:

"I would like to thank you for donating the items for the Fire Starter Challenge. We finally had the opportunity to take the items out and give them a try. The boys had a great time trying them out and we made a nice day of it. They rated the different items as follows:

Sparkie Fire Starter - 10 … Quick and easy to use
WetFire Tinder - 10 ... Fast starting and burns well
Strike Master K1 Magnesium Fire Starter - 9 ... Light weight and easy to carry, works well
Tinder-Quik Fire Tabs - 9 ... After you fluff them up really good they light up quick
Fire Fixins Wax Infused Jute String and Fat Wood - 8 ... Works well but a little time consuming
Fire Steel Scout - 8 ... Works well but not as fancy as the Sparkie
Aurora Fire Starter - 7 ... Flint works well with a knife but difficult to use with the built in striker
Ferrocerium Flint Rod - 7 ... Too hard to shave off the Mag stick. Have to use your own knife

We took some pictures and video of the Challenge to share with you:

We help our Fire Starter Challenge out at the local Fish ‘n’ Game. They have a nice camping area for scouts to use and were more than happy to let us use it for the day. We had all the extra tinder and kindling ready to go so the fires could get started. I also shared with the Troop the video “The Woodsmaster” with Ron Hood, Volume 1 - Spark Based Fire Starting which I ordered from your web site. I was a very helpful tool to teach the boys the basics on flint and steel fire starting.

We would like to say thank you again and if there is anything else you might need from us please let me know." - Joseph Mongeau of Columbia, PA

Thanks to Joseph Mongeau and all the scouts for testing out these items for us! We really appreciate it!