Imagine yourself soaking wet in a ravine after a flash flood has forced you to abandon your vehicle. 

And you only had time to grab your emergency bug out bag lying within arm’s reach below the car’s front seat.

Now, picture a spontaneous avalanche that forces you off your track. You can only rely on your skiing equipment and whatever supplies you carry in your backpack to help you survive.

In both these situations, a fire is vital for getting back on your feet again and returning to civilization safely.

You’ll have to regain (and preserve) your body heat, dry out your clothes, and cook a warm meal to regain strength.

Since everything is soaked in water or frozen, and covered in a thick layer of snow, foraging firewood will be a difficult enough task on its own.

Then, when it comes to the fire-starting part, you won’t be able to light up anything using a flint striker or any of the classic methods unless you’re an extremely skilled prepper.

However, for these types of emergency situations, you’ll want to make sure you carry one of three reliable emergency fire starters, if not all of them.

There are, of course, various other alternatives, but today you’ll discover three of my favorite options.

Those are Wetfire, the standard road flare, and the UCO Sweetfire.

You can watch the following video to see all three of them in action or scroll through the individual descriptions below.

#1 Wetfire is a trioxane-like fuel packed inside individual, feather-weight cubes. They’re compact and add almost no weight to your bag. 

As the name suggests, they ignite in a pinch even if they’ve been exposed to water and will maintain a flame for several minutes.

#2 Standard road flares are an efficient, on-a-budget firestarter item that ignites and burns sizzling hot for minutes, regardless of the environmental conditions. 

These items are also lightweight and compact, and will maintain a fire long enough to ignite damp wood and get your all-important fire going.

#3 Sweetfire matches are another suitable emergency fire starter choice that can withstand difficult weather and will light up your fire despite most environmental conditions.

However, you’ll need to take care of the matches’ ignition coating, which can flake off if damaged or exposed to water.

Keep a couple extra ignition coatings in your wallet or bug out bag to avoid surprises or take care of the coating by sealing it in a zip-lock bag.

Summing Up

All three of these emergency firestarter items should help you ignite a fire in no time and in some of the most extreme weather and environment conditions.

If you can’t decide which one would fit your emergency kit best, simply choose a couple or all of them.

After all, they weigh close to nothing and can be easily tucked into a pocket. They’re also very effective and with life-saving potential.