How to Build a Fire With Hand Sanitizer Gel
Having a fire can mean the difference between life and death depending on the type of survival situation you encounter. A fire will let you cook, boil water or stay warm. Using hand sanitizer gel is one way to get a fire started. Hand sanitizer gel is flammable because of its alcohol content. Remember to keep a bottle of hand sanitizer near you and you'll have a built-in fire starter.
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Things You'll Need
- Dry paper, leaves, or shredded twigs
- Piece of cloth (optional)
- Fire ring
- Hand sanitizer gel
- Matches
- Lighter (optional)
Instructions
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Gather dry tinder in the form of paper, leaves, or very small shredded twigs. You can also use dry grasses, shredded bark, or dry moss if available. You may find yourself in a situation where you only have hand sanitizer and larger pieces of wood to burn. In this case, you might consider using part of a piece of clothing as dry tinder. If you do choose to use a piece of clothing, make sure it is completely removed from the body prior to lighting it on fire.
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Arrange the dry materials loosely on top of each other in an existing fire ring made of stone or metal. Stack the smallest pieces of dry tinder at the bottom and the largest towards the top. If an existing fire ring is not available, consider making one by arranging stones in a circle.
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Place a drop of hand sanitizer gel about the size of a dime onto some dry material near a bottom opening of the pile.
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Set fire to the hand sanitizer gel using a match or lighter. It will not spark like dry tinder, but rather the flame will seem to crawl over the surface of the gel. Do not touch the gel. Gently blow towards the bottom of the pile to increase the size of the flame.
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Tips & Warnings
You may have to make more than one attempt at lighting the hand sanitizer gel depending on your situation. Hand sanitizer gel won't freeze because it's main ingredient is alcohol, so it's great to use as a fire starter in colder conditions.
If you're wearing gloves, remove them prior to lighting the match or using the lighter. Make sure the hand sanitizer gel is not on your fingers when you light the match or use the lighter. Not all hand sanitizers come with alcohol as a main ingredient and therefore those types are not flammable. Children should not light fires without adult supervision. The technique described above should not be used except where it's legal to build fires or unless absolutely necessary to prevent loss of life.
