Firestarter in a Bucket:
Instafire, Fired Up!™ and Other Ready Mix Firestarters

Firestarter in a Bucket is one way to provide heat for comfort and cooking at your base camp. The buckets are heavy and you cannot carry them easily but you can store this type of product at your base camp or carry it in a bug out vehicle.

When choosing a bulk fire starter for use in an emergency, you should look for:

• A long shelf life
  
• A source for a self-standing fire
  
• Environmentally friendly composition
  
• Water repellent properties
  
• Wind resistant
  

Magnesium fire starters and matches can provide sparks and flames but unless they can ignite kindling to build a sustainable fire, they are useless. Fire starter pellets are an option when turning a flame from matches or sparks into a full fire to warm an area, to cook a meal or boil water, especially if you are battling wet fuel or green wood.

Fired Up!™

Fired Up!™ is a leader in the market for ready mixed fire starters and it comes in 4-gallon buckets as well as 12 ounce and 2 1/2 pound cans. Fired Up!™ is an emergency fuel product with water repellent properties but it is without harmful chemicals. It is a good product for the survivalist as it has a 30-year shelf life, so you can store it and it will be ready when you need it.

The Fired Up!™ firestarter in a bucket costs about $50, contains approximately 70 cups of fuel and one cup of the product will boil two cups of water in about 10 minutes. Two cups of the fuel will burn for about 30 minutes, making it a reliable and safe fuel source.

When you use the pellets, you should stir the fire occasionally to be sure you burn all of them. The Fired Up!™ bucket is fire proof, and after you have emptied it, you can use as a fire container for emergency situations.

InstaFire

InstaFire is another firestarter in a bucket, also a pellet mix and comes in a five, four and two-gallon bucket and has a shelf life of about 30 years. The pellets are a mixture of super heated volcanic rocks, wood and wax, which are sold in bulk or in packets. In the four and two-gallon buckets, you have the option of the pellets packaged in pouches, which allow you to stash a packet in your grab and go bag or even your backpack when hiking.

The buckets containing the pellets in bulk cost about $40 for the 2-gallon bucket and $75 for the five-gallon one. The paper pouches, however, range from $50 for the two gallon with the 24 paper pouches and $95 for the 4-gallon bucket with 60 paper pouches.

Why Use a Firestarter in a Bucket?

You can use firestarter ready mix for more than an emergency provision to use in a major catastrophic event. The pellets will start a fire with charcoal briquettes for your barbeques or ignite a warm fire in the fireplace. A bucket of fire starter for cross-country travel or even trips in the winter will insure that you have a heat source in the event of a short-term emergency.

Buying the buckets, which have packets of pellets, gives you additional opportunities to carry your pellets. Stashing a packet when snowmobiling or cross country skiing will provide a heat source in the event of an accident or getting lost and maybe a signaling method if you are waiting for a rescue.

The real advantage of a good firestarter in a bucket is that you can use it as a fire by itself, when you do not have other fuel to burn. In terms of survival, if you exhaust your commercially prepared pellets, you can melt and pour wax over saw dust and store your new fire starter in the bucket. For sure, it is another useful tool in the instance of an emergency.

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