As far as how this fire starter performs? Well it goes above and beyond, seriously, this stuff burns quite hot as well as for a lengthy period of time as advertised; sure to get any emergency fire going in even terrible conditions! It's entirely wind resistant, you can drop it in the water, it'll float, then you merely squeeze any water out and it will ignite just fine. Also it's extremely easy to ignite, a tiny spark, or just touching a lighter / match flame to the "fluffed" prepared end of it and it lights instantly.
The only downside is how harsh this stuff is.. Trust me when I say, you do NOT want to be near the smoke this putty emits; not even a bit of it breathed in from the wind coming back at you. I was steering clear of it, but when I tested out it's resistance to wind by blowing on it several times; I pulled in a few bounced back / mild inhalations of the smoke and it was absolutely terrible. My nose, up through my sinuses, trachea, bronchial tubes and eyes all burned rather severely for 35-40 minutes until it began to subside. I took my gloves off and removed my contacts, flushing my eyes as well as getting fresh air until it improved but it was not a good time. It is extremely irritating due to the composition of the putty (synthetics & metal oxides) that you are burning.. So, you definitely want to wear gloves when prepping a piece of this to start a fire, and stay out of the smoke. If you don't have gloves, do yourself a favor and do not touch your face or rub your eyes after handling it. I wore gloves, but the smoke really was unpleasant despite being such a small brief dose of it. No wonder there is the green putty that's a "bug repellant" XD
Anyway, it IS a synthetic fire starter marketed for emergencies / survival / etc so it's not a reason to avoid buying it. For it's intended purpose, it absolutely performs very well, exceeding all expectations. Really, there's nothing else out there on the market like it that works as well as this does. The irritation aspect is no different than say, liquid fuel, I wouldn't get that in my eyes or breathe it in either; my experience was merely an unfortunate, unintended incident that occurred. I still thought this should be known so that you don't stay too close to it while its burning, or rather, just don't be downwind of it when building up your fire initially and you will be just fine.
Overall, it's worth the money if you wish to have a reliable, powerful, compact, and affordable emergency fire starter for whatever your needs may be!
| Item Package Dimensions L x W x H | 3.1 x 3 x 2.9 inches |
|---|---|
| Package Weight | 0.18 Kilograms |
| Item Weight | 0.18 Kilograms |
| Brand Name | Phone Skope |
| Color | 2 oz x 3, Ultimate Pack |
| Manufacturer | Phone Skope |
| Part Number | Phone Skope |
