Polymath Products EDC Fire Kit Review

Here's another great kit from Polymath Products, following the same design as the UCSK, the EDC Fire Kit. (Hereafter referred to as the "EDCFK")

This probably isn't one for the ultralight backpackers, but aimed more towards bushcrafters and general outdoors enthusiasts.

The kit, like the UCSK, is very neat and tidy, everything bar the firesteel striker is housed inside the shotgun cartridge. The cartridge for the EDCFK is silver, and instead of the compass found on the bottom of the UCSK you get a thermometer.

Contents

The contents of the EDCFK

The Housing

• Cartridge
• Split ring

Unlike the UCSK the cartridge and split ring serve no other purpose in this kit apart from keeping the contents together.

Fire Preparation

• Firesteel, 6.5mm Ø
• Super Alloy Striker
• 8x Tinder sticks, 6cm
• Fire powder

The contents of the EDCFK are mostly comprised of items for fire preparation, which I suppose would probably make sense.

Proof that you can light a fire with this kit!

The firesteel in the kit is identical to the one in the UCSK, however the striker is different. Instead of the fiddly hacksaw blade striker you get a full size "Super Alloy" striker, which throws really good sparks and is much more comfortable to use. The firesteel is 6.5mm diameter so should last a long time, and if you're only using it occasionally - probably a lifetime.

The tinder sticks are a unique addition to the kit. They seem to be pieces of natural twine soaked in wax meaning they burn for ages and after being fluffed up a bit light really easily!

In the kit you get 8x 6cm long tinder sticks, which if you have good kindling could light up to 16 fires (half a stick is about the minimum I'd use per fire, unless you have good dry tinder). To use the sticks you just need to bend or twist them a couple of times to break up the wax, then pull out clumps of the fibers within to make a fluffy ball of wax and natural fibers. Then you just strike the fire-steel into the ball and you should have fire!

The Super Alloy firesteel striker

If conditions are terrible, or maybe you've run out of the tinder sticks and are using damp natural tinder, you have a secret weapon with the EDCFK. Included is a small (one gram) plastic vial of "fire powder" which judging by the bright white light when ignited, burns really quite hot. In fact, according to Polymath Products, 3000°C. So yeah, toasty.

If your tinder is damp igniting it is an absolute nightmare, so in climates where it rains a lot (like the UK!) the fire powder is a godsend.

Not Fire Preparation

• Mini glow stick
• Thermometer

Although the primary focus of the kit is firelighting the EDCFK includes these items which personally I don't find particularly useful.

The glow stick doesn't really emit enough light to be useful for lighting a fire in the dark, although if it was all you had then I suppose you'd be glad of it! However I would much rather the glow stick be replaced with another vial of fire powder.

Surprisingly, I actually found a use for the thermometer. When I was testing the Warbonnet Yeti underquilt I was curious about the temperature rating and the thermometer gave me a fairly good idea of this. Although unless you're testing gear or refining a sleep setup I don't think this is an important item of the kit.

I much preferred the compass on the UCSK!

Thermometer vs compass, I'd choose the latter personally...

Build Quality

The amount of thought that was put into the design of these kits is instantly obvious. The shotgun cartridge housings were a good idea and they've been implemented really well, I love them!

As with the UCSK the build quality of the EDCFK is flawless. The guys at Polymath Products do a fantastic job of making each kit look like it was assembled by an intelligent machine even though each kit is hand assembled!

Tips and Tricks

The EDCFK comes with a printed instructions, tips and tricks sheet similar to the one with the UCSK. It gives a handy refresher on firelighting technique, fuel collection, cooking and other uses for fire.

The instructions are really well written, and one thing I'd love to see would be them printed on a waterproof material and offered as little cards that you could slip into a pocket or survival tin!

Pros

• Great for lighting campfires
• Tiny
• Lightweight
• Has plenty of fire-lighting material inside
• Innovative concept and well designed piece of kit
• Very good price
• Fantastic build quality

Cons

• Thermometer and glow stick aren't particularly useful

Summary

The UCSK left a pretty hard example to follow and the EDC Fire Kit followed suit and certainly left a great impression. The two kits compliment each other really well and could work as a great modular system (swapping items between the kits or adding your own items).

At only £8.99 you'd be mad not to buy one, in fact buy a couple and give one to a friend!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my review!

You can check out the EDC Fire Kit (and the UCSK, also featured) at the Polymath Products website here: http://www.polymathproducts.co.uk/

Thanks to Sam and Luke from Polymath Products for letting me review the EDC Fire Kit. They're awesome guys with an awesome company!

Review by Jake McConnell (part of HighballBlog.com outdoor athletes team who test and review outdoor gear).

Disclaimer: Polymath Products provided me with the product free of charge in exchange for this review. This didn't alter my opinion of the product in any way. These are my opinions. Review by Jake McConnell (part of HighballBlog.com outdoor athletes team who test and review outdoor gear).

---

Thanks for stopping by! Share this article with your friends.