Epiphany Outdoor Gear Pocket Breeze Umbrella

Gotta love Thew Pocket Bellows! My 'must have' when camping..

The Epiphany Outdoor Gear Pocket Bellows is no 'toy', but a truly effective means to "fan the flames" whether gently at first to catch tinder and kindling, or later to increase the flame as if a blacksmith to ignite and enflame larger or damp kindling. Strongly recommended for anyone who is looked to for starting the campfire or cooking fire... it's light, inexpensive, and it works. The fire "fuses" work, too. Yes, of course you can use cotton balls and Vasoline or impregnate a cotton ball with a nice wax mixture (leaving a bit of nice cotton to quickly ignite), or, maybe better, a cotton dental 'packing' strip, but these do work quite nicely. Follow instructions to fray and expose the inside surface. I use one as a 'match', inserting it into a cut off section of small internal diameter brass tubing (an expended 22 long shell casing cut from the base works nicely, too); just use your BIC to ignite the end, use it as a long-burning, hard to extinguish match to ignite your tinder, then use the brass to snuff the flame. (You can also impregnate twisted jute twine segments with wax for this useful item.) Having these two items in your kit with a good ferrocerium rod, a BIC, or tube of storm matches makes for a much more dependable fire starting experience. (Of course, having a Mora, or a Cold Steel folding knife with Triad Lock - blades that are up to splitting off kindling and making tinder is also a "don't leave home without it".)

I tried one of the fire starters in this kit and it worked as advertised. I don't really use them as I use other methods to start a fire. But the Bellows on the other hand is what I use a lot. It keeps me away from the fire as I am trying to get it going. This is exactly what I was needing because I have a very long beard. Long beards and fire don't play well together. Now if there was one like 30 to 36 inches long, it would be even better.

Both the pocket bellows and the fire starter cord perform extremely well. Their small size and water tight containers make them an essential part of any fire kit. Make sure you really separate the strands of the cord before you try to ignite it. Very Satisfied.

The pocket bellow is great. Plastic sheath is helpful for preventing sand or dirt in it. Some sand did get into mine, but it did not prevent it from collapsing or expanding. It expands far enough that I don't feel like I am too close to the fire when starting it. The fuse seemed to work well and stayed lit for awhile, but in all honesty I would only purchase the fire bellow. I prefer just using the small cotton pill fire starters. Much cheaper / cost efficient.

Saw this kit in a youtube video and picked it up thinking it might be helpful some day. We have a full-sized fireplace version of the "bellows" which we use to good effect. Took it on a recent trip, and the blow-tube is absolutely amazing. Really made getting the fire going faster and less labor intensive! Haven't tried the "fuses" yet but wanted to add a review for the "bellows" because it's so high up on the price value curve.

After canoe camping with a group of guys and seeing how useful a pocket bellows was, I came home and bought one. I have used it for 3-4 backyard campfires and on one 3 day camping trip with the wife. IT. IS. A. GAME-CHANGER! On 2 occasions, we doused the fire out with water and spread out all the coals to where there wasn’t any noticeable smoke, we went for a 45 minute walk, came back, and after rolling a stick over saw some red embers. I grabbed some kindling and began working with the bellows gently at first to catch the kindling then really blowing once it caught and we had a raging fire back in almost seconds! I will say, it does take some practice to figure out how much air you need at different times during the fire making process. Too much in the beginning will still put your fire out. But once you have some hot coals, MAN, you could let it go nearly out, throw some sticks on, put the bellows right on the coals and blow as hard as you possibly can and it RIPS! Sounds like a flamethrower!

They're awesome

Das Blasrohr ist ein enorm praktischer Helfer beim Feuer machen. Die Brennwolle ist optimal als "letzte Hoffnung" wenn man unter wirklich widrigen Bedingungen Feuer machen muss. Ich bin zufrieden.