I have seen a few videos on Ultimate Survival Wetfire fire starting tinders, and Weber Lighter Cubes, so I decided to visit my local Walmart to purchase the above products and perform a comparison test on them. All tests were held in my back yard under breezy conditions, nothing scientific here. The Wetfire brand is definitely more expensive; you get 5 cubes per package, at a cost of $4.97. On the other hand, the Weber lighter cubes come 24 to a package at a cost of $3.98.
I found that not only do you get more for the money when purchasing the Weber cubes, but as you can see in the photo below, they are twice the size of the Wetfire cubes. But here’s the real question, will they work the same?
For the first part of my comparison test I decided to scrape off some of each cube to see if they would each ignite the same with a ferro rod. I used the Ultimate Survival Blast Match for this. I noticed that the Weber cubes were a bit more brittle feeling when compared to the Wetfire cubes, and while trying to cut off a good sized portion of the Weber cube, that it would crumble; however, this was a non-issue. I also noticed that they both seemed to light equally with the blast match.
For the next part of my comparison, I dropped an equal sized piece of each of each product in some water and I let them soak for a bit. After both cubes were soaked in water I then covered my lighting surface with more water and lit both cubes while sitting in the water. What I found was that they both seemed to light equally as well. Of note, during this part of my test I used a match to light the pieces of cube used as I found it too difficult to light larger pieces of each cube with a ferro rod.
For my next test I wanted to see how long each product would burn. With the Weber cubes being twice the size of the Wetfire, I decided to cut a piece off of each cube, equal in size, just eyeballing it. The results are as follows: The Weber piece burned for 1 minute and 52 seconds before a breeze blew it out. The Wetffire lasted for 2 minutes and 3 seconds before a breeze blew it out. Pictured below are both of the cubes at the size they were when each went out.
In conclusion, it’s my opinion that both cubes seemed to work equally as well. However, seeing as how the Weber cube is twice the size of the Wetfire cube, you’ll nearly get 10 times the amount of product with the Weber brand, and all for a dollar less. It’s a no brainer; go with the Weber lighter cubes. So if your fire skills aren’t up to par I highly recommend keeping some of the Weber Lighter Cubes in your bug out bag, for starting fires under wet/damp conditions.