Skip to main content

Nanospark fits everything you need to start a fire in one hand


The Nanospark is a compact kit that includes flint, tinder, and pivot — making for the most efficient all-in-one firestarter to date. The most impressive feature? You can use it one-handed.

Exotac is a Georgia-based company that first launched into sparker engineering two years ago with the Firesleeve, an impressive product that transformed a regular Bic lighter into a necessary piece of outdoor survival equipment. Exotac recently started a campaign on Kickstarter for its newest product, the Nanospark — and it intends on setting the bar even higher. 

The Nanospark is a small, waterproof aluminum chamber weighing less than 0.6 ounces that contains all necessary firestarting tools. Its ribbed design makes for easy grip and anodized aluminum provides a great feel and look. The product includes five pieces of QuickLight tinder, which is constructed of flammable- treated cotton. The cotton is designed to be water-resistant and allocate plentiful burn time for firestarting in adverse conditions.

The brass flint wheel design boasts a simple pivot system that creates a spark with the swipe of a fingertip. The flints are easily replaceable and the Nanospark provides enough room for flint storage in addition to extra tinder. Additional flints are easily slipped into a storage area below the tinder tray. The waterproof features ensure consistently dry flint and tinder in any kind of weather.

The Nanospark is crafted to be used on the go and features an attachment point ideal for a lanyard or keychain. It is small enough to be shoved into any pocket or backpack cranny. The product is patent pending and made in the United States. Replacement Exotac flints will be available for purchase, although Zippo flints will work in a pinch.

The project is already 75 percent funded on the company’s Kickstarter campaign page with packaging production set to start in May. A pledge of $22 gets you one orange, olive, gunmetal, or black Nanospark firestarter upon complete project funding.

Amanda Ellis
Amanda is an outdoor junkie and digital nomad with an insatiable hunger for gear. Based out of Raleigh, NC she travels to…
Goodbye, coolers. The EcoFlow Glacier doesn’t need ice — it makes it
The EcoFlow Glacier is a fridge shaped like a cooler with its own battery,

Every cooler operates on borrowed time. It leaves for your camping trip brimming over with crisp produce and ice-encrusted beer that looks straight out of a Super Bowl commercial, and returns with a soggy block of foil-wrapped cheddar cheese floating in a pool of mustard water. Mother Nature always wins.

Perhaps that’s why I was so enamored when I saw the EcoFlow Glacier at CES 2023. Less a cooler than a mobile battery-powered fridge on wheels, the sleek electric Glacier not only obviated the need for ice, it would make ice for me in 18 minutes. My home fridge can’t even do that, and I didn’t even know I wanted it to until just now. When EcoFlow offered to let me try the Glacier, I envisioned sipping a perspiring glass of whiskey in the tropics and accepted the occupational hazards of my job.

Read more
I was wrong. E-bikes are so practical, they’re a transit cheat code
An Aventon Level 2 ebike sits outside a grocery store.

Confession: Despite loving both bikes and gadgets, e-bikes never excited me. Compared to my bicycle, e-bikes seemed unfair. Compared to my motorcycle, they seemed slow. Compared to my car, they seemed impractical.

But with $1,500 federal e-bike rebates potentially on the horizon at part of E-Bike Act, I decided it was past time to reconsider. Not just because 30% off would make them way more accessible, but because the entire idea that e-bikes could be worthy of a rebate changed the way I looked at them: less as toys, more as transit. Had I written off an entire way of getting around because I was looking at it the wrong way?

Read more
Upway launches one of the best marketplaces for certified e-bikes, new or not
Man holding ebike from Upway in a field, lifestyle image.

This content was produced in partnership with Upway.
It wasn't too long ago that e-bikes were a rare sight, but all of that has changed, and rightfully so. Electric bikes are all over the road these days, and there are many brands either venturing into the technology, to launch their own versions of the sustainable transportation option or reiterating existing and traditional designs. From Aventon to Schwinn, or RadPower to Momentum, with so many opportunities, the prevailing question is, where do you go to find the best deals and the best information about these brands and their e-bike models? The answer is Upway, the number one certified electric bike provider and an official partner to many of the aforementioned brands.

What is Upway, exactly? It's a marketplace, specializing in e-bikes, featuring an inventory that's sourced from some of the best brands in the world. There are American brands -- like Specialized, Cannondale, and RadPower -- and European brands -- like Riese, Muller, and VanMoof. The best part is the discounts, offering up to 60% off retail, for a plethora of brands. Upway is on a mission to make sustainable mobility affordable for everyone. It's also one of the best places to go for a new or pre-owned e-bike, and here's why:

Read more