Fire starters

[Bobitis]

We all have them, and they are all welcome.

I been savin my dryer lint to combine with vaseline. But how do ya store it?

35mm film canisters seem perfect, but I can't find 'em anywhere on line.

Any help?

[geds]

Originally Posted by Bobitis

We all have them, and they are all welcome.

I been savin my dryer lint to combine with vaseline. But how do ya store it?

35mm film canisters seem perfect, but I can't find 'em anywhere on line.

Any help?

Instead of vaseline, coat the lint with melted parafin wax. Cardboard egg cartons make the perfect mold. It stores, and is mess free!

[trespoe]

Originally Posted by geds

Instead of vaseline, coat the lint with melted parafin wax. Cardboard egg cartons make the perfect mold. It stores, and is mess free!

That's the way I made them..

The most difficult part is finding cardboard egg cartons. Most are styrofoam now.

[geds]

Originally Posted by trespoe

That's the way I made them..

The most difficult part is finding cardboard egg cartons. Most are styrofoam now.

Try toilet paper rolls. Then slice 'em like cookie dough. If you run a wick down the tube, you can use 'em like candles too.

[mogunner]

I use cotton balls saturated with vaseline, store them in old prescription pill bottles. Have also use the cedar pet bedding, cut toilet paper rolls in about 1" sections, stuff some cedar chips in there and drench with melted wax, kept an old tackle box in the garage full of them for starting the wood stove. Saved up a bunch of dryer lint but we have dogs, and after the first couple times I quit usin them, smelled too dang bad, burnin dog hair is a heck of a stench.

[jack404]

for the starter i do the parafin wax too but mix it so it's like wet 1st pass gun cotton .. theres almost more cotton than wax

and make em small so you can start lots of fires , they dont burn long and i tease em out so they last long but with lot's of wick area (cotton ball ) they are hot and will dry and burn wet wood even though small , and i can fit about 20 in a cigar tube that screws on i carry for it in my tinder box)

[Country101]

I take the shavings from when I cut my firewood and put them in pringles cans. Then I use my sawsall to slice them about 3/4 inch thick. More shavings and less wax. I figured that out last time. My wife saves all her cangle stubs and when she collects enough, we make the fire starters. About half of one on the slabs will start a good fire. We keep a hatchet in the wood box to bust them up with and just have all the pieces I cut in a ziplock.

[jjmitchell60]

Let me add something to add to your fire starting kit. I always add a candle to mine nd here is why, once I get a flame, the first bthing I do it light the candle. It will keep a flame even if your notehr one goes out while trying to get the fire built up. IF your original flame goes out, then you have the candle flame to use from there on till you get a good fire doing. Now that was a trick used way back in the 1700s and I do Rev War re-enactments and well as treks thus a candle is in with all my fire starting kits.

[carver]

Fatwood, or rich lighter pine. This is what I use, and it's found naturally all over the world. When I find a stump in the woods, I take it down whole, or in peices I can carry, and bring it home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatwood
Because of the flammability of terpene, fatwood is prized for use as kindling in starting fires. It lights quickly even when wet, is very wind resistant, and burns hot enough to light larger pieces of wood. A small piece of fatwood can be used many times to create tinder by shaving small curls and using them to light other larger tinder. In Louisiana "fatwood" is known as "rich lighter" and cut slivers are what is referred to as "kindling" because of the abundance. The pitch-soaked wood produces an oily, sooty smoke, and it is recommended that one should not cook on a fire until all the fatwood has completely burned out. Because of this oily smoke fatwood should not be used for indoor fireplaces. A fatwood pine knot burns hot enough that even one of a smaller size can cause damage to a wood stove and even cause house fires. The smoke produced by "fatwood" is an excellent bug (especially mosquito ) repellent.

[joncutt87]

I soak paper in the tub, and then roll them up tight and rubber band them. They make nice fire logs

[jlloyd73]

You guys are clueless.........

If you really want to start a fire--------------------->

Call your wife fat...............

[Capt Mac Turk]

Originally Posted by jlloyd73

You guys are clueless.........

If you really want to start a fire--------------------->

Call your wife fat...............

Now
Thats F U N N Y !!!

[jjmitchell60]

Originally Posted by jlloyd73

You guys are clueless.........

If you really want to start a fire--------------------->

Call your wife fat...............

Starting a fire and committing suicide iare2 different topics!!!! My wife is a chef so she uses fire all day long. I bet if I called her fat she would start a fire under my fat arse and roast me alive!

Now is stuck out in the cold with just her and I, I MIGHT say something lie that to "warm" her up so as to keep me warm!

[flyingtiger85]

Just buy a magnesium fire starter kit.Online or a local camping store.Those other methods sound unsafe.You just scrape off some metal flakes with a piece of hack-saw blade in the kit then strike the flint and the metal saw dust ignites.Wha-la instant fire.

[jack404]

you said start a fire not wake up with a knife in ya ...

[pickenup]

Originally Posted by Bobitis

35mm film canisters seem perfect, but I can't find 'em anywhere on line.

Any help?

Still looking for some?

[jacksonco]

Originally Posted by Bobitis

We all have them, and they are all welcome.

I been savin my dryer lint to combine with vaseline. But how do ya store it?

35mm film canisters seem perfect, but I can't find 'em anywhere on line.

Any help?

Get some of those paper cups they use in fast food joints to put ketchup in. They come in different sizes. Or you could always use the small bathroom dixie cups.

Ooops, I meant for this to be used with the wax and wood shaving fire starters.

[armedandsafe]

I get my film canisters from the local photo shop. The only problem with that is they always want me to take the WHOLE BOX!

Pops

[geds]

Film canisters are great for putting matches in to keep them dry and for putting seasoning in from which to use in cooking. Not the best for fire starters - use any of the wax starters and you don't have to worry about keeping them dry.

[carver]

I have several hundred of the film canisters. I use them for deer hunting. Put some cotton balls in one, add in your favorite deer actractant, and snap the lid closed. When you are ready to hunt, just open them, and throw them on the ground, or hang them from a tree limb.

What will you use to start a fire when you run out of candles, dryer lint, magnesium fire starters, or what ever? Do you know how to make a fire by friction? If you think you do know how, then get out there, and make one. Once you have finally succeeded in making that first fire, you will understand that you need to make a bunch more to get the toques down to a degree that you can actually do it in a survival situation. Good Luck, and have fun!

[Old Grump]

Fire starter straws

Here is what you need:
Cotton balls
Dryer lint
Petroleum jelly
Straws
Pliers
Lighter
Bobbie-pin
Ziploc bag

Here is what you do:
1) Place cotton balls, dryer lint, and jelly in ziploc bag (pull the cotton balls apart before putting them in the bag). Close bag, squeeze-squish-squeeze-squish until the material is saturated with jelly.

2) Cut straws into 2" sections. Hold one end closed with the pliers, leaving about an 1/8" exposed. Melt the 1/8" section with the lighter, and flatten against pliers with the lighter shroud.

3) Pull material from bag, and roll into long thin cylinder shape, feed into straw, compact with bobby-pin until 1/4" from end. Melt open end in the same manner you melted the other end.

To Light:
Cut fire starter in half, pull out material, fray so you have a larger surface area, use fire steel or anything that throws a spark to shower the material with sparks. It will catch fire very easily.

Small, neat, no mess, easy to store.

[Bobitis]

Originally Posted by pickenup

Still looking for some?

Yep.

Originally Posted by carver

What will you use to start a fire when you run out of candles, dryer lint, magnesium fire starters, or what ever? Do you know how to make a fire by friction? If you think you do know how, then get out there, and make one. Once you have finally succeeded in making that first fire, you will understand that you need to make a bunch more to get the toques down to a degree that you can actually do it in a survival situation. Good Luck, and have fun!

I learned how to do that a long time ago. I'm sure I could repeat the process if I had to. I bought a magnesium anode for a water heater at work. It's 3/4" diameter and 30" long, so I cut into 3 pcs. It's harder than the store bought things, but it does work

Originally Posted by Old Grump

Fire starter straws

Here is what you need:
Cotton balls
Dryer lint
Petroleum jelly
Straws
Pliers
Lighter
Bobbie-pin
Ziploc bag

Here is what you do:
1) Place cotton balls, dryer lint, and jelly in ziploc bag (pull the cotton balls apart before putting them in the bag). Close bag, squeeze-squish-squeeze-squish until the material is saturated with jelly.

2) Cut straws into 2" sections. Hold one end closed with the pliers, leaving about an 1/8" exposed. Melt the 1/8" section with the lighter, and flatten against pliers with the lighter shroud.

3) Pull material from bag, and roll into long thin cylinder shape, feed into straw, compact with bobby-pin until 1/4" from end. Melt open end in the same manner you melted the other end.

To Light:
Cut fire starter in half, pull out material, fray so you have a larger surface area, use fire steel or anything that throws a spark to shower the material with sparks. It will catch fire very easily.

Small, neat, no mess, easy to store.

Great idea Grump. More work than I care to invest though.