DIY fire starters

[Gunnersdad49]

I have used a lot of fire starters and always come back to Vaseline soaked cotton balls. They compress really small, weigh nothing, and take a spark from a Ferro rod great if you pull them apart. They are impervious to water.

the biggest downside to me was making them. My hands always came out like a teenager with his first dirty magazine.

today I bought “cotton rounds” from the makeup area at Walmart, and tried them. I laid them out on tinfoil, dropped a dollop of petroleum jelly on them with a butter knife, and put them in the oven at 175 for 10 minutes.

worked great, no mess, no cleanup, and they burn great. This is about a quarter of one, sparked with one spark from a bic lighter.

I put them in a zip lock bag and 15 of them are about 1.5” high and 2” wide.

 

[PNWGATOR]

What a great idea, thank you for sharing!

 

[cnelk]

I too use cotton balls with vaseline.

To avoid the mess, I turn a zip-loc bag inside out, put in the cotton and vaseline, turn the bag right side out, seal and then mix - No mess

Keeps me out of the Make-up section at Walmart

 

[journeyman713]

Here's another recipe -
Get a McDonalds ketchup cup.
Fill it with wood shavings, and a candle wick.
Add enough wax to hold it all together.

This will start a fire with wet wood!

 

[philintheblank]

I used the same pads. They stack nice in a chew can.

 

[BeardGuyBrian]

Here's another recipe -
Get a McDonalds ketchup cup.
Fill it with wood shavings, and a candle wick.
Add enough wax to hold it all together.

This will start a fire with wet wood!

I read this way too fast and thought you said McDonald's ketchup and a little wood shavings would start on fire, and I was about to be quite concerned.

 

[hunting1]

I read this way too fast and thought you said McDonald's ketchup and a little wood shavings would start on fire, and I was about to be quite concerned.

Me too!

 

[Te Hopo]

For firestarters I use vaseline soaked tampons.
They're super compact and when you need one, just tease one end apart and light the fluff.
If dry wood is handy I'll cut one in half but if I'm trying to start a fire with damp wood, the full one burns for a good 5 mins

 

[Silver]

For firestarters I use vaseline soaked tampons.
They're super compact and when you need one, just tease one end apart and light the fluff.
If dry wood is handy I'll cut one in half but if I'm trying to start a fire with damp wood, the full one burns for a good 5 mins

A fiend of mine uses tampons while sledding - he'll dip one in the fuel tank/Jerry can for about 30 seconds, and it will burn for at least a few minutes. I was surprised how long it went actually. I can see these working even better.

 

[ND_Hooligan]

What I've been doing for several years now is using empty toilet paper rolls, filling them with dryer lint, and then pouring melted Gulf wax into the lint. It makes a fire starter that will last for a long time and works great.

 

[bhunt6688]

All great ideas!

 

[*zap*]

melt some wax and dip the cotton rounds in wax....still e-z to light and will burn longer than petroleum jelly....no mess.

 

[mtnbiker208]

cardboard egg crate, fill with sawdust or dryer lint. melt some canning wax and pour over the egg crate. works real well.

 

[2ski]

If you want to make then more compact I pull all the air out with my vac sealer. Cotton balls compress very nice and small.

 

[Mike Islander]

Cotton pads soaked in pine rosin, then dried bone dry. I dissolve the rosin in alcohol. No mess in your kit. Single spark ignition.

 

[Sammy_37]

Great idea thanks for sharing!!

 

[boliver29]

My friends wife gave a whole she soaks the round make up wipes and when she done with a scent see candle she soaked about 3/4 in the wax and the work great


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[shotacoffey]

I usually go with beeswax coated hemp. But I have cotton and vaseline too. I'm mostly talking about for backpacking, so I like to go compact. So I do this with the cotton:

How to Make Mini Straw Fire Starters (easy)

How to Make Mini Straw Fire Starters (easy): Awesome little WATERPROOF fire starter ready to Go! Can be used for camping or survival kit (made a survival kit with straw fire starters in it check it out)

www.instructables.com

You can also seal up salt and pepper, olive oil, etc in the straws for cooking as well.

 

[Reloader77724]

I definitely like the Colton balls with Vaseline. Ferro rod lights them really well. Also hand sanitizers works in a pinch if you’ll use small tender to light.

 

[2ski]

I definitely like the Colton balls with Vaseline. Ferro rod lights them really well. Also hand sanitizers works in a pinch if you’ll use small tender to light.

I've been carrying hand sanitizer for a number of years. Use that in conjunction with the toilet paper most carry and you have a pretty good starter.