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Fire starters


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  • #1309428
    doug thomas
    BPL Member

    @sparky52804

    Locale: Eastern Iowa

    I'm not sure this is the right place for this, but here goes. I'm planning on making dryer lint and Vaseline fire starters and was wondering how much lint and how big the finished product should be. Thanks

    Doug

    #2040788
    Justin Baker
    BPL Member

    @justin_baker

    Locale: Santa Rosa, CA

    I've never used lint, but I use cotton balls and vaseline. One cotton ball is just right for getting a fire started. I put them in a hard sided container (a pill bottle) so I can shove and compress a lot of them in there.

    #2040794
    Kevin Schneringer
    BPL Member

    @slammer

    Locale: Oklahoma Flat Lands

    I have used both but like Cotton ball/petro jelly best
    They burn quite well and one is plenty to start a fire.

    #2040807
    Gary Dunckel
    BPL Member

    @zia-grill-guy

    Locale: Boulder

    I agree with the pure cotton/PJ. Dryer lint might have some polyester or wool mixed in with the cotton, which diminishes its proper flamability.

    #2040815
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    My favorite fire starter is bees wax impregnated tack cloth used for finish carpentry.
    A 3"x3" piece rolled into a cigarette makes a lite, clean and easy fire starter.

    #2040820
    David Thomas
    BPL Member

    @davidinkenai

    Locale: North Woods. Far North.

    A few feet of wax paper is completely mess-free (and can even be used to separate a sooty pot from other stuff) and you can use as much or as little as you need each time based on the conditions. A square inch or two under really dry twigs. A dollar-bill-sized piece for bigger twigs. Roll and kink a tube for a longer-lasting one, etc. For the multi-purposers among us, you can use wax paper (or aluminum foil) to catch drips off a snow field or tarp for drinking water. Instant funnel.

    Someone posted two weeks ago about filling each compartment of a cardboard egg carton with a tablespoon of wax and cutting out 12 fire starters. I tried it and while not SUL, it made a REALLY effective fire starter – for wetter or bigger wood. I buy big, ugly candles at the thrift store for 25 cents and keep them around as a cheap source of wax.

    The SDUL (super-duper ultralight) method is to harvest your own belly-button lint and impregnate it with your own ear wax. NO added pack weight AND you reduce your skin-out weight with each use.

    #2040824
    Jim Colten
    BPL Member

    @jcolten

    Locale: MN

    Someone posted two weeks ago about filling each compartment of a cardboard egg carton with a tablespoon of wax and cutting out 12 fire starters. I tried it and while not SUL, it made a REALLY effective fire starter – for wetter or bigger wood.

    For a somewhat lighter version of that, use the small paper cups found at condiment stations with pump dispensers (cylinders approx 1 inch tall and 1 inch diameter). Doesn't pack the quite as many BTU's as the egg carton version but still works pretty well.

    I'm not sure if esbit tabs have been mentioned but they work pretty well also.

    #2040831
    Kevin Babione
    BPL Member

    @kbabione

    Locale: Pennsylvania

    While not directly on-topic, I use a trick birthday candle for lighting my fires, whether in a fire ring or in my wood-burning stove. It lights quickly using my lighter and then I'm not reaching down under my carefully crafted fire and trying to flick my Bic.

    #2040888
    Justin Baker
    BPL Member

    @justin_baker

    Locale: Santa Rosa, CA

    Esbit make good fire starters too. Maybe overkill for most situations, but when the woods is very wet and I'm cold I will use one.

    #2040995
    James holden
    BPL Member

    @bearbreeder-2

    one trick with PJ ballz is to put the PJ in the microwave for a short time or otherwise carefully heat it up to liquid form … and then dip most of the ball into is, leaving out some to fluff up to catch sparks

    here is someone demonstrating nuked PJ balls in the rain …

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgTano_saGo&feature=player_embedded

    ;)

    #2041000
    BlackHatGuy
    Spectator

    @sleeping

    Locale: The Cascades

    One tip if you decide to use lint. Remove it from your navel first. Don't ask me how I know….

    #2044649
    doug thomas
    BPL Member

    @sparky52804

    Locale: Eastern Iowa

    I was also wondering how long a petroleum ball stays lit compared to a esbit tab and if dog hair in the lint matters much.

    #2044657
    David Thomas
    BPL Member

    @davidinkenai

    Locale: North Woods. Far North.

    >"if dog hair in the lint matters much."

    You know the expression, "Smells like a wet dog."?

    Smelling like a burning dog is worse.

    When I've had my flesh cauterized or gotten defoliated in small fuel-air explosions, it smells much better upwind.

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