Your firestarter of choice?

>"lean against one of these pines and get it on your hair"

It was always amazing as a teen working on a beater car, how dirty, greasy hands would be magically cleansed by eating a pack of McDonald's fries.

You didn't want to think about where all that dirt, motor oil, tranny fluid, etc, ended up, but it wasn't on my hands anymore.

How would a dessicated McD's fry work as a fire starter? Fuel on a stick, sort of.

Mayo works better than olive oil for me, probably because the lemon/vinagre makes it slightly acidic. Since I am all about Olive oil : ) that was what I tried first. Mayo finished the job. Same with my hands. I will have to try the Noxzema!

My favorite firestarter is Jute Twine. I carry a short 2' section with my fire steel. Cut off a 2-3" section and separate the twine into a loose ball of fibers. It starts easily with spark or flame and really takes off.

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/tools-hardware-hardware-fasteners-chain-rope-specialty/everbilt-30-x-190-ft-jute-twine-natural-159282.html

Dan

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…refreshing an old thread…

I soak half a cotton ball in melted PJ. All of this is done inside a snaplock bag that is dunked in & wafted over hot water… so no mess. After pulling them out with a pair of long tweezers, I place them on a pre-cut square of wax paper, and wrap it up like a lollie.

Your hands stay clean when handling them prior to lighting!…and no need for a canister/container to store them.

The great thing about this is, they light really easily due to the lollie-like edging of wax paper. They are also packaged tightly so they tend to burn for a good 4-5 minutes. You can also 'unwrap' it like a lollie and open out the cotton ball (exposing the PJ) if you need to spark it, or for getting a bigger flame.

5g each.

Very nice Jason!

Jason,

I like your idea and love the fact that you can keep your hands clean and PJ free while using them.

I do have one question…

…you do carry your fire starters separate from your walking food and snacks, right?

L O L

Great idea and technique!

Party On,

Newton

"….you do carry your fire starters separate from your walking food and snacks, right?"

…hahaha…

The thought crossed my mind to mark them, but yes, they're in my ditty bag, in a ziplock with other fire-start equipment (wp matches and minibic)….

Take one egg's worth of egg carton – 0.1 ounce. wrap aluminum foil on the outside

For summer dry wood put in 0.25 ounce of parafin, 0.5 ounce for winter wet wood.

Put on tray in lowest temp possible oven or out in the sun. Let parafin melt so egg carton totally absorbs and some is pooled inside egg carton at bottom – the parafin doesn't have to melt completely, just enough to stick together so it doesn't fall out. Remove aluminum foil when it solidifies a little.

Then, when you use it, tear off a corner to expose fibers so it lights easier. Light it. Set it down in the middle. When it starts burning a little put small stuff on making sure not to put out the flame…

Parafin has about as high BTUs/ounce as any material. You need about that much parafin to provide enough BTUs to get wet wood burning. In summer you don't hardly need anything to get dry wood going, but wet wood is trickier.

Here is some dual use food for thought!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wuaeTUu-mY

I know it was a terrible pun but you can either eat Fritos on the trail or use them to help get your campfires started.

This second video is just kind of funny and informative in its own right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7noZ7gk8AI&feature=fvwrel

These two seem to have "appropriated" someone's lighter and the speaker seems to make sure that the "bored" participant "shares" equally in the "demonstration". ;-)

Here's a hint on how to carry them so that they don't take up too much space. Use a clean sterilized sewing needle or straight pin to pierce the bag. Make only one hole so that air can escape the bag. Use a rolling pin to crush all of the chips until the bag is flat. Go slow enough to allow the air to escape the bag. Use the tape of your choice to seal the hole that you made in the bag with the needle.

Now your bag of Fritos is flatter than a pancake and will take up hardly any space.

FWIW I understand Doritos and Cheetos work in this manner also.

Party On,

Newton

I use a firesteel and PJ cotton balls. Well, I usually use a bic but the firesteel is there if I need it.

A lighter or matches require much less prep to get a fire going. You can use a bundle of teeny tiny twigs or light up some curls/feathersticks really easily. It's also really hard to get pine resin lit with a firesteel.

With a firesteel, you need to make wood scrapings or very, very thin curls and fluffy tinders require some fluffing up. But the firesteel is always there for backup (usually around my neck) and to practice with.

I use good 'ole Coghlan's Emergency Tinder. Smoosh'em flat and tear them apart. They fuzz at the tear. Stand the piece up with the fuzz on top, one strike from a fire steel and done.

I'm liking the idea of Jute twine though! Dunk pieces in some paraffin and they'll probably work as good as birch bark (strips). Another great fire starter if people done know about it. If you find a downed birch tree, steal the bark off of it and make some strips.

Occasionally I'll use some home made char-cloth .

KJ

NORMAL CONDITIONS:
FireSteel and Vaseline coated cotton balls (INSTANT flame!)

WET TO VERY WET CONDITIONS:
Firesteel and 1/2 ESBIT tab surrounded by Vaseline coated cotton ball

Last year, the night before the last leg of our section hike, we slept here…

…and found one of these sitting in the corner of the shelter in its original unopened packaging!

The nearest road access is about one and three quarters of a mile away. It was probably left there by some "locally experienced" overnight camper. If memory serves me correctly, the front of that shelter faces North. ;-?

Look closely on the bottom right of the packaging and you'll notice that these things weigh 6 pounds! Definitely not part of an UL campfire starter "kit". ;-)

Party On,

Newton

I saw one of those Duraflames on top of East Zigzag Mt near Mt Hood. Someone hauled it up there but couldn't get it lit. Over a couple years it gradually disintegrated into sawdust.

All these sound terribly complicated to me. How about small chips of Esbit or, for greater elegance, a small birthday candle? Dual use with the latter of course, and available at the supermarket.

Cheers

You could use the trick candles that keep re-igniting until they have burned themselves completely out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGCMk5g9f04

Just have that cup of water ready. ;-)

Party On,

Newton

The lint from a tumble dryer goes up fairly sharpest, I learned that one from a work buddy who's house went up in smoke due a build up of it in the back of his dryer.

Anytime I use the dryer (just use it for towels and bedding) I put the lint to one side..

Stephen,

+1

I've got 2 ZipLocs full of dryer lint in my laundry room as a write this post.

Party On,

Newton

I like the simplicity of a birthday candle, but there's not a big enough wick, so not enough flame

And if you're trying to get wet wood to burn, it helps to have a little more wax so it burns long enough to get the wood burning

Thus, an egg carton with maybe 0.25 or 0.5 ounces of wax

It sure does the trick

Ultimate Survival WetFire™ Tinder. Weight per cube = 0.2 oz. No mess, no fuss, no problem. Pick them up in the store and put them in your pack. I used to make all kinds of fire starters and it was fun – but – this is too easy and it works better than anything I ever made. I always have a fire steel, matches and a lighter.

In the past I've used both the PJ soaked cotton balls and dryer lint but honestly I've found that I didn't really need either of these methods for most of my hikes and would often forget to bring it along or refill it.

9.5 times out of 10, I can just gather dry leaves, twigs, pine needles, etc and get them going with a match or two. If it has been raining or snowing, I spend a little more time scouting dry fuel from under fallen logs, rock overhangs, etc. Not a big deal imo.

If I really can't get a fire going with just natural materials, I'll use whatever is handy: a few drops of hand sanitizer works great. As does a few drops of denatured alcohol or some esbit flakes. Burn some of your (non-plastic) trash. Or a gauze pad out of the first aid kit or…

If I'm expecting wet conditions, I usually have some denatured alcohol or esbit along for a stove, so I can just skimp some of this for use as a firestarter. If conditions are dry, there's no shortage of fuel where I hike so no extra firestarters are needed.