A while ago I asked readers Do You Have 5 Ways to Make Fire? The article concentrated on fire starters; steel and flight, lighters, and a few less common systems. However, most of those will be useless for building a fire if you don’t have some tinder to put the flame to. Here are 5 great ideas for fire tinder, both natural and homemade.
1. Dryer Lint
Everybody can collect it for free, and even get it from the bottom of your pockets in a pinch. It’s light, compressible, and burns like crazy. Drawbacks are that it really must be dry and lint from some clothes (synthetics) does not burn well.
2. Cedar Shavings
Collect the stringy shavings from the bark of a cedar tree for the best (in my opinion) natural fire tinder. Rub it between your hands quickly to create a small fluff ball of shavings that will light quickly.
3. Cotton Ball and Vaseline
This might be the oldest survivalist trick in the book. Coat some cotton balls in Vaseline and store them in a container in your Bug Out Bag. Vaseline (petroleum jelly) is flammable and this set up will burn great for longer than you would expect.
4. Cattails
Obviously these won’t be available in all areas, but when you can find them the light feathery material inside cattails is like burning paper or cotton. Quick and easy.
5. Birch Bark Shaving
Like cedar, just shave some bark off of a birch tree. The cedar shavings are like stringy wood, whereas birch shavings are basically nature’s paper. Thin, light, and easy to burn. Also very easy to peel off the tree.
Two great products to keep in your Bug Out Bag are “WetFire” and “Fire Paste“. I have tested both of these products and they are ideal for starting fires in any condition.
What do you use?
I know these are just the tip of the iceberg for survival fire tender. What other natural or homemade fire tinders do you like to use?
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Matt,
Thanks for the comment, that's a really good idea. I'm going to try that soon.
I assume you use paraffin wax? I can see how that would make a great weather coating against wind and water.
I would think most people have a newer fire steel these days instead of flint and steel anyway.
can you write somthing about were u should put your fire so that it lasts over night/how to make a fire last all night?(for saftey and protection agianst any animal who wants to snack on an easy pray)
Drier lint soaked in melted wax and rolled up into crude little sticks somewhere between the size of a birthday cake candle and a cigarette works well. It doesn't matter how ugly they are, neatness doesn't much count. Keep them in a ziplock along with some fully wax-coated strike-anywhere matches if you can. I don't know if these firestarters will ignite from a traditional flint and steel, but I know they will from the spark of a modern metallic composition one. These have never failed me in rapidly starting a fire under any conditions – and they're light, small and cheap.
I use paraffin and dryer lint. I put the paraffin in a Pyrex cup and set the cup on one of those candle warmers. It gets hot enough to melt the wax, but I don’t have to worry as much about a fire.
Non-applicator tampons.
A block of magnesium is a great thing to have. It can be shaved with a knife into extremely flammable slivers. Burns very hot. Many come with a fie starter rod on one side. Most hard wood barks if dry can be shaved up for tinder as well.
Zschell,
That's a good idea on the magnesium block. I mentioned fire starter rods on my other fire starting article.
I especially like the magnesium because it will not be affected by water at all.
When I was first figuring out how to strike the ferrocerium rod thats mounted on the magnesium block, I could not get any sparks with any type of striker. Finally, in desperation I hit the block full on with a hatchet. The result was lots of sparks, a chipped blade, and a broken ferro rod.
Long story short, I now use the broken block for tinder, and a new rod for sparking,which by the way I have become quite proficient at fire starting with "Flint n' Steel".
that is a good thing my friend one thing you might want to try is making a fuzz stick and shaving you magnesium into the stick it works wonders and another thing to try is lighting a trioxcine or hexamine tablet with your strikers. just a hint when you make a fuzz stick do it out of cedar or use a pine cone that has laid on the ground for a while they are good.
A block of magnesium is a great thing to have. It can be shaved with a knife into extremely flammable slivers. Burns very hot. Many come with a fie starter rod on one side. Most hard wood barks if dry can be shaved up for tinder as well.
Jon,
I don't guess I've ever burned a ping pong ball because I've never seen that. (Have put one in the microwave though, and they get HUGE)
I'd be real careful about staying away from that smoke because burning plastic is definitely not something you want to be breathing.
Cool idea though.
+1 on char cloth.
Out in the west ( Utah and Colorado) I use juniper bark, very easy to make a nest, and set a bow drill fire ember in it and blow it up. I have done this in high winds and 2 feet of snow.
Peter,
That's a good one I've never tried. If it is as impervious to the weather as you say then I will definitely have to try this out soon.
Something that weather proof and naturally available can be a great tool.
Great site you have here! I use sawdust and paraffin wax. Cover a cookie sheet with sawdust and pour melted wax into the pan thoroughly coating the sawdust. Cool in the fridge and then cut into 1 or 2 inch squares. S-Fold a dozen squares (keeps them from sticking together) using aluminum foil or Saran wrap and put in your kit. They burn long and hot and will easily ignite larger tinder.
that is close to a thing my father makes with wood pellets. a paper cup and old candle wax they work great for starting our woodstove so why not for a camp fire i will have to see how well that works.
mstrblstr,
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy the site!
Your saw dust/wax is similar to the dryer lint/wax mentioned above, and it sounds like a good one.
When you mentioned rolling it up in foil or wrap I thought perhaps stacking them like you mentioned but putting them down in empty film containers would work also, with no chance of getting wet.
(Though those are getting harder and harder to find in t his digital age)
I've used pine pitch and pine shavings formed into nuggets, also If your first aid kit has petroleum gauze dressings, they work great for fire starters (like the cotton balls/ Vaseline) but if you cut a small "X" in to one of the flat sides and pull a CM or so of the dressing through the x, light it, it will burn for about 30 min as a nice flat, pack friendly candle. (Thank You SgtMaj Ed F for the candle trick!!!)
Pat,
Thanks for the tip, that's definitely one I have never heard before: The First Aid Kit Candle. Very cool.
How does it do in weather? Wet?
http://www.survival-spot.com/survival-blog/making…?
Steel wool. I’ve caught it on fire accidentally in my shop with grinding sparks. You can put it out.
I meant to say “you can’t put it out…” Sorry
Good call on the steel wool Brian, I actually mentioned steel wool and a 9V battery in my other fire article 5 Ways to Make Fire
http://survivalcache.com/survival-fire-starters/
It's one of my favorites because it is absolutely instant. Batteries are subject to cold weather though.
I read your blog about batteries after posting. Great minds, right?
If you don’t have a 9 volt battery on hand or its dead you can use your jumper cables and car battery to start a spark.
on the dryer lint- in scouts we put the lint in the bottom sections of a carboard container eggs come in, filled with parafin, and then cut them up into a dozen fire starters. slightly bulkier than the stick method
Till, cool idea. I think I've seen this before. Nice because you can set the egg carton piece on the ground and not have to worry about wet.
Ever light a Frito Scoop? Pretty incredible really……and they're tasty. Guess any Frito would work.
R & D,
Can't say that I have, but if it burns, it burns.
I don't know if it would work wet though.
hi there just joined up. stumbled accross this site a couple days ago and couldnt stay away haha. another method that doesnt realy have any advantages over the other methods talked about but is still worth a mention is potassium permanganate and glycerin. it burns pretty hot and you dont realy need much. i keep mine in a contact lense case the potassium permanganate in one side and the glycerin in the other for when i dont feel like useing matches.
Yeah! I second that. Was having a tough time getting a fire going one wet morning, and yes, turned to the tortilla chip method. Works really well.
Fritos work great, any type of chip that was cooked in oil will work. So grab a bag of chips before your next outing and you’ll have something to eat as well as a way to get your fire going.
most snack foods and dry cereals will burn very vigorously. all the grease. don't forget your cotton pocket linings in your pants and all the other extra bits of fabric in your clothes in a survival situation.
On top of all those, I take some old 12 gauge shells and 16guage shells and put in the 16 shell a mix of sawdust and turpentine. Then I insert the 16 shell in the 12guage shell. It keeps it from being exposed to any sparks and or being contaminated. But a small pinch of that will burn for a long while; very bright at that.
Steel wool and a 9volt battery. Rub the battery across the steel wool and presto! Fire.
Also, I just wrap cotton twine around newsprint and cover with wix. Pretty easy.
Hand sanitizer like germ-x will burn for a long time.
I took a Hunter Training course in Alberta as a young man. Essential to the course was the three minute fire. Since the course was out in the woods west of Calgary and it was December, we all learned this skill relatively quickly. On our first morning the course leaders took us out and back about five miles. After they demonstrated good technique for getting a self-sustaining flame going, we hiked back, stopping every 20 minutes or so to put it into practice. At first, smokers in the group had the advantage with their lighters…but by the end of the day, we were all lighting anything that would burn: pocket lint, witch's hair moss, dead Scotch Broom, Spruce twigs, bark chips, dead grass or whatever came closest to hand…
When I was a kid we picked the dried clumps of pine tree sap that seem to collect on most pine trees and even if it looks dry and crumbly it burns fantastic! Pine cones covered with gooey pine sap are damn-near incendiary bombs!
The easiest and most compact that I have found,is my home made "fire paper". I hit-up the lady at the department store perfume counter for those little sample cards (the ones they spray the perfume on to give you a whiff). Its thickness is somewhere between writing paper and thin cardboard it seems to be a cotton card stock… anyway… its fibrous and decently absorbent. I usually cut the paper about 2.5"x3.5" so they fit in my altoid tin as well my pack. I melt candle wax in a double boiler, toss em in, then hang them to dry. I seal them in a small hobby-type zip-lock. I can usually fit 5 sheets in the lid of my tin. Each sheet can be torn into 3-5 tinder pieces. Smaller in a windless situation. They are super compact, ultra light, fit anywhere, very water resistant, take a spark well, and burn slow enough to be very useful. You can literally fit a couple hundred worth of single tinders in a single altoid tin. If anyone knows of a better paper, please post!
It seems the "fire paper" is now somewhat commercially produced. Not sure who came up with the idea first. In all honesty, the commercial one probably got the drop on me, considering the time it takes to patent and produce something these days. You can see them here if you care to look. http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com/shop/survival-a…
My addition to tinder…….. Its great to know a million ways to start a fire in an emergency. Personally, I find it funny to see die-hard campers/survivalists INTENTIONALLY not take a lighter out in the field or worse… spend $40+ on a super-duper-mega-amazing-lighter/torch/welder "thingamabob" (that eventually gets lost or they don't know how to refill). LETS BE REALISTS the common 99 cent cigarette lighter is super easy. Instead of buying $40 specialty lighters, here is my favorite little do-it-yourself 2 minute upgrade. Take a cheap-o lighter that you can buy at any convenience store counter. (I prefer the see-through kind, so I keep an eye on the fluid level). Take a 3 or 4 inch piece of scrap paracord, make a "U" on the lighter with the cord, leaving enough hanging off the bottom to form a loop. and wrap the sides of the lighter/paracord with a 1 inch wide piece of duct/gorilla tape. Hang it on a carabiner, dog-chain, or wherever you like. I keep several of these just hanging around on the camping bag, B.O.B., workbench. Don't get me wrong. I still keep my emergency fire-skills sharp. but I can make WAY more fires with $7 worth of lighters than I can a $7 mag/ferro bar or $20 blastmatch. The basic fact is a 3 second burn to light your tinder is by far more energy/cost efficient than alternatives. Feel free to critique.
Another ingenious item for tender………DON'T LAUGH……… Tampons! Wipe the shocked look off your face and quit with the giggles. I'm not talking about the ones that look like Wrapped cigars. I mean the compressed NON-applicator "bullet" ones. O.B. brand, I think. There is easily 6-10 cotton balls worth of tinder compressed to the size of a 9mm round, and they are individually plastic wrapped to keep em dry. Just pick off what you need. You can fit several in a tiny container and have tinder for months! I've even tossed a few in the first aid kit (deep cuts, bullet holes, puncture wounds?)
Been thinking of trying to make a fat/oil candle out of one.
A buddy uses the unscented ones with buck-lure when hunting….. ties em to a limb with the string.
The test of a fearless man………… buying tampons!
Any other ideas for them, other than the intended use?????
They also come in handy when your camping buddy starts whining and complaining…… hand him one. He will get the point!
Ok, let the jokes begin…………………..
Tampons work great for your med kit too. They stop the bleeding thats what they're designed for. Doc carried them in Iraq for bullet/shrapnel wounds. One guy broke his nose and doc shoved a couple up his nostrils. (I must say he took quite a hazing with those little strings hanging down to his chin
Here's a few Ideas I've used in my eighteenth century trekking – raveled jute rope and old bird nests.
A more modern idea is a stake of cotton pads (the ones women use to remove make-up) placed in a Ziplock bag and soaked with lighter fluid. Not a lot but enough to absorb into each pad. They light quick and burn slow enough to get a fire started.
When cutting wood for winter or working in the wood shop keep the saw dust (as long as it isn’t chemically treated wood) place it in a mason jar with some kerosene and mix well. The mix should only be slightly damp to the touch. The fire dust can be kept in a large shoe polish tin for portability when on the go.
Its funny,but on the real iam a hairy person so thats like a blessing and ill keep growing it every 2-3 days.just something a person might not think about when his/her mind is racing and nervous as shit.Dam,too bad iam bald up top.lol
I can bring to mind at least nine ways to make a fire using primitive means, however Mr. Tom Brown stated in a Youtube pic. stated that there is actually 26 ways if I remember right. So I've got some work to do yet. By the way, one of those ways uses ice.
The best ideas that I have seen on Youtube is cotton balls soaked in either Vaseline or wax. They catch quickly and burn for a long time from what i saw. One that I have used for a long time is a piece of pure cotton rope, small diameter, threaded through a cheap tin cylinder. You have to burn the end sticking through the tin cylinder when you make it up but after that it will catch and hold a spark quickly. The man who showed me this used flint and steel to light everything, even his cigarettes with this method.
For fire tender I like to use alcohol swabs. They are very thin, don't take up any room even if you carry 100 of them. One will burn hot for some time, Place one of these under your twigs, light it and the fire is born.
Buy a few cheap bars of soap, but them into this strips,
Fill a one gallon ziplock bag about half way with gasoline.. put the soap in gas (use less gas for less soap.)
Shake it up, squeez it, get it all mixed up good.. throw in the fridge over night, should harden up nice and good.
Take it out of the bag, cut into chunks, balls, sticks, whatever you want.
Will burn damn hot, and long.
Stinks like gas though. So best to put into another ziplock bag.
All five are great sources of tinder and I can certainly attest to cat tails. As a small child, I started an unwanted fire by making a pile of cattail fuzz then sparking it with cap gun caps. They really work well (although it wasn't my intent to be an arsonist!) A personal favorite which someone mentioned before is pine sap. Look towards the base of pine trees and you will find the occassional lump of sticky, yellowish sap. It is an incindiery substance and worth throwing in a baggy for future use. Simply carve off a small, half inch diameter dollop and touch a flame to it.
Michael
If you are going to take the time to prepare there are a million and one ways to pre-make a "fire starter". The key to everything is absolutely preparation. So prepare for the worst. Lots of fire starters are great, light weight and cheap. A great one to make on your own is one even taught to Boy Scouts. Take a section of News paper and tightly roll it up. Total is about 6 to 10 pages thick and about tow to 2 1/2 feet long. Once tightly rolled, tie it into equal sections with a thick cotton string (I use about 2" sections). Then with a small saw (like a coping saw) cut mid way between each string. Next take each section and dip it in parafin. Then dry, you have a water proof candle-like fire starter that is compact, light and long lasting and a lot of them with very little effort.
Toilet paper and a squirt of bug juice, cooking oil or fat.. MRE peanut butter usually separates. The peanut oil burns for a long time. The old C- rations used to have tiny tins of peanut butter… Drop in a Trioxane tab and it’ll burn 3 to 4 times longer than the Trioxane alone. In jungle or wet environments standing dead wood sometimes is dry on the inside. Cut through the bark to find if the inside is dry cut into thin shavings and scrape some into dust to catch a spark. In the tropics dry coconut husk or the mesh-like material up towards the palm fronds. Cotton wadding from pill bottles, pillows, furniture, sleeping bags, life jackets, dry mop heads. Polyester fuzzy stuff can be scraped with the side of a knife and create your own lint. Easiest for me is a bic and a tea candle.
I cheat and keep store bought duraflame logs and matches in my vehicle. It's fun to challenge yourself and practice the more primitive fire building skills, I keep old pill bottles with vaseline soaked cottonballs in all of my packs so I can practice them skills from time to time, they've always worked well for me when I haven't already collected something along the trail. but fire is so critical for survival that you should never take chances and risk not having the ability to build a fire quickly with minimal effort. there might come a time when you need a fire NOW, maybe to signal help, keep away predators or get warm. I mean, what if you're injured, ill or hypothermic? this is not the time to be foraging for tinder and rubbing sticks together. I feel like if I can't produce a decent fire in a matter of a couple minutes then I'm vulnerable.
I cheat and keep store bought duraflame logs and matches in my vehicle. It's fun to challenge yourself and practice the more primitive fire building skills, I keep old pill bottles with vaseline soaked cottonballs in all of my packs so I can practice them skills from time to time, they've always worked well for me when I haven't already collected something along the trail. but fire is so critical for survival that you should never take chances and risk not having the ability to build a fire quickly with minimal effort. there might come a time when you need a fire NOW, maybe to signal help, keep away predators or get warm. I mean, what if you're injured, ill or hypothermic? this is not the time to be foraging for tinder and rubbing sticks together. I feel like if I can't produce a decent fire in a matter of a couple minutes then I'm vulnerable.
Just to add to the lint or sawdust and wax suggestion, take the melted combination and use an egg carton to mold them. Then you can break of individual "eggs" and the carton burns as well.
I used to use the Egg-Carton to make fire starters until my area switched to Foam Egg Cartons. Now, whenever I eat at a fast food burger joint, I abscond with several of their little Ketchup Cups that they provide beside the large Ketchup Pump. They are waxed already, so you just need to pop any decent waxed/oiled/dry kindling inside and fold the tops over onto itself.
Carrying powedered kindling in them or in a tin etc is problematic because the poweder can easily blow away in a breeze. I believe firestarters must be waterproof, AND stay put where you lay them as opposed to paper, or dust which may leave you in a bad way.
New to the site and to prepping. I have a question on the cottonball and vaseline. Do you just coat the outside of the cottonball? or do you pull in apart to coat entirely? Love the site.
My technique for making the vaseline cotton ball mix is this:
1) put on a latex glove (optional)
2) put approx 1 tablespoon worth of vaseline in the palm
3) add 5 cotton balls.
4) work em together for a minute or so using the fingers to really mix it in there together.
5) store in an airtight container.
Don’t worry about using too much vaseline, more is better, and some is always better than none.
Rifle or pistol rounds. Take the powder out and us a match on it, or you can take about 3/4 of the powder out and put it in a pile. From there you turn the rest of the shell into a blank, you then shoot the blank at close range at the powder pile. This will most likely blow your kindling to hell, but if your lucky you will have a small amount of burning kindling to start a bigger fire.
For a survival setting and simple weight cost, I use .22's. They're small, self contained, and if you've got a .22 firearm, it's ammo. Pull the lead load and use the powder to ignite. If you have to use the remaining blank to ignite tinder, (from experience) you're probably only going to scatter it. You need to make a cup/cave to catch the blast and tinder. I've had luck w/ shooting into an empty can/plastic jar. Make sure you've got good tinder though, as this will also blow stuff around. Best luck I've had using this method was shooting into an old bird's nest. The blank roundlit it up great. Here's what doesn't work–don't try to stuff the end of the empty round w/ firestarting material. It'll just go out.
I read recently that one survivalist uses the trick birthday candles as a fire starter. if its hard to blow them out maybe the wind wont either! its worth a try!
I stripped the used gun cleaning patches i have for some reason held onto. they are soaked in break free and covered in residue. they burn long and catch well.
last time out i used the powder from a shotgun shell and a striker to light a wet fire
There is a metal cleaning product called Nevr-Dull . It works fantastic for its intended purpose , its basically a can full of solvent soaked gauze . Just pinch off a bit of gauze and go to town . Its also EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE . A good spark will set a piece of its gauze on fire easily . I packed some in a film canister and put the canister in a zip lock , works great for tender . You can get this stuff at a decent grocery store or an auto supply place . This is kind of a variation of the Vaseline and cotton balls but works better .
Been hearing a lot about pine shavings and pine sap, but I find that pine needles burn even when wet. I don't mean that they'll light right after you pull them out of a lake but you can pull them right off the tree and get a good burn. Collect some the day before and store them in a bag (or any dry place like the bottom of you bug out bag) and they'll burn like a match to gasoline the next day. – MA3RobbyJ
Fatwood, Shoe Goo, 550 cord, silnylon or bits of rubber will all burn very well, as well as wax soaked anything (paper cups, cardboard, cotton, wood chips…etc.)
I made a couple candle-like things that I put in my car, B.O.B., and everyday carry kit.
Its very simple. Take a half sized paper towel (or you can tear one smaller)and twist it tightly. Dip in wax, let dry, and voila! (you might want to pinch it a bit while the wax is drying so it stays tight)
I didnt want to mess up any pans, so I just lit a candle, waited for the wax to melt, and then rolled the paper towel around in the wax till it was covered. If you are having issues with the towel catching on fire, just blow out the candle and work fast!
This idea is very similer to the comment at the top of the page, posted by matt
This is an awesome sight. I have seen some really good comments, too.
thank you scott (and others)!
i use a drop or two of hand sanitizer(alcohol based) on a cotton ball. it flames up burns hot and gets the fire going. i use a magnesium block with the steel and a piece of hacksaw blade to get it going. werks well and always burns.. hand sanitizer is a must have item ..
I take a jar of bacon grease with me into the wild. You can cook with it, eat it straight in an emergency, and mixed with dryer lint will burn a long time. And it is free.
my personal opinion is the potrolem jelly balls and they work great in any condion
The sawdust wax in cardboard egg carton is trident and true. Have to watch the chemical that are flammable that you use to start your fire: some are extremly toxic. As long as care is taken regarding breathing fumes. In an emergency you might not think that toxic chemical poisoning is an issue but if you impair your lung function enough you have ended your self rescue right there by that fire and end up dead anyways! Granted that most of the contents of your BOB, EDC and GHB aren’t going to be overly toxic but some of the scrounged materials are questionable and care should be taken.
Great advice/ideas!!
There are a thousand ways to make fire, but anyone who has a survival kit that doesn't have several lighters in it is asking for trouble. I can sit there with a flint and a piece of steel and some homemade charcloth and have a great time making it happen, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. All that is just in case I'm ever in a situation where I don't have a lighter on me, which if I have a choice, is never. As for tinder, a few lengths of natural rope will unravel to give you plenty of material to start several fires.
This last winter I was experimenting with different fire tenders when I came up with the idea to take one of my wife's UNUSED tampons and soaked it in canned inferno. It took one strike with my fire steel and instant flame that lasted a long time. So I cut up the remainder and packed it into a waterproof match case. A couple of months later I went kayaking. When we stopped for a break we decided to start a fire. So I used my little experiment. It didn't work. I even tried a lighter on it and it wouldn't light. So next time I am going to make it the night before and try it again. If it works, lesson learned. Just thought I would share.
i soak pine cones in kerosene for 48 hours and dip them in melted parrifin wax to make an awesome fire starter,,,thanks, and good hunting
One of the best tinders I have come across is cut up pieces of jute twine coated in paraffin wax. It burn real slow, giving you enough time to start a good fire. I simply cut the twine into 12" pieces and dip it into heated paraffin wax on the stove. I haven't water-tested this, so I'm not sure how waterproof this option is.
There’s a lot of great tips on starting fires but about taking the fire with you when you move camp? I thought I read somewhere that indians would pack up there coals and could move for days before setting up camp again. They would pack the coals in leather satchels or clay pots, has anyone heard of this? It could minimize the amount of time spent starting fires and would extend you fire starter.
try a tampon and lip balm, both come in a waterproof/ resistant plastic packaging and the cotton on the tampon will catch quite nicely on it's own..
The cheapest way I have found to start a good fire quickly is a couple of "Sparklers" and a coke (or in my case a beer can). I have done this about 12 times in the last few years while camping. I use a cheap serrated knife to cut the beer can in half and poke a few of holes (4) in the bottom. I bend a sparkler until the magnesium comes off the stick and put it in the bottom of the can. I place the can in the center of my "fire pit" and place small "twigs on top of and in the can. I place the second sparkler in one of the holes and light the end with a simple bic. Magnesium burns so hot that even if the twigs are slightly damp they will burn, instant fire and entertainment for the kiddies. Not a good idea if you are trying to stay incogneto mosquito, but if a fire is all you are looking for it costs a total of about $1 to have enough fuel to start 50 fires, also the sparklers are very easy to carry and offer several other uses in a survival situation (magnesium when compressed explodes very violently.
Duck tape works great. Scrape some magnesium on it and it will burn hot and bright enough to light stubborn, wet fuels. I always carry about 10' folded in my wallet and a mag bar on my belt in a multi pouch from home depot
1. One of my all time favorites: shave your pants. Though denim works best, any cotton pant will work. Just take out your knife and shave a small patch of your clothed leg a few dozen times. You'll get a nice little pile of cotton fluff that burns up real good. I know jeans aren't the preferred choice for preppers but they provide a great fire starter that you can wear everywhere you go.
2. Waxy newspaper sushi! Tear up newspaper lengthwise in 1.5-inch strips. Roll into a really tight little log and tie with a long piece of twine. Submerge into melted wax and let sit for a minute or two–until everything in the roll is soaked. Pull out and let cool off. Make up a dozen or more for your BOB, the cars, the fireplace, etc. Then when the SHTF, you can unroll/break these apart and use as much as you need to help build the basis for your fire. Easy to make, fully waterproof, and a lot cheaper than the store.
i carryfatlighter the heart of the pine tree stump that is saturated in pitch
Try cotton balls soaked in PURELL instead of vasoline. Better burn time, burns hotter and you get the added bonus of the purell.
In my small "Go-Bag", (5.11 Moab 6) I have the following;
1) 25 lifeboat matches in a waterproof container w/2 cotton balls.
2) Pencil shavings in a Copenhagen can.
3) Dryer lint in a Copenhagen can.
4) 1 BIC lighter.
5) 1 fero rod.
It may seem a bit over-the-top, but I'm prepared. lol
sawdust is extremely flamable you don't need to add anything to it just keep it dry. I keep a ziplock bag of sawdust and 1 of dryer lint in my BOB. I am going to add the cotton balls w/ vaseline to it also. Great article lots of good info in he comments as well.
I truly appreciate this article post.Really looking forward to read more. Much obliged.
I have used sawdust from woodworking projects and paraffin or used candle wax to make fire starters for a long time. Fairly light and obviously waterproof they are great for camping trips or fireplaces in the winter. I find an old icecube tray works well to pour the mix into.
I LOVE that idea. Takes it to the next entire level….. I see a project on the horizon.
So sweet! I love it. Great ideas. Thanks Kevin
They can be used for cleaning out a shotgun barrel :>) and can be used to separate the toes whilst painting them…;-)
Pack a three ounce paper cup with lint and then pour in the wax, gets even wet wood burning.
Thanks for the shotgun cleaning tip Don. Due to the economy, I have had to adjust my budget. I have opted to no longer purchase toenail polish. It is a luxury that, as a woodsman, I will no longer be able to enjoy. Instead I have learned that if I abstain from washing my feet, my toenails take on a natural greenish-brown hue. This seems to match my late fall color wheel of OD green, tan, brown, and ACU camo. As always, I appreciate your tips on all matters of forest fashion! Don't forget…. ACU camo is the new black!
Thanks for the ingenious tip Bossalini. I decided to try the "hairy fire-starter" tip. It worked very well. I was able to light smaller twigs using this technique, which in turn allowed me to build upon it until I had a nice fire. I too am bald up top which leaves fewer options when utilizing this method. One very important aspect of this technique, which I believe you mistakenly left out was REMOVE THE HAIR FIRST. I'm writing this from my hospital bed. Must go for now, the nurse just walked in to apply the burn cream to my testicles. Too bad she looks like Herman Munster!
+2 on char cloth
Try cutting bicyle innertubes into one inch squares. They are light weight and water proof.
Try cutting rubber tubing into one inch squares. they are lightweight and compact
A good idea, they work really well, however if you have a woman around you might want to save those. Also they would be excellent for barter if everything really goes to hell.
Hey I had one of those shoved up my nose after taking a fairly good shot. They stop the bleeding fairly quickly just make sure the person doesn't lay on their back if they are in anyway unconsious or in trouble of becoming unconsious. They may actually choke on their own blodd as it backs up down their throat. I keep some in my own field med kit for pretty much the same purpose.
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