Fire starters

[Rogue Trail]

My kids and I have enjoyed making our own fire starters.

Need the following:

3 tsp/5 ml wax (recommend one with a high melting point)
2oz/30 ml paper medicine cup
2oz/30 ml of pine shavings
Heat gun/blow dryer

Put a third of the wax in fist; followed by a third of the pine shavings. Repeat this twice until the cup is full. Once all cups are ready warm up the heat gun and melt the wax on the low speed (heat around 300F/150C). Set aside and let the wax harden before storing.

We found one works perfect and if the wood is wet we used three.

Links below:

Akosoy Natural Soy Wax, 3-Pound )

Solo 2.0 oz Treated Paper Souffle Portion Cups for Measuring, Medicine, Samples, Jello Shots (Pack of 250)
Living World Pine Shavings, 2500-Cubic Inch

 

[SOLVEFUNCTION]

Cool,

I have been doing this with old coffee grounds.

I also use egg cartons instead of the paper cups.

 

[Downs]

Been using dryer lint for a long time. Take some dryer lint pack it with a little Vaseline, put a bunch in an Altoids tin and call it done.

 

[reaver]

Used dryer lint, wax, and a egg crate when I was in scouts. Started a fire every time. I recently learned about using hand sanitizer (which almost all of us have these days) as well. Doritos work surprisingly well too.

The only time I really need a Firestarter is when I'm trying to light wet wood though. Which is rare in the desert.

 

[lhoffm4]

Great projects for kiddos, they love melting the wax with a heat gun (supervised of course)

 

[Loanrangie]

Used dryer lint, wax, and a egg crate when I was in scouts. Started a fire every time. I recently learned about using hand sanitizer (which almost all of us have these days) as well. Doritos work surprisingly well too.

The only time I really need a Firestarter is when I'm trying to light wet wood though. Which is rare in the desert.

Doritos was a surprise to me but then they are full of oil, i only use lighters with wet wood. Also use a rechargeable air bed pump as a bellows which helps get it going.

 

[genocache]

As a Scout we made tuna cans filled with rolled up cardboard strips and filled with wax to cook over. I make tinder out of cotton round pads soaked in wax, nowadays.
How I do it I wrote up in my blog; Fire Starter, home made wax pads

To provide a spark I bought a pricey Lightning Strike, Not seen a better designed survival striker. Lightning Strike Fire Starter - The world's best fire starter

 

[genocache]

$60

Yep, beats rubbing 2 sticks together!