Building the worlds best Firestarter

So, you head out to your favorite camp spot, in the rain and it's cold and you want a fire. You light a match but it just goes out. You throw some gas on but it blows up in your face and leaves you looking like a cancer victim for a month. A road flare sometimes works but you will lose all your night vision and stumble over your pile of firewood and crack your skull on a rock...

So what is the solution? Build your own firestarters.

The list of items you will need is short and cheap. An egg crate, some wax (candles work well) and some dryer lint.

First things first. Take your egg crate and put it on some tinfoil (men, don't forget this step or you WILL be sleeping in the back yard, next to the nice warm fire you built using your new firestarters)

Sorry for the poor cell phone photos. It's a firestarter...I really didn't think they were worthy of bringing the big guns out for.
Take your dryer lint and place a generous amount in each egg hole. Try to compress it. The more you get in each hole, the longer it will burn.


Next step. Using an old pan or pot (men, again...NOT your wife's brand new expensive non-stick boutique frying pan) put your wax in. If you don't have anything lying around, go to your local big box store and buy a regular old non-scented candle. This will be the most expensive part of the project, unless you cook the wax too hot and set your house on fire.


Cook it on LOW to Med Low heat. Be patient. Let it melt slowly.


Make sure, if you are using a candle that you pull the wick out while its melting.


After the wax is completely liquid, carefully pour it over your lint filled egg crate.


Try to completely cover each egg hole full of lint with wax. The more wax the better. When you are done it should look like this...


Then let it dry and harden. If it's a cold and rainy day like it has been here, take it outside and set it on the cold concrete of your garage. It will cure faster. Once its cooled enough to handle, take a knife and cut them into individual pieces.


Then you can store them in ziplock bags or whatever else you want. It only takes one or two to get a decent fire going...wet or dry. Here is a small video of using one in my wood stove.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siG_9bIjl2A

I'm sure a lot of you have used these but for those who haven't...I hope this is something that will work for you.

You have way too much time on your hands. I want some!!!!!

That's actually pretty creative doc. Looks like it should work pretty good.

But I'm lazy so I'm gonna stick with my poor weather trick of newspaper, gas and tossing a match or using my lighter. Hasn't let me down in any weather yet

jmaxj said:

That's actually pretty creative doc. Looks like it should work pretty good.

But I'm lazy so I'm gonna stick with my poor weather trick of newspaper, gas and tossing a match or using my lighter. Hasn't let me down in any weather yet

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These actually will work better than gas. If your wood is really wet gas will ignite but burn away before the wood gets dry enough to burn. These little suckers will burn as hot as gas (but in a more localized area) and dry the wood out enough to burn. The only thing I've found that works better is a flare but I like to be able to see.

I already set some lint aside. going to have to save the egg carton as well. thanks for sharing

I use cotton balls saturated with vaseline. They will burn even when wet and can be started with a striker.

Very cool Ryan, thanks for taking the time and sharing.

I'll have to give that a try, store it away for a rainy day.

Awesome, never would have thought of something like that.

You guys should have a thread of the month or something in here on random camping/adventure/survival tips or tricks that you guys have picked up.

I haven't done much of my own so I wouldn't be able to contribute much but I think it would be cool.

Will belly button lint work as well? I've got a few jars of it that I'd love to put to use.

GSequoia said:

Will belly button lint work as well? I've got a few jars of it that I'd love to put to use.

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Is it much different than dryer lint?

DrMoab said:

Is it much different than dryer lint?

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It smells different.

GSequoia said:

It smells different.

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but coming from you it's still probably highly flammable.


but most likely highly toxic too :laugh3:

We use something similar for our fireplace insert when starting fires. Instructions say no paper.

Sawdust smothered in candle wax, and pine cones smothered in candle wax work really well. So far, the pine cones bring teh win.

Scott

Used to do this in Boy Scouts :thumbup:

asp said:

Used to do this in Boy Scouts :thumbup:

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x2 they work minty. we would put strike anywhere matches in them too so theyre an all-in-one tool.

I like the pine cone idea. I have a yard full of those.

build some.

We will have a fire starter flare off this coming weekend to see what gets going the best.

old_man said:

I use cotton balls saturated with vaseline. They will burn even when wet and can be started with a striker.

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I have used this before with flint to show off.

You can also use egg cartons to put the lint/wax in. Here on the east coast, fuel is never a problem and I have found as long as I build a good structure, I have no problems starting any fire. Using lighter fluid or gas usually fails.

I used to build the lean-to, now I have switched to the log cabin.

Cnickgo said:

Using lighter fluid or gas usually fails.

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Agreed, on many levels.

Cnickgo said:

I used to build the lean-to, now I have switched to the log cabin.

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Cabin FTW!

I have been using / making these for over 3 years now, they have never failed to start a fire regardless of wood conditions.

I learned about them from a RV trip we did across the country.

Each ball usually burns for about 15 - 20 min for me.