For lack of a better term, I keep "fire pills" in my fire tin. They are simple, yet very effective home made starters, more on these in a second. I also keep some char cloth, and small, shaveable pieces of fatwood,Along with a 3/8" blank from the big firesteel website and a striker.
The "fire pills" consist of a cotton ball, gardening (think small) diameter jute twine and wax. The wax I "borrow" from my wife.
it is actually just the un-burned wax from her scented candles that have burned the wick out. How about an "instructable", and the scouts can play along?
1. Source wax, and gradually heat in a glass container, that is lightly boiling, inside of another pot. Hint, the hotter the wax, the thinner the consistency, which allows the wax to permeate more of the cotton ball.
2. Roll cotton balls into short, thin rolls and secure in place with the jute twine. Hint, leave a little length after tying so that you have something to hold on to when submersing in wax.
3. Dip cotton balls and place on wax paper to dry. You can "apply" more than one coat of wax to ensure that your cotton remains impermeable by water.
4. Trim excess jute short and, using tongs, dip the area with the trimmed jute to further reduce the chance that the twine can wick water into the cotton.
5. Place in tin and... Always be prepared!
To use, simply cut in the "fire pill", making sure that you are through the wax and into the cotton, expand the cavity you created, fluff the cotton inside, and apply ignition source. Depending on how well saturated your cotton ball was, I have had these burn, we'll in excess, of 5 minutes! You can strike on a piece of bark, and instert directly under a slightly damp twig bundle, and have a cozy fire in no time, with little prep. Really doesn't take much more time to make than char cloth and is greatly superior IMHO.
Good luck and have fun!
DD
