Cotton Balls.........

[cramsey3006]

Today's my day off and I've been playing around with burning cotton balls. I'm curious as to if anyone has tried cotton balls dipped in paraffin wax? I made some today and I think I've found my new tinder.

I got the idea of Cody Lundin's book "98.6 degrees". He talks about fire starting with several methods. Of course, one is PJ on cotton balls. Then he tells about different matches and said that he dips strike-anywhere matches in paraffin wax to help weatherproof them and make them burn longer.

We all know that PJCB work pretty good, but I hate the mess they make, personally. Sticky, messy, blah.

The thought struck me: "Why not cotton balls dipped in paraffin?"

I decided to fire up the old Lee pot (since it was empty) and melt some wax. After it was ready, I just grabbed a cotton ball with the tip of my pliers and dunked it in the wax. I didn't let it soak, I just dipped it like you'd dip a chip in dip (how's that for a tongue twister? lol).

Then I dropped it on a piece of cardboard and let it dry. I guess that I made about 30 of them. I did experiment a bit, I let one ball just soak in the wax until it was full, and then I took another ball and used it to mop up the little bit of wax left in the pot. It really just had a light coating on the outside of the ball, and it wasn't completely coated.

Then I did a little comparison burn in my mini charcoal grill. It was just bare, clean metal, no charcoal, etc. I used a BIC lighter to light everything. It has been a pretty breezy day too.

An uncoated ball lasted for less than 30 seconds.

I took a cotton ball that I rubbed with PJ and burned it. I probably had a little too much PJ on it, as it took a bit to get it to light. After it lit, I got just under 4 minutes burn time.

Next was the totally filled wax ball. It was so full of wax that I couldn't tear it open with my fingers. So I mashed it flat and picked at an edge to light it. It lit after a second or two and that thing burned for almost 6 minutes.

The lightly coated ball lit extremely easily and burned for 4 minutes. The un-waxed part burned very fast, but when it hit the waxy area, it slowed down to a nice controlled burn rate. I don't think that this one would be very weatherproof, with so much untreated area on it.

The ball with a complete coating and a little saturation lit easily and burned for almost 5 minutes. This should be pretty weatherproof with the completely coated outside.

All of the treated cotton balls (PJ and wax) had a great flame and good burn rate, even with the being pretty breezy.

The wax balls are a little more labor intensive than the PJ, but I totally feel that the advantages out weight the additional labor. You've got to melt the wax, dip the balls, and then let them dry. In use, there's no mess, no sticky fingers or containers, and the coating is less affected by heat than the PJ is. To me, they are easier to light and they also burn longer.

I guess that it took me around 45 minutes or so to do 30 balls, but the majority of that time was waiting for wax to melt. I kept the temp down on the LEE pot to prevent any flash-ups from the wax catching fire. I probably could have turned the temp up, but I wasn't in any hurry.

 

[Hawkings]

I've been doing those for a while now, they work pretty good. They do burn a bit longer then PJ-balls.
How ever I find that they are more vulnerable to wind blowing them out at the beginning.
But then you don't get sticky fingers with them

 

[Moosez45]

I actually use the soaked ones in my wood burning stove during the winter. I use the coated ones for camping and such. I like to use clean unscented tealight candle, pop em in the stove to melt em, then just put 1 cotton ball in the little tin holder and bam, instant wood starter. You do need a lighter to get the soaked ones going, but they burn clean and long. Moose

 

[bulgron]

On the the other hand, PJ cotton balls mean that you have some PJ along for use on burns, etc.

Just sayin'.

But I have been thinking about playing around with paraffin cotton balls for a while now. Thanks for the writeup.

 

[Woods Walker]

I need to pull the cottonball/PJ combo apart some for it to catch a spark or flame easier. One down side of the mix is the darn things will stick to my fingers in extreme cold. On the upside they make for a good Chapstick replacement if mine is MIA.

 

[fixer]

On the the other hand, PJ cotton balls mean that you have some PJ along for use on burns, etc.

ohhh, jesus!

do not use butter, grease, vaseline or anything like that on a burn!

please go take a first aid course. using PJ on a burn is contrary to the first aid advice that they've been teaching for decades and will actually make a burn worse.

cold running water for FIFTEEN MINUTES is the recommended treatment... because the tissue continues to cook for a while even after the heat source is removed.

ok, cold running water may be hard to find in some wilderness settings, but very easy in others. cool the burn, don't baste it!

 

[Joben]

For a while i've been making tinder out of shredded jute/dryer lint and wood shavings drizzled with melted wax. It catches very easily and burns for a long time.

I've also been playing with PJCBs, and it just occured to me last night to try hybrid...great minds think alike ehh?

One thing I really like about cotton balls though is how compressible they are.
I have 9 PJ coated ones stuffed into a 2 inch long pill capsule. I'm not sure they would stay as squishy when coated with wax.

 

[BigNate]

The mess is what I don't like about PJ cotton balls. Even stuffing them into a straw and melting it shut is a messy thing to do.

I have wondered if you could use cotton rope dipped in wax, leaving the top dry, then adding some Zippo fluid to the cotton. After applying the fluid to the cotton dip the unsealed end. Would the lighter fluid seep out of the wax? If it would work, a slight crushing would unseal it but make it like a oil wick for starting a fire. Another idea would be to stuff a wick into a straw and seal it with hot pliers... provided it can be done without lighting it. Then you could just cut the tip off and squeeze it out to light it.

Has anyone tried & given up on it?

 

[abchopper]

I not a fan of PJ cotton balls as well. I also think that they're messy.

I like the idea with cotton ball and wax but instead of melted wax I impregnated the whole cotton ball with a very fine coating.

This has a number of benefits. It's much easier to light. I single strike with a fire steel will get it going. It makes it waterproof. It's easy to rip open to expose the soft fluffy inner without being a solid lump of wax. And it's not messy to carry.

Its a bit longer winded to make but well worth it.

Heres how I made them...

http://www.walkincountry.com/fire/how-to-make-a-tinder-quik-quick-substitute

Hope it useful to someone.

 

[tiguy7]

You can skip the double boiler method by using an electromagnetic induction cook top to melt your wax/naphtha mixture. Just do it outside.

 

[MrPan]

The mess is what I don't like about PJ cotton balls. Even stuffing them into a straw and melting it shut is a messy thing to do.

I have wondered if you could use cotton rope dipped in wax, leaving the top dry, then adding some Zippo fluid to the cotton. After applying the fluid to the cotton dip the unsealed end. Would the lighter fluid seep out of the wax? If it would work, a slight crushing would unseal it but make it like a oil wick for starting a fire. Another idea would be to stuff a wick into a straw and seal it with hot pliers... provided it can be done without lighting it. Then you could just cut the tip off and squeeze it out to light it.

Has anyone tried & given up on it?

I'm like you, on the PJCB. They work great but are messy.

Now, I just carry them in two different containers and mix them if needed. I have a small vial of PJ and another for cotton balls. Now I can use the cotton balls and duct tape for a make shift bandaid if need be. Once the cotton balls are soaked with PJ, they are not good for much more than starting fires. I like to use old bottles from water treatment tablets to store PJ. Those bottle are pretty handy.


I have not tried using lighter fluid on wicks, but I have used shavings from a magnesium bar.

I take a file and file off a pile of magnesium from the bar. Then I lay a one inch wide oil lamp wick in a pie tin and cover the wick with the shavings and rub them in good into the wick.

Then I take hair spray and spray the wick to hold the shavings in place. Flip it over and do the samething to the other side.

Then I dip the whole thing in melted wax. The wax is 25% bees wax to raise the melting point a little. I have had wax melt in kits and make a mess and the extra bees wax has help to fix that problem because of its higher melting point.

I make these as long or as short as I want to fit a kit. Then I just cut off a section to start a fire. So if the wick is 6'' long, I can cut off 1/2'' and start a fire. If you don't coat the wick with a ton of wax, you can scrape the edge with a knife and fluff up the edge to take a spark from a good fire steel.

The magnesium acts like a trick birthday candle and keeps the whole thing burning and burning hot once it's going, and it will not blow out at all.

 

[cramsey3006]

I was wondering about the cotton rope as well. To my eyes, the Sparklite tinder looks like a piece of rope that someone cut to length. I was going to buy some cotton rope and do the wax thing with it, but I couldn't find any locally.

I experimented some more last night. I took the cotton balls that I'd done already and dipped them until they were full. I let them harden and then used a pair of pliers to press in the middle and then pulled them apart. That left a bunch of fuzzies to catch flame. They lit easily with a lighter and a match and burned for 4 minutes +. Basically 1/2 a ball got me almost the same amount of burn time for the most part. I did try another full, solid waxed ball. It was harder to light, but when it went, I got over 7 minutes out of it.

abchopper, using your technique, does the ball have any odor at all? After reading it, I think that it may be the best way to do it, but I don't want any odors from the balls while in "storage".

 

[BigNate]

Like MrPan's idea quite a bit. Beeswax would definitely help. Around here it would be tough to keep it from not melting most of the year.

I even thought about trying to mix magnesium shavings in the wax itself and rolling the rope in it (jute ?) to get a similar effect.

Thankfully tinder is abundant here with little to no effort.

 

[j williams]

ohhh, jesus!

do not use butter, grease, vaseline or anything like that on a burn!

please go take a first aid course. using PJ on a burn is contrary to the first aid advice that they've been teaching for decades and will actually make a burn worse.

cold running water for FIFTEEN MINUTES is the recommended treatment... because the tissue continues to cook for a while even after the heat source is removed.

ok, cold running water may be hard to find in some wilderness settings, but very easy in others. cool the burn, don't baste it!

Tepid water. Cold water can induce shock, with the bodys ability to thermoregulate screwed up. No burns or ointment though. Right on. :thumbup:

Good for chapped lips though....

 

[fixer]

Tepid water. Cold water can induce shock, with the bodys ability to thermoregulate screwed up. No burns or ointment though. Right on. :thumbup:

Good for chapped lips though....

ok, i'm in the Mojave. the cold water from my faucet would be tepid in most other locations.

they were teaching "cold" back in the day when i took my class. but i can see your point especially if it's a large burn. i need to hit a refresher course.

+1 for chapped lips.

 

[Joben]

I have an idea for making PJCBs less messy:

Put the PJ inside the ball.

All you need is a syringe.

 

[abchopper]

abchopper, using your technique, does the ball have any odor at all? After reading it, I think that it may be the best way to do it, but I don't want any odors from the balls while in "storage".

After the cotton balls have dried out there shouldn't be any shellite/lighter fluid left on the ball which means no smell at all. Very safe to store anywhere.

The balls should feel stiff but still easy to rip open with your fingers. They shouldn't be solid like lumps of solid wax.

 

[sodak]

Lots of good ideas here, we should have a PJCB sticky....

Ron (muzzleup) long advocated both, 2 cotton balls with the bottom being in wax, the top in PJ, wrapped in tin foil to look like a Hershey's kiss.

For the mess, I turn a ziplock back inside out, scoop out some PJ, turn it back rightside out, throw in some cotton balls, and knead. No muss, no fuss. The straws work well also.

I've been using waxed jute for a while, I really like it. Some people have been soaking rolled up newspaper or cardboard in wax also. I just melt wax in an old soup can on my propane grill outside. No flareups yet, works great.

 

[MrPan]

Like MrPan's idea quite a bit. Beeswax would definitely help. Around here it would be tough to keep it from not melting most of the year.

I even thought about trying to mix magnesium shavings in the wax itself and rolling the rope in it (jute ?) to get a similar effect.

Thankfully tinder is abundant here with little to no effort.

Here is a video I seen and got the basic idea from. I don't really care for candles all that much, but a 1'' wide wick that's impregnated with magnesium and coated with a high melting point wax, that I can cut to any length I want as a fire starter, is something I can use.

If you fray the end with your knife after you cut off say a half inch to use as a fire starter, you can lay the frayed end on your fire steel and then place your striker on the frayed end. Basically sandwiching your fire starter. Then with a very hard slow stroke, you can easily light it, and place it where you want it.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/692243/make_a_self_lighting_candle/

 

[hung-solo]

i have PJ cotton balls in all my fire kits (wrapped in a sandwich bag of course) and my RAT first starter is crammed with PJ soaked cotton balls.