Cottonballs + PJ +?

Barrabas

Barrabas

Joined
Feb 8, 2005
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1,135
Ok...I have always liked the cotton balls kneaded in Vaseline..Carmex etc..so was out doing some experimenting tonight...and wondered if I kneaded some nice fatwood shavings/dust into the mixture if it would make a stronger burn or perhaps even a more sustained burn..
From what I can tell after about 3 comparisons of a pure Vaseline saturated c.ball vs. a Vaseline saturated c.ball + fatwood shavings...I get a little hotter flame with the fatwood and a more sustained burn by like 10 secs..so I'm wondering what others have experimented with to enhance the standard pj + cotton ball that works well?

To clarify..I used a saw blade on my leatherman to gather as much of the fine shavings as I could off of some pretty decent fatwood..and then kneaded it thoroughly into what ended up as about a 1/3 inch diameter tight balls of cotton/pj/fatwood mix...to have stuff to carry during the winter months in a secondary K&M match case..my goal being to eliminate the need for anything but semi-tight wood curls to get a fire going in a "it's freaking cold..I wanna fire now" scenario using only a firesteel to get a sustained fire going...from past experiences, that extra few seconds of a sustained concentrated initial fire source gives more time to pile on curls and then work up to the pencil lead/pencil sized starters leading to a sustained fire without the cold biting the ol' fingers to hard :)
The wind was pretty low tonight, but found the enhanced cotton balls lasted roughly a minute and ten seconds.

Thanks for your suggestions.
 
I have tried cotton balls mixed with triple antibiotic ointment for the obvious reason of carrying something multi-use. Worked well, but not as good as cotton + PJ.
 
I've heard of mixing magnesium shavings with PJ cottonballs, but never tried it myself. I am considering getting a bag of magnesium shavings off of ebay just for a new way to play with fire and to maybe use as a wet-weather fire starting.
 
Thanks all for the thoughts!
Scott..I like the Magnesium suggestion a lot...but wonder if the high burn temp of the mag would decrease the overall burn length?..Trying to think of situations in the field where you never know when the wind might blow..you know what I mean?...and I'm really looking for that good compromise between high temp & sustained burn to be the most efficient way to get a sustainable fire going..what are your thoughts on that...or Mag vs wire wool as Bald taco suggested?
 
I'm not sure how fire works, so maybe twice as hot for half as long wins—maybe not. The "twice" and "half" parts of the previous sentence don't even qualify as a guess. I really don't know the numbers, and I'm not sure how things would stack up between PJ cotton balls and magnesium shavings (assuming same weight.) In any case, PJ cotton balls are essentially free and easy to obtain. Magnesium shaving are not.

Here's an interesting video to ponder:

[video=youtube;3W-k82vxKNE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W-k82vxKNE[/video]
 
Fast Burn, lots of air space and surface area. Slow Burn, less air space, and small surface area. Long Burn, High density small surface area. So, to get the fire lit a cotton ball with magnesium shavings will provide a hot fast fire. Inside of the cotton ball a chunk of fatwood to provide heat for a longer period of time. Wax or PJ will work but they will melt and flow at the higher temperatures. This will increase their burn rate and heat output and decrease their burn time. The pitch inside of the fatwood will also melt but the wood fibers help to hold it in place as it is burning helping to keep the surface area lower and maintaining the burn time.
 
Barrabas said:
Thanks all for the thoughts!
Scott..I like the Magnesium suggestion a lot...but wonder if the high burn temp of the mag would decrease the overall burn length?..Trying to think of situations in the field where you never know when the wind might blow..you know what I mean?...and I'm really looking for that good compromise between high temp & sustained burn to be the most efficient way to get a sustainable fire going..what are your thoughts on that...or Mag vs wire wool as Bald taco suggested?
Click to expand...
I'd be interested to see if you can make the magnesium work. I've always had trouble with it "flash" burning, POOF it's gone. You would need to anchor it somehow, either with petroleum jelly or duct tape, it likes to blow away easily.... I like to put duct tape around my pj cotton balls, then just cut an X in it and pull some out. Keeps it from getting too messy...
 
I've not tried one yet, but the last time I was making fire straws with cotton balls & PJ, I mixed in some shredded rubber from a bicycle inner tube.
 
I'd be interested to see if you can make the magnesium work. I've always had trouble with it "flash" burning, POOF it's gone. You would need to anchor it somehow, either with petroleum jelly or duct tape, it likes to blow away easily.... I like to put duct tape around my pj cotton balls, then just cut an X in it and pull some out. Keeps it from getting too messy...
Click to expand...

I agree completely...but that's the point of raw mag shavings..burn mega hot and go out; that's why I was considering using in conjunction with the vas impregnated c.balls by kneading shavings into the ball..I think it's time to do some controlled tests to determine which is better between it and fatwood..the heart of the question to me is really what is the best all around solution for multiple scenarios..meaning high heat/less burn time (Mag + PJ c.balls) or moderate sustained heat & sustained burn time (Fatwood + PJ c.balls in conjunction with a ferro rod once you have a good source of wood curls /shavings.

My experience has proven that even with low to moderate wind you have to have a depression in the ground or some type of make shift containment area to trap mag slivers or even small wood curls as you are making them or they will just scatter...and evidently gather moisture from whatever they are being blown on by the wind..which sucks:).

Thanks again to all for the feedback.
 
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yeah, I would agree with bobs1415, and mix in some tyre inner tube ,or even make like a little cotton wool and vas sushi wrapped in tyre tube.
 
B34NS said:
just break off a piece of a duralog and bring with.
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I use the campers' version by Coghlan's and Coleman. They work well and will boil or cook a meal on my emberlit. And they are cheap and readily available in sporting goods departments of box stores.
2kprvc.jpg
 
B34NS said:
Nice Codger_64! Curious about the burn time on those?
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You know I don't remember exactly? The Coghlans (pictured) have a different burn time than the Coleman's and I can't remember the other (Ozark Trails?) brand. They are different mostly in their bar size, so naturally different burn times. I notice now also that Coghlans has this same in puck shapes. I was able to boil water in my stainless quart billy can on the Emberlit with two bars IIRC. They do leave soot on shiny pots being wax or paraffin impregnated sawdust. But quite cheap and portable.

ETA: I should mention that the length of burn is not as important as the BTU output of the burn. Each fuel has it's own caloric output. Alcohol is low on the scale. Hardwoods like hickory are very high.
 
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sodak said:
I'd be interested to see if you can make the magnesium work. I've always had trouble with it "flash" burning, POOF it's gone. You would need to anchor it somehow, either with petroleum jelly or duct tape, it likes to blow away easily.... I like to put duct tape around my pj cotton balls, then just cut an X in it and pull some out. Keeps it from getting too messy...
Click to expand...

I bought a four foot rod of magnesium (anode rod) from a plumbing supply shop. I cut it up and used a rough file to get a lot of shavings/powder. When I light it up with a ferro rod I get the solid mass burning as a complete unit for several seconds, maybe a four count. You can also get the rods for free by scavenging an old hot water heater. I fill those orange plastic match safes with cotton, shaved fatwood, then a hefty topping of powdered magnesium.
 
upnorth said:
I bought a four foot rod of magnesium (anode rod) from a plumbing supply shop. I cut it up and used a rough file to get a lot of shavings/powder. When I light it up with a ferro rod I get the solid mass burning as a complete unit for several seconds, maybe a four count. You can also get the rods for free by scavenging an old hot water heater. I fill those orange plastic match safes with cotton, shaved fatwood, then a hefty topping of powdered magnesium.
Click to expand...
4 seconds at 10 million degrees - that ought to do it! I have an old water heater that I need to disassemble, so I'll grab that anode, thanks for the tip!
 
:thumbup: My guess is that the fine particles and their small surface area allow less oxygen between them. Quarter sized pile.
 
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