Dryer lint for a firestarter?

CAVEDWELLER

CAVEDWELLER

Joined
May 5, 2003
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I've been meaning to get a small survival rig set-up that can be contained in a Becker sheath. Well I was cleaning the dryer vent yesterday and got to thinking that the lint might make good tinder to get a firestarted. Lint is quite flammable, so it doen't take much to get it going, but it burns fast. Plus it can be compacted easily. This may sound stupid, but has anybody tried this, is it a dumb idea?
 
Yes, lint works great, but only from some fabrics. Polyester, etc., will just melt. Make sure it's lint from cotton or some other flammable material. (I'd love to list all the fabrics that work best, but am not really sure of all of them myself.)
 
If you are like me, your talker is bigger than your tester. What's worse in my case, I do not talk very often.

So why am I bothering this thread? Basically, it does not matter if fiber A is better than fiber B, or if Bob likes A better but Joe likes B if I have not the tested skills to use any of them. I have to learn how to appropriately light lint, fuzzsticks, charcloth, tinderfungus or even some foolproof military tinder in the backyard under various weather conditions and see what I can actually use and what the limitations are..

Getting ranks and ratings for various tools and materials can help, but I still have to find out what I can do, where in the spectrum from rock to rocket fuel I can make a fire in whatever conditions I am in at the moment. Of course, it does not help that I need a permit for a backyard campfire here either.:mad:

So, get a wide variety of stuff and light it yourself by various methods in your climate. That is the only way you will know how the material you actually have in hand will perform, or how you will.
 
Dayum, ok!?! My talker is bigger than my tester, just ask my wife.:D
Anyway just wanted to know if it has been used before, I don't think I'll ever be in a situation whereas I'd need the stuff, but isn't that what everybody prior to getting stuck in BFE.
 
I tried the lint thing but it didnt burn as well as I wanted so i stuck with cotton. Here's a burn chart that might be useful for someone. I saved it from one of my other hobbies, detailing.

You need to copy and paste the link.
http://www.geocities.com/mistakaroo/fireburnchart.gif
 
Lint is excellent (tester not Talker) you have to seperate it a bit for the spark to catch in it. I make a pile of other tinder to add to it like fuzz sticks, wood shavings, so that when the lint catches you can add and build up. Thats's the thing is building on it not expecting it to last for long. Last Sat my cousin and I did this at about 11:00 PM with wind blowing and fog setting in and made a decent fire to sit by and drink some beer! All it takes is practice.
 
Originally posted by grommit
If you are like me, your talker is bigger than your tester. What's worse in my case, I do not talk very often.

So why am I bothering this thread? Basically, it does not matter if fiber A is better than fiber B, or if Bob likes A better but Joe likes B if I have not the tested skills to use any of them. I have to learn how to appropriately light lint, fuzzsticks, charcloth, tinderfungus or even some foolproof military tinder in the backyard under various weather conditions and see what I can actually use and what the limitations are..

Getting ranks and ratings for various tools and materials can help, but I still have to find out what I can do, where in the spectrum from rock to rocket fuel I can make a fire in whatever conditions I am in at the moment. Of course, it does not help that I need a permit for a backyard campfire here either.:mad:

So, get a wide variety of stuff and light it yourself by various methods in your climate. That is the only way you will know how the material you actually have in hand will perform, or how you will.
Click to expand...

Point taken, but let's not go overboard. Talking before testing can help you not waste a bunch of time. Material A very well may work better than material B irregardless of your skill (or the lack thereof). Finding out that, for example, vaseline impregnated cotton balls work better than green grass, before trying it out for oneself, is called prudence in my books.
 
Dryer lint can work well, depending on what fabric it was made from, how that fabric was originally treated, and what soaps and fabric softeners were used.

Here is an ordered listing and discussion of how well different substances burn for survival use, including dryer lint (though I need to update this list, and make some changes, since I am now a much more competent fire starter):

http://www.swampratknifeworks.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=11;t=000069

I think that a piece of pitchwood is the best choice for emergency fire-starting tinder, now that I have become skilled in the technique of lighting it from a spark. It burns hotter and longer than dryer lint, and, unlike dryer lint, is waterproof. You also don't need to worry about keeping it in sealed, airtight packaging, like many of the other best firestarters. And it is fairly easy to find in Northern woods, in a pinch.

Trioxane is the easiest to light, and highest heat output, survival kit item I know of. Unfortunately, it's toxic, and it can evaporate completely (over a several week to several month period) upon exposure to air.

Rubber cement lights next most easily, and burns hot, for a long time. However, it can leak and/or evaporate, leaving you with no tinder, while messing up your surrounding gear.

By the way, I agree strongly with grommit, that you need to practice until skilled and knowledgeable, instead of only finding out how lint compares from the internet, then sticking it in a kit until you need it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S. mistakaroo: You wouldn't happen to have had hobbies in tie-dying or batiquing, did you?

--Mike
 
I am all for prudence. I was just thinking that knowing that material A is 15% (or as Evolute measured it in strokes on the ferocerium, a good system but does it presuppose diameter of rod and other perameters?) easier to light than B but 12% harder to light than C is almost useless for someone like myself who has trouble getting kerosene soaked rags to light with a flame thrower. I even blew out a grease fire in my kitchen once upon a time. I get in trouble for smothering baby fires.

Sort of like saying Snap-On tools are better than Walmart tools for repairing your car without adressing whether I can tell the spark plug from the oil filter. Both can probably work at least for a while if the skills to use them are there. Knowing which is the better or more efficient tool is indeed useful, but I have to practice with at least two or three kinds before I can understand what the real difference is, let alone whether I can use either at all for the intended purpose.

Thank you Evolute for the listing, I was about to ask if anyone had an ordered listing of tinders and your post was more than I hoped for.

I apologize for thread drift and for insulting some of you. I read some of my own laziness into the original question, seeking others experience without verifying it on my own to make it truly available in the field. The only way to know if MY dryer lint stored in MY container was/is in fact a decent tinder for MY skill level (or lack therof) is to take some of it and go make an illegal fire. This I have not done yet.
 
Avoid lint from children's clothing as much of it has been treated with fire retardant. Cotton is so cheap and works better for me so I only use lint for play.
 
Originally posted by grommit
I am all for prudence. I was just thinking that knowing that material A is 15% (or as Evolute measured it in strokes on the ferocerium, a good system but does it presuppose diameter of rod and other perameters?) easier to light than B but 12% harder to light than C is almost useless for someone like myself who has trouble getting kerosene soaked rags to light with a flame thrower. I even blew out a grease fire in my kitchen once upon a time. I get in trouble for smothering baby fires.

Sort of like saying Snap-On tools are better than Walmart tools for repairing your car without adressing whether I can tell the spark plug from the oil filter. Both can probably work at least for a while if the skills to use them are there. Knowing which is the better or more efficient tool is indeed useful, but I have to practice with at least two or three kinds before I can understand what the real difference is, let alone whether I can use either at all for the intended purpose.

Thank you Evolute for the listing, I was about to ask if anyone had an ordered listing of tinders and your post was more than I hoped for.

I apologize for thread drift and for insulting some of you. I read some of my own laziness into the original question, seeking others experience without verifying it on my own to make it truly available in the field. The only way to know if MY dryer lint stored in MY container was/is in fact a decent tinder for MY skill level (or lack therof) is to take some of it and go make an illegal fire. This I have not done yet.
Click to expand...

This makes perfect sense; I agree with you completely.
 
Grommit do you have a bar b que pit? Try building a fire in it or even an old pot that you can dowse a fire out quickly in, just to get the practice. I watched an interesting show on Discovery Times Channel the other night Marine Corps Survival School very interesting because the way they built their fires is that they used HUGE wads of tinder to drop their spark in.
 
it's great for tinder my grandfather taught me many years ago it's free and redily avalible and smells good:p
 
Try (and the man is right - practice required) cotton smeared w/ vasoline. Store it in a 35mm film container. (What will we do when digital wipes out 35mm?).
 
I used a combination of dryer lint (usually from when the wife did towels or bluejeans so there was high cotton content) and parafin. I started out stuffing the lint into cardboard tubes (papertowel rolls work well) then drizzling in the melted parafin as I filled it up. When all solidified I cut the tube into one inch or so pieces. These were then wrapped in aluminum foil for storage. That way if the parafin got drippy again it didn't mess up my pack. I was in South Carolina at the time and never had one go bad.

To start a fire I pulled out one of the one inch starters, fluffed it a little on top and then popped it with the Blastmatch. Instant fire, just add small stuff and you're off.

Recently I have used some of the harder paper rolls from our printer at work. They are thicker and burn longer.

Incidently I tried this in the rain, wind, and now snow (here in MI) it still works well.
 
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