Flaming cotton balls!

DaleW

DaleW

Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
2,194
I was making my rounds this morning and picked up some cotton balls and petroleum jelly at the drug store. I was thinking about better methods for liquifying the PJ so it would soak into the cotton-- just as I was walking by the alcohol gel hand cleaners. BOING!

So I got some Purell (on sale too) and tried that, soaking the cotton balls in it. It worked great-- just a spark off a firesteel got it going right away. It burned for serveral minutes-- not a roaring flame, but more than enough to get some wind-blown twigs snapping and crackling. I think the trick is getting the gel-soaked cotton balls into a container that will retard evaporation as much as possible. I'm going to check out the small Nalgene containers that REI carries. You need ot be sure you don't have any get on your hands or clothing when you light them.

To get the PJ soaked into the cotton balls, I put about 4oz PJ in a 16oz mayo jar rescued from the recycling, boiled a pan of water and set the jar in the water off the stove. It liquified the PJ in a few minutes and I jammed a bunch of cotton balls in there, swirling them all aound and let it sit.
 
I find that putting the cotton balls and the PJ into a sealable sandwich bag, and then massaging the bag for a bit, does a great job of distributing the PJ into the cotton.

Cheap and easy!
 
I try to keep the PJ out of the cotton balls. Rub it around the outside real thick. That way, you can open up the ball and have dry fluffy cotton inside, which takes a spark better than cotton surrounded by Petroleum Jelly. Don't matter if you are just using a lighter though.
 
Hey Guys...

Dale...

If you drop a 1/2 of a tea light candle and melt it together with the PJ it makes them a little stiffer,, aids in burning time, as well as makes them less Greasy..

I get everything melted together, and hold the cotton ball with Tweazers,, dip, drip and shake, then put them on wax paper to cool...

You can get medium sized containers of PJ at the dollar store for a Buck...

I then use jumbo cotton bals and tear them into 3.
I prefer a smaller cotton ball rather than I big monster ball...

dipping them into melted PJ is key, because the PJ gets soaked right into the very fivers, All the way through... Rubbing them around in a bag works,, however not ideal, and the PJ doesn't get into the core of the cotton ball.

When dipped into hot PJ and Wax,, they are Utterly waterproof...

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
I always have a bottle of hand sanitizer in my pack when I hike anyway and it works great as a fire starter even without the cotton balls. Watch out tho. . . those alcohol flames are pretty much invisible in daylight. The first time I tried lighting a fire this way I didn't think the first spark had caught. . . reached to move a twig or something before trying again and scorched my fingers.
 
If you replace the vaseline with beeswax you get non-messy firestarters that offer longer burn times. Some burn times & comments here.

If you don't have a local source for beeswax, Stakich Inc has about the cheapest online prices I've found so far.

As noted for PJ & other waxes, do *NOT* heat beeswax over direct heat (fire, electric stove burner, etc in direct contact with the pan holding the wax) due to the possibility of igniting the wax in the pan. Heat it in a double boiler instead.
 
I'm with AnyCal, I leave the cotton mostly dry in the center. I just do it in a ziplock like some other guys said. I carry other firestarting stuff but the cotton is the only actual tinder I have packed. So it's nice to have it both ways with the less-intensive PJ treatment. I started carrying hand sanitizer for my main 1st aid/personals kit... you know I was tickled when someone told me to use it for firestarting too.
 
EmsRescueGuy said:
I thought this Post was about a V.D. :D :eek: :confused:
Click to expand...

Personal experience?

My vote is for fire straws. Messy to make, but clean and bulletproof after. These I learned about right here in Blade Forums, so to whoever posted about them (might have been Longbow), thank you.

Doc
 
Here's just another idea to thinker with. I've never bothered to carry all those cotton balls and stuff, but I always like having a lot of extra cordage and string with me. I got the idea years ago to take a ball of heavy cotton cordage soak it in melted wax. I run it through the wax and squeeze out the excess, roll it back up. Now I have a 100' long candle that can also be used to tie things up with.
 
It evaporates eventualy but rubbing alcohol (91%) or higher works great for me,catches a spark very easily and burns strongly.Also doubles as a way to sterilize small cuts that I allways seem to get.:eek:
 
Bacardi 151 works in stoves, cleans wounds and can be drunk. Or get you drunk? You know what I mean.
 
I like using the teacup candles too, that or paraffin wax. I get a nice size chunk of paraffin or a couple of candles melting, then using my leather man I flash dunk the cotton balls so I get a full coat on the outside. Usually the wax seeps in more than I want but I can crack the cotton ball half (once dry of course) and have more than enough dry cotton on the inside to light with my firesteel. This makes them water resistant. And I have also noticed that the wax vs. the PJ gives me a longer/hotter burn.
 
DaleW said:
I was making my rounds this morning ... I was thinking about better methods ...just as I was walking by the alcohol gel hand cleaners. BOING!

So I got some Purell (on sale too) and tried that, soaking the cotton balls in it. It worked great-- just a spark off a firesteel got it going right away. It burned for serveral minutes-- not a roaring flame, but more than enough to get some wind-blown twigs snapping and crackling.
Click to expand...
Well, I tried this over the weekend.

27 degrees F, strong variable winds.

The base of the fire pit was a frozen slab of water.

I used a collection of dogwood and cottonwood from around the place, all of which were soaking wet from recent rains before they were frozen. I did NOT split them open to expose the dry wood inside, if any: I wanted them wet at best.

Piled it all together, building a raft of thicker pieces directly on the ice to support the scrap above.

Using some generic alcohol-based hand cleaner, I soaked a small piece of good old-fashioned dryer lint.

Wanting to decrease my odds even more, I used a single match. Not a real match--but one of those cheap sparky little wood stick matches from a tavern passing itself off as a family eatery. I know this box of matches: they spark, but rarely ignite.

I put the dryer lint into a small plastic baggy. I then squirted a small amount of the hand sanitizer into the bag and mashed it around very well.

Thinking about Salamander's caution, I used an ungloved right hand to lay the lint at the base of the fire then regloved it. I used an ungloved left hand (in case I got any alchohol on the glove) to strike the little match.

I only got a single spark from the match as predicted, but the dryer lint caught instantly just from its own fumes.

Within 20 seconds, I had a foot-high flame. Within a minute, the entire wet, frozen pile of wood was on fire, producing lots of wonderful heat. Even the bigger 2-inch-diameter pieces were burning nicely and steadily.

I suppose the better way to push my luck was to have tried this in the rain... I tried to stack the deck as best I could under the conditions I had, and this trick still worked.

Dale W has a great, inexpensive solution. With two kids in the house, I've got gallons of that stuff laying around in every room and in both cars!
 
I like the petroleum jelly cotton balls but prefer to do it slightly different. I keep the cotton balls dry and clean in a waterproof match case (plastic ziploc small would work too) and then bought the little plastic vaseline lip care in the squeeze tube. Its 100% petrolatum with just flavoring added. If I need to use I can put as much or as little as I need on each cotton ball. As an added bonus I now have lip balm for chapped lips!
 
Good one, pedropcola.

At the craft store they have packs of ready-waxed wicks. A couple of those could be tucked in almost anywhere. (They have the blocks of candlewax and other cool stuff too, of course.)
 
Hey Guys...

pedropcola...

The only problem with that is if you waterproof container ever fails,, you are going to have wet useless balls!!! :)

What is the reason to keep them untreated ???

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Eric,

I prefer to carry cotton balls dry then apply antibiotic ointment if necessary to use them as tinder. I do this because 1) it allows more flexibility over uses of the cotton balls, 2) keeps the ointment sterile, and 3) I find they are easier to light if the cotton balls aren't completely bathed in PJ.

-- FLIX
 
Hey Flix....

Ok I getcha....
That's a valid reason for sure....

I've hear gthis before from other people that they like the ball dry inside a little, as they find it lights easier...

I haven't Ever had a problem lighting completely soaked balls with any firesteel..
I could see it possibly being a problem when using a sparklite, empty lighter or flint and steel though...

I simply squeeze some of the excess out between a couple of pieces of bark or leaves...

I like the balls to be Completely waterproof in case of submersion or container failure.

I do understand what you are saying though...

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
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