Home made firestarters

E

erik the red

Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
343
Finally got around to putting together some firestarters.
Grabbed a soup can to melt parrafin and candle wax in a double boiler setup. (2-3" of water in an electric skillet.)

Poured the melted wax over a variety of tinders including dryer lint, fatwood, cotton balls, cotton rounds and pencil shavings, all housed in an egg carton tray.

Also made some bottlecap candles with cut down zinc-core wicks (store bought). These should refill the kits adequately.

null_zps44ee6c47.jpg

null_zpsbf511270.jpg

null_zpsc5c0b4f8.jpg
 
Looks good. I like mine smaller. I make most fires without any "fire starters " but keep waxed jute twine and Petroleum jelly covered cotton on hand JIC.
 
LG&M said:
Looks good. I like mine smaller. I make most fires without any "fire starters " but keep waxed jute twine and Petroleum jelly covered cotton on hand JIC.
Click to expand...

Thanks. The bottlecaps are more candle type and the egg carton ones hold a flame for 12-18 min. These did turn out bigger than I had wanted, but they'll work.

I prefer natural/gathered means first with a firesteel, then premade firestarters, then match or lighter as a last resort.
 
The bottle cap one is nice. I might try filling it with jute then some wax. Bet it would go for about 1 -2 min.
 
It used to be a chore to have reliable 'strike anywhere' matches on hand and even more difficult to keep 'safety matches' boxes in some sort of useable manner out in the bush. Disposable Bics have been a literal Godsend ever since they came into common use in the mid-70s. I liberally salt my camping gear with a handful of these things now, including a primary one in a pants or coat pocket. When I went on camping adventures with the Boy Scouts 1/2 century ago we used to make and carry home-poured paraffin balls that incorporated a tuft of cotton, much the same as you're doing now. Funny how now I always find an excuse to bring a current newspaper along, sealed in a plastic bag, for situations where fires are hard to start. Wiping out the fry pan with paper towels after making bacon also gets you instant fire starter!
 
I'm surprised that no one has made Napalm here. I looked it up for the heck of it and it doesn't look like something I want to play with. Now I'm probably on the R.C.M.P. and F.B.I. data bases because of the search. :eek:
 
there is a lot of stuff you can have fun with

pool chlorine and brakefluid and stand the hell back .. I watched my brother start fires like that .

napalm , thermite , a lot of stuff you can home make but it has more party trick value than practical value

speaking of party trick .. the little sparkler sticks you buy for kids to wave around at night ? if you make say 20 packets of them into one bundle all wired up ... with one poked into the top as a fuse , light it and stand the HELL back ... its a cool party trick that leaves a mushroom cloud when its done ruins kids ideas of what youre sposed to do with sparklers tho .
 
re: old Boy Scout tricks with paraffin...I was fortunate to have one Scoutmaster that was a Pacific Island Marine combat vet, and another that was an OSS officer in the Balkans...one trick to extending the burn time for a strike anywhere match was to melt some paraffin and soak a piece corrugated cardboard cut to the length of a strike anywhere match stick... when cooled, cut into 3 channel strips, and insert a match into the center channel (no paraffin in channels)... mini hurricane lamps out of Gerber baby food jars, and cook stove for use with a GI canteen cup with a shoe shine wax tin and a ring of cotton sash cord... 1/4# block of paraffin for fuel for all...
 
I use cotton balls and medical mineral oil
Tear them in to small sizes make them in to smaller balls enough for one lighting
I put them into a leak proof pill canister (or you can buy the waterproof orange or green containers)
I then pour on the cotton the medical mineral oil which is more viscous
The balls are wet but not soaked, so they will no leak

One ball fluffed up will easily start a fire
And there are about 20 little balls in the container
A spark from a


Very easy to make
Very easy indeed
And very easy to carry
I have then in every kit set up
 
Last edited:
LG&M said:
I'm thinking they already had your number. ;)
Click to expand...

That would be an interesting dichotomy as my work requires a fresh criminal record and vulnerable sector check every few years. :) I bet that half the site members have looked at threads here or links to threads that have red flagged somewhere. Just the nature of our world today.
 
Army tricks....

One of my Girls finished the Army
We went on a picnic and she showed me a SOP

New to me as we never had tuna in our rations

Open the lids off two cans of tuna in vegatable oil
Fold over toilet paper place on the tuna to absorb the oil
Light the toilet paper
Place you water mess tin over the cans
Wait
10 minutes later you have hot water for coffee
And hot roasted tuna
delicious.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top