Making and burning firestraws. (lots of pictures)

peripatew

peripatew

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Jul 31, 2007
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It must much easier to write this up by adding captions to photos, so click here for lots of picture and some information. This was my first attempt.

L
 
Good job. How do you melt the ends? Pinch them with the pliers and flame them?
 
Yes, I should have shown a better picture of that. I'll edit the captions.

I'm also going to try the cotton balls w/ PJ in alluminum foil packages to see how the burn time, and elemental resistance compares. I think I am really going to like the size of the straws though.
 
Ok, so I've messed with this a little more.

I did some comparison times of the cotton straw vs. a cotton ball in foil, and they seem to burn about the same when fluffed well. This is obvious now, since the new way I do the straws, I get one cotton ball per straw.

I was experimenting today with magnesium shavings added to the PJ cotton. It didn't help it start better, it may have made it actually burn a little bit faster. BUT, I did notice what seemed to be a lot better wind resistance. When I blew on them, the magnesium shavings seemed to ignite and keep the flame going. It's hard for me to get scientific, and if anything, it just adds a little bit more fun to making the straws. I made the straws a little shorter so that they would fit nicely in my altoid tin. I also used some regular blue cotton balls, which worked MUCH easier than the cotton pads. I also used a lot more PJ.

I started with a small piece of dry cotton, and ended with one as well (which I started to do in the pictures), and this made it very easy to pack.

I also made some mini-straws, that are maybe 1" to 1.5" long. And they have about 1/3 of a cotton ball. I'm quickly running out of room in my tin, so I thought I might try these instead of a full straw.

L
 
When you all say "soak" the cotton ball in PJ, how are you doing this? Are you heating the pj to a liquid state and then letting the cotton ball absorb it, or just rubbing the cotton ball in the jar or what? :confused:
 
FSCJedi said:
When you all say "soak" the cotton ball in PJ, how are you doing this? Are you heating the pj to a liquid state and then letting the cotton ball absorb it, or just rubbing the cotton ball in the jar or what? :confused:
Click to expand...

I just work it in with my fingers. Works beyond well.
 
With the cotton balls I pull them apart into as many pieces as possible. Then I put them back together in a loose wad, about twice the size of the original cotton ball. Then I take two fingers and just get a pretty liberal amount of PJ and rub it in well. If you do to much, you will have obvious excess, and it might make it a little difficult to pack into the straw. I know when I have enough when it is a little difficult to fluff them by hand. In the wild, I use the top of a knife to fluff it up a little bit.

I found the right amount buy putting different amounts on 3 different cotton balls, and observing how they burn.

L
 
As part of the original article (which was editied out before publication) firestraws were made in a 2" length and put inside of stripped paracord. They were used in a neck knife lanyard this way, one of my hunting partners even used them as bootlaces. There are many possibilities.

JP

naked said:
Ok, so I've messed with this a little more.

I did some comparison times of the cotton straw vs. a cotton ball in foil, and they seem to burn about the same when fluffed well. This is obvious now, since the new way I do the straws, I get one cotton ball per straw.

I was experimenting today with magnesium shavings added to the PJ cotton. It didn't help it start better, it may have made it actually burn a little bit faster. BUT, I did notice what seemed to be a lot better wind resistance. When I blew on them, the magnesium shavings seemed to ignite and keep the flame going. It's hard for me to get scientific, and if anything, it just adds a little bit more fun to making the straws. I made the straws a little shorter so that they would fit nicely in my altoid tin. I also used some regular blue cotton balls, which worked MUCH easier than the cotton pads. I also used a lot more PJ.

I started with a small piece of dry cotton, and ended with one as well (which I started to do in the pictures), and this made it very easy to pack.

I also made some mini-straws, that are maybe 1" to 1.5" long. And they have about 1/3 of a cotton ball. I'm quickly running out of room in my tin, so I thought I might try these instead of a full straw.

L
Click to expand...
 
What exactly is "PJ"? I never heard of it before? Is it easily flammable substance or what? I tried googling it and couldn't seem to find much.
 
I`d never seen these before. What a great idea for storing a PJed cottonball without making a mess of your gear! I also liked the idea of storing a couple in a hollowed out paracord lanyard. I`ll be making a couple tonight!
 
FSCJedi said:
When you all say "soak" the cotton ball in PJ, how are you doing this? Are you heating the pj to a liquid state and then letting the cotton ball absorb it, or just rubbing the cotton ball in the jar or what? :confused:
Click to expand...

I put mine in a plastic baggie with some vasoline, zip it closed, the then massage it well together. It's a little less messy that way.
 
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