PJ cotton balls

M

moosehead905

Joined
Sep 24, 2010
Messages
315
ok guys i dont know if i am doing some thing wrong or what, but last weekend i spent about 2 hrs dipping cotton balls into some petroleum jelly, i uesed this method
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjP-eTfJwMA i got it just warm enough to liquefy the jelly..took my cotton balls and dipped them and pretty much soaked them through.well i did some more last night and being a little curious i was gonna see if i could get one to light with my new Esee firekit..so i was striking and striking and striking nothing so far..so i said screw it grabbed the good ole bic lighter and held it on the PJ soaked cotton ball and that damn thing woldnt light for anything its almost like it became flame retardant. now in that guys video he lights the ones he uses with ease and it looks like it goes up very quickly .am i doing some thing wrong? i know its not the cotton balls cause i lit one by its self with no problem, i was using 100% pure petroleum jelly..soooo i have no idea what is going on...any help would be appreciated, thanks.
 
I don’t melt the PJ at all. I take a small glob and put it in a bag, throw in some cotton balls, then massage them around a bit. I think many people use too much PJ. Remember there has to be some exposed cotton when you pull them apart (you did pull it apart to fray it right?) otherwise they won’t really light. You need that fine cotton fiber to catch the spark. Then once is starts burning, you’ll be good to go.
 
Fluff it up WELL. Needs oxygen to burn. You may have used too much PJ.--KV
 
aaahhhh see i rolled them up pretty tight to make them a little more compact and i didnt fluff them out or pull them apart when trying to light them..i just kept them nice and tight..so im thinking if i pull them apart and fluff them they will probably start right up.
 
moosehead905 said:
aaahhhh see i rolled them up pretty tight to make them a little more compact and i didnt fluff them out or pull them apart when trying to light them..i just kept them nice and tight..so im thinking if i pull them apart and fluff them they will probably start right up.
Click to expand...

Pull one apart and throw the spark in it and see what happens. ;)
 
Fluff them for sure...I use 100% cotton balls and just rub them in the petrolyem jelly on the outside only; not saturated...then pull them apart and fluff them...usually takes the first spark:-) hope this helps.
 
It has been said also to make sure the Cotton balls are really cotton..... synthetic ones are made....
 
Yep; a finger or two full of PJ and a handfull of cotton balls into a zip-lock, then roll the bad around between your hands. I keep a film bottle stuffed full of them in my pack. You can pack them in there as tight as you want, but when you pull them out be sure to fluff them up to catch the spark.
 
yeap, i fluffed them up and they caught fire on the second spark..worked like a charm and they burned or a minute or 2.
 
Yep, they need that fine fuzz to catch.

Same principle as a feather stick. If you just throw sparks on a stick, it will never light. Make a fuzz stick and some shavings and it's a whole 'nother story.

This is why we practice using this stuff! SKILL building!
 
okbohn said:
Now that you can do that...you should check out fire straws. They are cotton balls and pj packed in a straw with the ends melted. It is the perfect way to carry them.

Here are some pics on how to make them. (Not mine, but you'll get the idea)

http://picasaweb.google.com/lltmcfadden/FireStraws#
Click to expand...

yeap, in those 2 hrs last weekend i had actually made some of these as well..made some small ones and stuffed them in my Esee firekit
 
I also do the fully melted PJ so I get a fully saturated cotton ball for max burn time. still works just as easily as "lightly" dabbed cotton balls as long as you dig the fingers in and rip apart to expose the fluffies!
 
okbohn said:
Now that you can do that...you should check out fire straws. They are cotton balls and pj packed in a straw with the ends melted. It is the perfect way to carry them.

Here are some pics on how to make them. (Not mine, but you'll get the idea)

http://picasaweb.google.com/lltmcfadden/FireStraws#
Click to expand...

Those look pretty cool, I'll have to give some a try.

It also clarifies what I saw in someone's PSK; at the time I just thought it was PIXIE STIKS.
 
I'm basically pretty lazy, and didn't want to deal with the mess of PJ in my cotton and maybe getting all over other stuff in my kit, so I use an idea I found in another post here: a tube of lib balm (basically PJ in a small tube designed for preventing chapped lips) and carry the cotton balls dry, just applying it from the tube if needed (trial size alcohol hand sanitizer jell works great too).

Unless I'm dealing with pretty wet wood, the cotton ball by itself is usually all I need to get the kindling going.
 
okbohn said:
Now that you can do that...you should check out fire straws. They are cotton balls and pj packed in a straw with the ends melted. It is the perfect way to carry them.

Here are some pics on how to make them. (Not mine, but you'll get the idea)

http://picasaweb.google.com/lltmcfadden/FireStraws#
Click to expand...

Nice idea but personally I would only carry them as the "last-ditch" version of my PJ cotton balls. Never been a friend of burning plastic :o

Besides the smell of it, you wont mess up the other items of your kit with PJ. Lightweight and easy to pack: :thumbup:

Going to give it a try when I am at home...
 
I use them all the time. There is not much plastic. You could also just pull out the cotton and use it.

In any event, I think they are very handy.
 
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