Tinder and Tinderballs

Hey Skunker...

Yaa they sure do burn for awhile..Damn,, you could probably toss a couple of them in an Esbit stove and brew a cup of tea...

Personally I'd rather have smaller ones,, and just add as needed...

I'll make some more smaller ones,, with a higher parafin wax content...

Thanks

Eric
O/ST
 
Hey Guys...

Just made some more,,they turned out nice...
Nice and firm.....

Also made some "Disco Balls", dipped then squished into magnesium filings, cooled, then dipped again to set the filings...

Those should make a nice effect when they go up...

I've got a 4' bar of magnesium that I rasp my filings from,, so I can make quite a few of these...

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Skunk, I think I was the one who posted an 8 minute burn time for a PJ cotton ball. It was fully saturated. Rather than pull it apart, I left it in a lump like a heat tab. I timed it with a watch, I was pleasantly surprised ;)
 
Normark, I like your disco ball idea. How fine do youy make your shavings?

I remember learning in scouts to make little logs of birch bark, like pencils but shorter as a very effective second tinder, and somewhere else along the way tight folds of newspaper dipped in hot parrafin would burn well.

How well do the pj balls catch a spark? as easily as drier lint?
Also would some of those silicone moisture absorbers in a ziploc bag of tinder help any?
 
Okay, here is what I do. Take the Colman stove outside and melt up some Bees wax or parafin using a low flame or use a double boiler so it won't flare up on you. Take one large cotton ball and completly soak in wax and place on a cookie sheet. While the wax is cooling but still tacky, place a second dry cotton ball on top of the waxed one. When you have done as many as you want to then take the 2 cotton balls (one wax soaked, 1 dry and stuck to the first one) and place them on a square of waxed paper, fold up the wax paper around the balls and twist so it looks like a big Hersheys Kiss....that's my "kiss of fire". To use just unwrap the kiss twist and ferro spark into the dry cotton ball and you will get a flame that I have timed will last up to 10 to 20 minutes.
One more goodie....to light a fire in water, I use a stainless steel pipe cap (approx 3" dia.) and let the cap fill with water. Then place a couple of rocks of miners carbide in the cap and cover with a small funnel. This will produce acetalyne gas which will light with a ferro spark at the small end of the funnel and burn until the miners carbide is all used up.

Thats my $.02 worth.
Ciao all
Ron
:eek:
 
Coldwood said:
Skunk, I think I was the one who posted an 8 minute burn time for a PJ cotton ball. It was fully saturated. Rather than pull it apart, I left it in a lump like a heat tab. I timed it with a watch, I was pleasantly surprised ;)
Click to expand...

You probably told us before, but, how did you saturate them?
Or maybe, how MUCH did you saturate them?

Dip cotton ball into molten PJ??

I think 8 minutes is just outstanding!
That should be plenty enough time to dry, and get some tinder/kindling burning.
 
You got it, melted the PJ in a stainless steel measuring cup on the gas range. The cotton balls came as sort of squarish pads, so I held one corner with pliers and dipped it in, trying to keep one corner dry for easy lighting. The PJ still spread throughout the cotton ball. Then I stashed them in an AOL CD tin. I've started three outdoor fires with them in the past several weeks and they work just fine. If I pull them apart I get more flame but for fewer minutes...if I leave them as a lump I get smaller flame but more burn time.

For the last fire, Wednesday, I found some dead milkweed pods that still had the seeds and silky fluff in them, used that for tinder. Man, that stuff goes up in a flash...I'm going to harvest some more and add that to my now-growing tinder collection ;)
 
Coldwood said:
For the last fire, Wednesday, I found some dead milkweed pods that still had the seeds and silky fluff in them, used that for tinder. Man, that stuff goes up in a flash...I'm going to harvest some more and add that to my now-growing tinder collection ;)
Click to expand...

Hey Coldwood,

The pappus from Milkweed (Asclepias spp.) and Thistle (Cirsium spp.) will readily ignite from the sparks of a fuel-depleted Bic lighter (or any other make for that matter). One more reason, in a survival situation, you should never throw anything away.

Further to that, the chrome guard around the Bic can be removed, maybe straightened, and used as a gig to attract fish within spearing/gigging distance. You can break the bright colour cases and use pieces for the same purpose.

Doc
 
Thanks Doc...yes I'm waiting for one of my Bics to go dry so I can turn it into a sparker. All of these fire starting skills are getting to be a fun diversion, maybe because it's winter ;)
 
Hey Liam...


The Disco balls don't work worth a $hit...
Not any better than just the plain PJ/wax cotton ball..
The disco balls sparkles a little bit,,but not the effect I thought it would have...

Yes I made those waxed paper things in scouts as well...
They are good with matches or a flame,, but not so good with a thrown spark..

My PJ/Wax cotton balls easily attract a spark.. First or second throw,,and it ignites..

I especially like the wax in there as it doesn't make them as greasy to handle..
You still get a little greasy when you tear them up,, but just handling isn't bad..
You could always just tear them up a little with a couple of stick..
I don't like slippery greasy fingers so it works well for me...,,

Hey ron..

I like that carbide trick...

I've got one of those little gun barell smokers somewhere,, just can't find it right now..
Need to get some carbide,, mine all turned to powder...

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
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