Waxed Jute Help

C Bryant

C Bryant

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Jul 12, 2008
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I put a little fire kit together a while back and I included some shredded jute twine, which is fantastic for getting a flame from an ember. I also included some small bundles of jute twine which were to be dipped in beeswax for use as a good fire starter. I did not have any wax at the time. Since then I have acquired some beeswax and decided to dip them to finally test the results. I THOUGHT that the wax was not only there for waterproofing, but was good for taking a spark from a ferro rod and igniting the jute to burn like a candle of sorts. I had no luck at all with this. Am I using it in the wrong way? Is it just a good fire accelerate for when you already have the flame, or do I have the right idea and am just not doing something right? Any insight would be appreciated.

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i have never used beeswax for this application, i would think parafin (the stuff that they use for candle making) would work better. however, ithink you should be able to get the beeswax to work. just leave part of the dipped jute un-dipped, as in it has no wax on it. then catch you spark on that part. then it ought to catch on the wax.
 
BarberFobic1992 said:
just leave part of the dipped jute un-dipped, as in it has no wax on it. then catch you spark on that part. then it ought to catch on the wax.
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:thumbup: that is some good advice. The wax will prevent the spark from reaching the jute. If you leave an inch or two unwaxed, then spark the unwaxed portion, you should be able able to get flame going. Jute twine is great stuff!!
 
I've been wanting to try this myself, but I think I have an idea. Take some of the wax covered jute and rub it between your fingers to see if will take some of the wax out. Maybe that will help it you can then get the spark to take on that spot. I think it would be best to do it on the ends, but it may not matter.

Otherwise you may need to add some non-waxed dipped jute for tinder.
 
You could try rubbing the jute across the block of wax. It would wax it on the outside but not soak all the way through.
 
doesnt matter what wax you use. Soak the whole thing for waterproofness. To use them, take a rock or the back of your knife and smash up the jute/wax, until its spread apart and the wax if all crumbly.

now spark it!
 
Thanks for those tips guys. Bushman5 I will definitely be giving that a shot. I need to dip more and try all of the tips you guys gave me. Keep them coming!
 
Hey, that's pretty cool. We don't have Birch trees around here (San Diego, Ca), but I think I could find another bark that might work (some Yucca comes to mind).
 
Ok, here are the pics. I tried smashing it with a rock without much luck. It just make one big blob of waxy jute. I'm sure if I spent a bit more time smashing it may have worked.
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I finally decided to use my fingernails and pull apart the stands. I only did about half of one side.
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Took me about ten minutes to get it to light, but it did!!
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Got a nice tall flame
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The flame died down, but it kept burning.
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After about 10 minutes (holy cow, I did not expect it to burn that long!), it burned down to a big round ember and kept glowing for a few minutes at that stage. I blew on it a bit and it flamed up, so it would have been very easy to add some tinder and get a fire at this stage too.
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Thanks for the tips everyone. I'm still going to try some other suggestions and see how those work.
 
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