Fire Starter
Hi. I start my fires in the winter with a paper cup filled with mixed wood and wax shavings. It gives me a larger and hotter fire than just a candle. When I make them I use pie wood (it burns fast and is easy to light) normal candle wax, normal little ketchup cups and a match. Fill the cup with wax and wood shavings. Shove a match in the side( you may have to shorten it) and then drip molten wax over the top of the cup and the match head. As the paper cup is waxed, this little thing is pretty waterproof (i.e. especially good for canoes/kayaks). When you are ready to use, scrap the wax off the match head with a fingernail (preferably your own;)) light the match and position so the rest of the wood chips start burning. Cover with thumb sized wood and build up from there. Enjoy!!
Ronald Hempel - rhempel@cc.UManitoba.CA
PS: a little experimentation is need to get things right.
PPS: I forgot to mention that if you are an avid sunflower seed eater, the empty shells work great for a replacement for wood shavings!!
Fire Starter II
Take a standard blue tip match, "spin" a pinch of dryer lint (Cotton is best) onto the stem (tightly) until you have a big ol' Q-tip looking thing. The lint wad should be approx. 1/4" dia. all along the stem of the match, but leave the tip exposed. Dip the whole thing into and out of melted paraffin (use a double boiler to melt the paraffin or you'll have a REALLY nice fire), wait a few seconds for it to cool slightly, and spin between your fingers again to "dress" the shape before the paraffin sets. Set it aside on a piece of foil to finish cooling. As long as you have the stove fired up make about a hundred or so. It's fun to do and it really pisses the wife off to have to clean up the drips.
I scatter them all through my gear - My fishing vest, hunting coat, camp shirt pockets, pack, chuck box etc. That way I usually have one when I need it. They burn for about 5 minutes and are pretty darn waterproof. After a year or two in a fishing vest, the blue tip usually gets soft and no longer ignites, but flame it with a bic for a second and your in business.
P.S. = If you have a pet (or a wife) that sheds, beware of hairs in your dryer lint - they don't smell so good when you fire one of these babies up.
S. Gleason
Fire Starter III
Here is a tip for making fire starters. Take some old egg cartons, half fill them with wood chips, and half with lint from your clothes drier. Pour melted wax over the top and let it dry. These work well, and burn for a long time. You can use one just by ripping it off, or use a full dozen to start a really stubborn and wet fire.
from someone at @oxford.net
Fire Starter IV
A good water-resistant system for starting fires is cotton balls smeared heavily in Vaseline. You can buy a bag of cotton balls, empty the bag and then smear each one with a healthy dallop of Vaseline and put it back in the bag the cotton balls came in, be careful to not shred the bag when you open it. Dryer lint balls would probably work also, but I haven't tried those.
Paul Nichols
Fire Starter V
what you need:
egg carton (the cardboard kind)
wax (from old candles, crayons, etc.)
coffee can
dryer lint (at least a couple loads accumulation)
aluminium foil
Put the wax in the coffee can and melt it over medium to medium high heat on your stove (Caution- hot wax can cause severe burns, take the appropriate precautions!!!). As you are melting the wax you can then start stuffing the dryer lint into the egg carton. Put the egg carton on top of a piece of foil (this is to protect the surface of your countertop, or whatever you put it on). When the wax is done melting, pour it over the lint in the egg carton. Let it cool. When cooled, you can break off sections of the egg carton and use as fire starter.
Sara Walhovd
Fire Starter VI
For a easy quick starter use a one inch square piece
of ceiling tile. The kind that are used in drop-in suspended ceilings. These are
then diped in melted parafin after which they will burn great. Be sure to use a
double boiler to melt the parafin or it could catch on fire. You can make
hundreds out of one old used tile. You can make them larger but if you do you
will need to leave them in the wax longer. Also you can use newspaper roled up
and cut in two inch pices with a piece of string tied around each. Then dip
these in wax also.
David Conner
Fire Starter VII
Need to build a fire but worried about finding dry
kindling and don't want to pack in paper? Take dryer lint. Extremely compact and
weighs virtually nothing. I take it even when we car camp, because it starts any
fire fast!! Tried and true!! Would love to take the credit for this idea, but it
actually came from a friend of mine's Grandmother.
Betty Robertson, 87 and still hiking.
Fire Starter VIII
"Candle Kisses"
Required:
Candle stubs
Waxed paper
Save the stubs from your candles. Cut them into lengths about 1.5" to 2"
long. The longer the stub, the longer the fire starter will burn.
Tear off strips of waxed paper. The stips should be several inches wider than
the candle stub. Place one candle stub, centered on the narrow end of the strip.
Roll the candle stub up in the waxed paper. Twist each end of the waxed paper
several times so that they are secure.
When required, light the twisted end of the waxed paper.
Children love to make these as they are quick. They also have the benefit of
being very inexpensive and do not require the melting of any wax.
This fire started has been used successfully for a long time by the Girl
Guides of Canada!
Leslie Bown
