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  1. #21

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    I like the cotton balls in Vaseline....but I figured why pay for cotton balls,so I use the free dryer lint my wife make every week works great...I use it without Vaseline for stuff that's easy to get started but if I need it to burn longer a little carmex lip balm mixed in on the trail works really well.

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Just Bill View Post
    I did the whole scout thing and dipped lotsa crap in wax. Tried/carried all the various strikers. Painted matches with nail polish. Had plastic cases and do-dads. Even a fair hand at fire by friction.

    That said-
    A mini-Bic in a pill bag is about 14grams. 5 cotton balls dipped in Vaseline and in a separate pill bag is about 10-14g.
    It is nearly impossible to find a more reliable or lighter weight system than this. Sealed in pill bags and kept in the bottom of a ditty bag or on your person and you are golden. Other than jumping on the lighter on a hard surface you can't mess up a bic. If it's wet you can dry the sparker. Not that it would, but if you run out of fluid, the sparker can light the cotton balls with some effort. Although as a smoker, it would take quite a few fires to cook off all the fluid in a full mini-bic. Simply make sure you stow a brand new one for your emergency lighter and you're fine.

    One "tip" on the cotton balls. I also do the melt and dip thing. I have noticed though that it's better to leave yourself a "wick". Pinch a bit of cotton and twist it up. Dip the ball holding the wick out of the Vaseline and set on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper to dry. The balls will light without it, but if saturated it's more like lighting a candle by burning though the wax to reach the wick.

    Putting some balls in a baggie with Vaseline and rubbing or mushing them works well because you don't saturate the ball, so they will light easy or with a spark. But dipping them will double their burn time (up to 15 min) and weigh little more.
    If you like a spark and striker method- rub em.
    If you carry a bic or match- dip em.
    Well said Just Bill. I've done a fair amount of back country survival education. A lot of primitive stuff. And all though I have taken fire by friction courses, one of the main take a ways from the course EVERY one of my teacher's always mentioned, usually with a smirk grin on their face, "see why you should always carry a bic lighter in your pocket"..

    it's true, they are really hard to beat and very reliable. I think most people have the fear, what if it gets wet or its cold and won't light. There are numerous methods to drying the striker on a bic. And if it's too cold for the bic to light. Put it under your armpit for 5 minutes.

    Even if you run out of fuel, you still have many many sparks left from the striker. Even if it breaks in half. You can still get sparks from the striker.

    It's 2015, and it's hard to find a better primary firestarter in your pocket than a bic-lighter. I prefer mini-bics for weight, and in bright colors when playing in the woods. orange or neon green for me.

    I love messing around with ferro rods, and use them often. But for camp fire starting and the occasional smoke, I prefer a bic.

    With the cotton balls, I like to smear some on the outside of a few then throw them in a ziplock. After being handled they kind of mush together in the bag. When I take one out, I open up the cotton ball and reveal some dry fibers which take a flame or spark easily.

    I encourage people to learn about natural fire starters that the woods provides for us though. Those are real "emergency" fire starters. Also look around your pack.. do you carry vaseline, toilet paper, maps, hand sanitizer, a torch stove, paper, a bandana or anything cotton, even wool clothing, etc, etc, etc.

    A lot of stuff burns. Knowing how to build fire is way more important than a firestarter. It helps, but don't think your guaranteed fire cause you have an emergency fire starter.

  3. #23

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    This trick works exactly as shown, using cheap, available materials:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdQgzqoQLYs

  4. #24
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    The classic "how to coat your balls" thread comes to mind ;-)

    http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...vaseline+balls

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Just Bill View Post
    I did the whole scout thing and dipped lotsa crap in wax. Tried/carried all the various strikers. Painted matches with nail polish. Had plastic cases and do-dads. Even a fair hand at fire by friction.

    That said-
    A mini-Bic in a pill bag is about 14grams. 5 cotton balls dipped in Vaseline and in a separate pill bag is about 10-14g.
    It is nearly impossible to find a more reliable or lighter weight system than this. Sealed in pill bags and kept in the bottom of a ditty bag or on your person and you are golden. Other than jumping on the lighter on a hard surface you can't mess up a bic. If it's wet you can dry the sparker. Not that it would, but if you run out of fluid, the sparker can light the cotton balls with some effort. Although as a smoker, it would take quite a few fires to cook off all the fluid in a full mini-bic. Simply make sure you stow a brand new one for your emergency lighter and you're fine.

    One "tip" on the cotton balls. I also do the melt and dip thing. I have noticed though that it's better to leave yourself a "wick". Pinch a bit of cotton and twist it up. Dip the ball holding the wick out of the Vaseline and set on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper to dry. The balls will light without it, but if saturated it's more like lighting a candle by burning though the wax to reach the wick.

    Putting some balls in a baggie with Vaseline and rubbing or mushing them works well because you don't saturate the ball, so they will light easy or with a spark. But dipping them will double their burn time (up to 15 min) and weigh little more.
    If you like a spark and striker method- rub em.
    If you carry a bic or match- dip em.
    How do u safely heat the jelly to dip?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  6. #26
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    I've always just rubbed my balls......guess I'll try the dipping next...can u say t bagging....


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  7. #27
    Registered User kayak karl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AT Traveler View Post
    For what its worth, cotton balls in vaseline is what I use for a fail-safe fire starter in winter or summer. They burn well for a surprisingly long time and are very light to carry. I use old Rx vials to put them in. They work with about any ignition source from a match, to lighter, to a magneisum striker.
    and they have dual use tucked away
    I'm so confused, I'm not sure if I lost my horse or found a rope.

  8. #28
    Registered User Just Bill's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by saltysack View Post
    How do u safely heat the jelly to dip?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    For your next tea bagging event-

    The old no-mess scout troop method is easy enough-
    Get a 16 ounce soup/bean can and put it on a tea candle stove. (To build the stove-put four tent stakes in the ground, or 4 16d 3" nails in a board- elevate the "pot" about 2.5" or so.) In scouts we used a little tongs so no little fingers got burnt, now that I am a grown up male and foolishly unconcerned about my safety I can simply dip them with my fingers. Trimming the top off the can makes this easier if you want to bother. A beer (pop) can works fine too and is easier to trim.

    All you alky burners can of course devote a case of aluminum cans and a months time to find the most efficient burner/pot combo.

    That said- when your batch is made- just toss the rig away.

    Or what I do now-
    I have a simmer burner on my stove and I just use the smallest sauce pan I have to warm the Vaseline. Dump a half cup or more in to melt, feed a spoonful in as you go to keep the temp down or simply kill the flame if it starts getting too warm on your bits and pieces. Skin burns ruin any good t-bagging party quickly!

    I have granite counters in my current house, so I just put aluminum foil on the counter and dry my balls that way.

    I take a handful of extra balls at the end and use them to wipe out the pot, I store those in the Vaseline container to use by the backyard pit. Then I wash the pot. Yes, I am a rocket scientist.

    IIRC- it takes about 8 ounces of petroleum jelly (use generic) to do fifty or so balls. More if you use you wear cowboy boots.
    http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...electedIndex=0

  9. #29
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    Cotton balls and Vaseline and a ferrocerium rod are what I have in my tinderbox.

    My tinderbox is an Altoids tin, and goes in a pocket rather than in my pack. This past autumn, I fell in whitewater in pouring rain with the air temperature in the low 30s F. Fortunately, I got out WITH my pack, but I needed fire PDQ. If I'd had to ditch my pack to swim out, I'd still have had my tinderbox.

    (I at least learnt that I can still make a fire in pouring rain.)
    I always know where I am. I'm right here.

  10. #30

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    While we are on the subject,let's not forget the totally effortless 0000 steel wool "wet or dry" method.This young man in the video makes an excellent presentation.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-p2xGGZVIk

  11. #31

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    If you really want to get learn more about fire making in the back country nothing beats real world experience. However, as a former student, I can't recommend Dave Canterbury's fire school on youtube.

    There's like 15 videos and some of them are an hour long. His introductory class to firemaking is using a bow drill and making friction by fire. Why? To explain why you should always carry a bic lighter lol.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fONz...t5skTtSGZIrvSy

    but seriously, there's a ton of great information in his fire making video series. If you watch them beginning to end, I can guarantee you'll be much more confident about building a fire in the woods.

    But you need to go practice.

  12. #32

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    whoops... I can't recommend ENOUGH

  13. #33

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    Thanks.I will check out Mr. Canterbury's rainy day tutorials.That's where I am challenged.

  14. #34

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    I like cotton balls with a bit of vaseline (maybe a pea-sized dab, massaged into the ball). For a less greasy option, use melted wax or parafin instead. In a pinch, use your first aid ointment (you have some, right?) and TP (you have some, right?) to make a fire starter.
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  15. #35
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    Hey, Just Bill--
    Thanks for the clear explanation!!

  16. #36
    Registered User Gray Bear's Avatar
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    Like others the vaseline on a cotton ball, light, easy and cheap. I stuff mine in a section of drinking straw cut down to about an inch or so an then pinch the ends with some needle nosed pliers and melt them to keep things neat. I have a fire steel as well but the mini Bic is hard to beat, use a zip tie to keep the button on it from being pressed in your kit.
    The best journeys answer questions that in the beginning you didn't even know to ask.

  17. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    i make my own fire starters using the paper egg cartons, sawdust and wax...... cheap as all get out and hasnt failed me in 30 some years........... burns for about 45 minutes or so, which is plenty of time to get the other wood ablaze............
    Try dryer lint if you can't get sawdust.

  18. #38

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    Try lighting a peanut. Seriously. Also pine tar with debris from dried leaves (in the autumn especially.)

  19. #39
    Registered User somers515's Avatar
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    I use dryer lint with a little candle wax currently.

  20. #40
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    Braid 3 cotton strings. Melt bee's wax in double boiler. Coil braided string and immerse in melted wax. Remove slowly once saturated. Coil will straighten as you remove it. Hang over wax paper. Once dry, cut to desired lengths. A couple inches will suffice.

    I saw this process on a blog that I can no longer find. It was an older fellow that demonstrated it. I tried many iterations of cotton and wax or petroleum products. I settled on the above because of ease of storage and weight to function ratio. If I find the video, I will post it.
    In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln

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