Iceman's Homemade Firestarter

[ICEMAN]

Here is a thread I wrote a few years back about firestarters. I was dinking around with trying to make a firestarter that would work after I dunked it under water. Here is what I came up with, they work very well, straight out of water.

Here is what I wrote:


Best Homemade Firestarter of all time, so far...

It seems like every year I try to re-invent the firestarter thing around here. I am done with the lint thingy, the diesel saturated sawdust, the eggshell container/wax/ and lint thingy.... And for my river fishing hikes, (where guys have fallen into the river and gone downstream far enough to crawl out of the water already suffering from hypothermia and cannot make a fire to warm themselves), I have even cut a road flare into quarters, drilled holes in the ends, put a birthday candle fuse in and then dipped the whole thing in wax, looks like a crude bomb of sorts..... Cedar shavings, waxed paper, purell hand cleaner, and superglue...

I was looking for a no b.s. firestarter. Something relatively small that would give someone lost and cold a really good chance of getting a fire going. Out here in the Pacific Northwest, forest fuels are most often damp. Getting a fire going can sometimes be a challenge, and from what I have studied, when lost, cold, and not generally thinking strait, even those with advanced woodsman skills can be challenged by a simple fire.

Here is what I have come up with;

The Undertaker

(If you can't get a fire going with this thingy, start digging....)

Take a piece of waxed paper, 2 inch by 8 inch, fold it up until you end up with a piece about square (2" by 2"). Take scissors and cut the non folded end about half way thru with many parallel cuts. Your final product will sort of look like a waxed paper comb. This is your tinder.

Wrap a thin birthday candle in the waxed paper comb/tinder thingy, so the wick of the candle protrudes about 1/2" past the waxed paper. See photo below to help with lousy description... This is your fuse.

Have thread handy, and begin wrapping three magic relighting birthday candles around the waxed paper and other candle. Your final product has a fuse end, a bunch of waxed paper tinder frayed out and protruding inside of three birthday joke candles. Wrap tightly, and then several dunkings into some melted wax to hold the whole thing together. Avoid dipping too far so as not to wax over the waxed paper tinder shag at the end of the device.

My idea was this. I wanted a device that had an obvious fuse...would not blow out, and would provide lots of flame, for a long time.

Results; The Undertaker; they start immediately, do not blow out, and burn for over fifteen minutes. What more do you want....?


       

[Gobble]

Good idea, I like the cotton balls dipped in Petrolium jelly(aka vaseline) as well, they are waterproof and burn well.

[rasbo]

great job Iceman! But with global warming becoming such a problem,I would like you to design some Ice that doesnt melt ........fritos work good but I dont think they are water proof

[1bowhunter1]

Thats a great idea!!  I will keep that in mind.

[elkoholic]

try fine steel wool and a 9v battery.. just touch the ends of the battery to the steel wool-getts freekin hot!!!!! pretty cool actually. I replace battery every year from the ones I remove from my smoke detectors.. oh yeah keep them separate from each other in the pack..

[Machias]

I would just hate lugging them three bricks around with me all the time though!

[KillBilly]

I would just hate lugging them three bricks around with me all the time though!

Right on Fred, I started to say the same thing. Figured after falling in and floating down stream, the bricks would drown me and a fire would be a moot point. I held back, but since you started it, that is funny.

[runamuk]

Way cool.......

[saylean]

Looks like a candle version of a sparkler bomb...

[sisu]

Iceman, Never, I repeat NEVER, drive to Canada and back with those things in your vehicle. You'll end up getting a rubber glove exam as part of the search. 

[ICEMAN]

I would just hate lugging them three bricks around with me all the time though!

 

Strap them to your hounds! 

[Machias]

My mules would even object!!   

Great tip. thanks for posting Iceman!

[Huntbear]

that is very ingenious and will now be added to my pack!  Thanks

[huntnphool]

Very cool Ice, I will have to make some up

[Hacksaw]

Thanks for taking the time to show us all. I actually have all the materials laying around the house. Think I'll try making some up this weekend.

[robb92]

Interesting and cool, will have to make some and throw in the pack.

[ICEMAN]

Wow guys....glad you like.... 

Maybe I should have started to sell them     

Hey just kidding...really a fun little rainy day project....take over the kitchen! Test fire a few in the living room!

[Skyvalhunter]

Great idea Ice thanks for sharing!!!

[addicted]

sweet ice.

maybe some of you youngins that weren't around for it,

is this the one ice?
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,4351.msg46526.html#msg46526

[NoBark]

Have you guys tried the cotton balls with vasaline rubbed into them until they are soaked?  Works darn good.

For kicks though, you gotta get a couple of Frito brand "Frito's" chips and light 'em off.
Dang things burn for like 4 minutes

[Michelle_Nelson]

   I just tried lighting a frito.  Thats pretty cool. 

Now I will be wondering around the house tomarrow trying to light different things on fire just to see what happens. 

[logger]

I keep little slivers of pitch from an old stump in my pack works pretty good.

[ICEMAN]

  I just tried lighting a frito.  Thats pretty cool. 

Now I will be wondering around the house tomarrow trying to light different things on fire just to see what happens. 

Really? Try this then; unzip your bean bag chair and throw a lighted match inside and see what happens....   Have a hose ready and you may want to call 911 first....

[Michelle_Nelson]

  I just tried lighting a frito.  Thats pretty cool. 

Now I will be wondering around the house tomarrow trying to light different things on fire just to see what happens. 

Really? Try this then; unzip your bean bag chair and throw a lighted match inside and see what happens....   Have a hose ready and you may want to call 911 first....

Don't know if I will need a hose.  I will throw it out in the yard on top of the 2 feet of snow, lol.

It would just be my luck that I don't have a bean bag chair.  Next time I am at Wal-Mart I think I will buy one. 

[stumprat]

I keep little slivers of pitch from an old stump in my pack works pretty good.

 

[logger]

thanks man I thought I was the only one . my dad always told told me what i needed was usalluly right in front of me.

[farmin4u_98948]

Good stuff but you still have to get it to light. Whats the fool proof way to do that.

[ICEMAN]

Good stuff but you still have to get it to light. Whats the fool proof way to do that.

Personally, I am always sure to carry an old fashioned bic lighter on a cord around my neck when out in the woods. I am also have a lighter, and a few different types of matches in my fire kit in my pack. Plus that last resort magnesium/ferrocium fire starter.....overkill I'm sure, but I am a wuss and worry about it....

[M_ray]

Dude your'e like Mcguyver!! And then look at you using the Mythbusters testing site!!!

Oh and BTW Michelle if you are going to carry around the bean bag chair hunting you may need a bigger pack!

[Wolf Track]

This is a great idea Iceman...

I've been teaching survival classes for the last couple years and this will be a good one to show others...

With your permission of course...

We have so much beetle kill out here any more that it's very easy to come up with a high energy fire starter...

I've cut my teeth in the Cascades and Olympics and fires were one of our biggest concerns...

One of the little fire starters we built in Scouts:


Film container
Wax
Candle wick
Small weights


Put the weight on the end of the wick
Place it in center bottom of container
Pour in wax

When wax hardens and makes a little candle inside the film container, put the lid on

If you don't fill them totally full, they will float and even if moisture gets in, they will light if wet

If memory serves me right, these seem to burn for 10-20 minutes depending on how large you make the wick

The larger the wick, the faster but hotter it burns

They will last for ever and are hard enough to not crush in a rough and tumble hunting/hiking pack...

[ICEMAN]

Go for it! Nothing would make me happier than to have one of these little fire starters save someone from hypothermia or worse...

[Wolf Track]

Thanks!!!

That's the exact reason I like to teach

[ICEMAN]

I tossed one of these firestarters under a pile of loggin debris on property we own. 

[fishingnut71]

Im wondering if I can take it on a plane??Probably, just put it in your carry on.

[uncoolperson]

my mom's no bake cookies start a fire right quick.

[ICEMAN]

Bump

[Bigshooter]

I always pack cotton balls covered in vasoline and one of the square batteries with a piece of steel wool in my back pack.  Never had a problem starting a fire.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I saw these posts and was kind of curious, After reading all the input from everyone else, why nobody has mentioned a basic fire starting tip I learned from my father (who grew up on a homestead in Canada before becoming an American Citizen to go fight in WWII )
He told me "The dryest wood in the forest is still hanging on the trees"
The branches on the inside of the tree, close to the trunk of almost every evergreen are dead dry and protected from the elements from the outer live branches.
The thicker the woods, the more dead branches there are, on just about any kind of tree.
I have never had a problem getting a fire started, as long as I had a dependable source of flame, even have successfully started a fire with a "Bow and Drill" as part of a course I took back in 1978 called "Wilderness Survival/Camper Safety" put on by Explorer Scouts.

[ICEMAN]

From what I understand, the problem with many firestarters is that the person needing the fire has usually waited to long to get one going. They are cold, probably hypothermic, and do not have the dexterity to make fire from a bow and drill. I have even read that some guys are found dead with a lighter in their hand, poor tinder that was wet....

This was why I wanted something that would light extremely easy, and not go out, to give me the maximum chance of getting a lifesaving fire going....the waxed paper tinder really lights easy.

I just hope if I ever need the survival fire, I have my wits about me, and realize early enough how dire the situation is....

[Bob33]

Good idea, I like the cotton balls dipped in Petrolium jelly(aka vaseline) as well, they are waterproof and burn well.

+1.  Easy, cheap, quick to make, lightweight, burn hot and long.  Cram about 10 in a 35mm film canister (check photo labs; they still have them.)

[Black Plague]

hey Miles...that stuff does work great but is a HUGE RIP-OFF, its exactly the same as Weber Fire Starter except like 4-5 times as expensive....they are like 5 grams each and the Weber ones are 11 grams and come in a 24 pack for like 4.50 to 5.00 dollars versus 8 of the wetfire for 8 bucks... same stuff...so, yeah you can probably google it and find out its the same stuff... the packaging is nice in the wetfire though