Homemade Fire Starter

This was posted to rec.backcountry by Alan Silverstein
ajs@hpfcso.fc.hp.com

A friend who's been a professional candle-maker showed me a nifty fire kindling method that I'll share with you. It's fun and easy to make light-weight (1/2 ounce) "fire starter cups" -- really fire kindlers -- you'll still need a match, lighter, etc. to get them going, but they work great! I will start to carry a couple in my daypack as emergency fire starters or heat sources.

Supplies needed:
1 ounce (4 tsp) paper cups, the kind supermarkets use for handing out samples or fast food places supply so you can pump ketchup, etc. into them. They're roughly 1" diameter and 3/4" high. (I tried plastic cups, but the plastic just doesn't burn as fast and clean as paper.)

Candle wick; just 1" or so for each cup. Should be cheap at any hobby store. Dense cotton twine dipped in melted wax might work as well. Unlike normal candles, the wick doesn't have to burn alone for very long, it's just for starting the cup, so quality doesn't matter.

Candle wax; a tiny amount really. A typical ice cube sized chunk would make 2-3 fire starters.

How to do it:
Put a wick in each cup so it comes up the side and over the lip. Fold it over the lip to hold it in place. It doesn't even have to be long enough to touch the bottom of the cup, just the side. Set the cups on newspaper or something to catch any drips.

Melt some wax. A safe way to do this is to put the wax in a clean tin (steel) can, set the can in a small pot with 1" or so of water in bottom, and heat the pan on the stove on *low* heat -- the water shouldn't even boil. Be patient. This melts the wax safely although slowly. Warning: The can might leave a small rust mark on the pan bottom -- you might try an aluminum can instead.

Grab the can of hot wax with pliers or a pot holder and pour the melted wax into the cups. You don't even need to fill them. The wax shrinks when it melts, but you'll find that even a half-full cup burns long and hot enough to do the job. Let the cups cool.

When ready to use one of these fire starters, fold up the wick and light it. The fire quickly spreads around the lip of the cup, after which the cup acts like a circular wick. The result is a small, hot fire about 1" across and 5-10" high that will easily start large twigs burning, with no need for any other kindling. A typical cup burns 5-10 minutes by itself.