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.