big flame firestarter

hello,

just thought id share an idea ive been testing out recently. its basically a candle with a 3-4 inch flame that burns for 15-20minutes. its very small and lightweight too.

all u need to do to make one is a candle burning for about 20min, any candle will work. then once there is a decent sized pool of wax, dip one side of a cotton ball in it.

blow the candle out and let it harden. do this process whenever u have the candle lit, only dip another side in wax so roughly 3/4 of cotton ball is covered in wax wit just one spot exposed. the thicker u make the shell the longer the firestarter will burn.

helps for starting fires in the more rainy conditions and is very cheap to make. plus you get to play with fire, who would complain about that.
jake

Hmmm...I wonder how a bunch of those in a small can would work as a stove.

Maybe the common analogy would be the old tin can with cardboard spiral and wax filling the inside. We made those in scouts a looong time ago.

There are differences, and similarities.

The idea of a bigger flame than a tea candle is attractive because I always thought that those long times to almost boil were not that practical.

We used to do something similar. Melt parafin and dip strips of newspaper in it and roll & tie off with string.

Vaseline rubbed into cotton balls makes a good fire starter without the danger of melting wax. You can light them with the spark from a defunct butane lighter.

second cotton balls and vaseline.pull a tuft of cotten kind of dry it with your fingers hit with my gerber and a heavily soaked ball will burn for five min easily.
Also cant blow out birthday candles are great fire starters.
Or find you a damaged pine and get some pitch harder to get the pitch ging but when it does its wicked.