I was messing around with my flint (fire starter) the other day and I had a "fleece" type towel laying next to where I was working. Well that started me thinking. Yeah I know.. Any way I cut several small strips of this towel (being as it wasn't being used) and then took my pocket knife and kind of "roughed it up" a little until it looked frayed. Then I took small dabs of Vaseline and rubbed it on it real good. I took my flint and all of a sudden with the first spark it went up in flames and "get this" burned for around 4-5 minutes. Has any one else here ever tried any thing like that? I have to say that it weighs nothing and enough to start 20-30 fires stores in a container about half the size of a 35mm film canister.
No more worries about wet matches. Hope that this can help some body lighten their load even if it is only a few ounces...sabre11004...

The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there...

I hardly carry matches anymore. Haven't for a long time. I carry my flint and steel and for tinder, I make my own charcloth. I can't count how many times that I have astonished Boy Scouts with how quick I can start a fire, even in wet conditions. Granted, the tinder is only part of the equation. I have been thinking about trying the Vaseline-soaked cotton balls though. Something to add to my survival kit and something else to help out the Boy Scouts in my troop (I'm the Scoutmaster).

If it were me, I wouldn't use fleece material, or any other synthetic material. They tend to give off more toxic fumes when burned than using something more natural, like cotton. The char cloth mention above would be much better.
The other option of course is some dryer lint. Again, from a cycle that has cotton clothing is better.

I don't know if you would call this stuff fleece it just kind of reminded me of the feel of fleece, however with that being said I do still think that it would be a synthetic material. With the little experience that I have had with this stuff and the few times that I have burned it, it burns down to nothing. There is barely a small black char mark where it was by the time it goes out, but again I know what you are saying about the fumes and all. Nominal compared to all the other stuff that goes on unattended but "we" should do a better job of protecting our wilderness so that we can use it for many many years to come. Besides we can always pack something that small back out with us...sabre11004...


The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there...

It sounds like a really soft cotton towel. There is a name for it, but it escapes me. You could always char it and make it even better. If it doesn't char, then it isn't cotton. If you want to know how to make char cloth, Jason Klass made video. There is a thread in the Lite Gear Talk called "Free Gear". The link is in that thread.

I use dryer lint/cattail heads extensively - it's my favorite method in winter because it takes a spark from a firesteel, and I find whacking the firesteel takes the least amount of coordination of anything. Yes, char cloth would work too, but with char cloth I have to catch a spark and blow it into flame. dryer lint just takes off burning..

I also have found dryer lint to be an amazing fire starter.

I had my first experience with dryer lint last night. You would think that as long as I have been hiking that I would have at least tried it, but no, this was my first. And it was a great experience too. I jumped one spark into the lint and it took to flame like nothing I have ever seen. Hell it's better than a lot of stuff that is made to do that. Kinda of makes you wonder with all that lint in the dryer and all that heat. Damned, it almost sounds dangerous to me. My wife says that she cleans it out every time so that doesn't happen, so I guess I now have a life time supply of a great fire starter. Thanks for the great tip. I have already gotten some rubbed down in Vaseline and stored in small film container. That's enough for around 20-30 fires depending on the wind and weather conditions.. sabre11004...

The first step that you take will be of those that get you there !!!!!

Well I finally made me some char cloth last night and it worked great too. Hell I won't be able to "not" start a fire if we keep this up. We'll have more fire starter than we have any thing else. I think that I have so many different ways to start a fire that I could start a fire in any condition or weather. That was a great tip on the char cloth and I had been hearing about it for so long that I finally saw a video of it being made and it was so simple that I just had to try it and it worked great. Thanks to every one for the ideas...sabre11004...

The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there !!!!!

Thanks Phat! Pretty funny. I was all set to order some more tinder-quik tabs when I thought I too might as well try dryer lint mixed with petroleum jelly. I got the same results using a sparklite and the first spark got it going. In fact, it seemed to light almost as well as the tinder-quik tabs. The petroleum jelly doesn't make it light any easier but does help it burn much longer than without it. I packed a small film cannister with a lint/pj mixture and it weighs about .5 oz on my scale.

This is a useful discussion...

With skill, flint and steel is more reliable than matches (even the strike anywhere type break down, get soggy, and won't light) or lighters (if you turn them on long enough, like trying to light a fire the plastic melts and then you are SOL).

Well perhaps, but understand, I'm not using a "flint and steel" - I'm using a firesteel - this thing:



They're a manufactured rod - "ferrocium" - designed to spark. they're not a "flint and steel" - they're a *lot* easier to spark and produce a lot hotter and more sparks than a real flint and steel. A firesteel is easy with *really good dry tinder* like dryer lint. and
can even ignite dry toilet paper shredded up.

A flint and steel produces a lot less sparks, and needs something like char cloth to catch the spark, and a lot of care to get it going... I also don't use it as my *only* source of fire. I have matches and/or a lighter with me. So please don't get macho ideas of venturing out with only a flint and steel (or firesteel) and trying to start a fire in a driving sleetstorm with it.

Try it without the petroleum jelly.

These fire starter discussions happen a couple of times a year.
I too have one of those "light my fire" sparkers.
Still, on a cold wet day, or night, when your hands hurt, a match still wins for me. You get fire instantly, skipping the tender/spark part. Paraffin dipped paper towel balls will burn in a rain storm for 5 minutes, and so will squares of bicycle inner tube. Esbit too. About the same idea as dryer lint, but I think burns longer, gram for gram.
I use that fire steel rod to light camp stoves. It failed me in high wind trying to light toilet paper.
I've had flint and steel do nothing but make my hands ache when the fire gods wouldn't cooperate.
Keeping your matches dry is the same thing as keeping your tinder dry, and probably easier.
Its fun/wise to practice survival fire starting techniques, but technology provides us several reliable methods of instant fire....beginning with the match. I'd suggest everyone test your fire starter idea du jour in a practical situation...backyard, cold, windy,rainy day...before relaying on it in the boonies. (some of you have. A warning for newbies)

I carry the Scout Firesteel as well and have used tinder I have shaved with a knife, paper towels, cotton t-shirt sections and of course cotton balls with herbal salve or petroleum jelly based Triple Antibiotic ointment. I figure why not have the ointment for burns, cuts or scrapes when needed and use it for making fire too.

These things shower your target with multiple warheads and will light up a cotton ball with one sweep of the scraper (this is the larger Military model);



Just rub a little in right when you want to make fire. You don’t have to saturate the cotton. An make sure you are buying 100% cotton balls and not some of the synthetics they offer these days.



I carry a Bic as well for backup and convenience and Girlfriend always has her matches.

Regarding dryer lint, although it works either way, it is MUCH more flammable if you use dryer sheets. By the way so is the stuff that accumulates in your dryer.

As for firesteels, I've found a huge difference in the shower of sparks depending on the scraper used. The one that came with my Magfire is smooth and doesn't put out a ton of sparks. I used my buddy's serrated one and the difference was amazing. I'm going to tried and true pieces of a hacksaw blade from now on.

Vaseline soaked cotton balls always work for me and burn plenty long enough to get something going.

2 BIC lighters - 1.4 oz will GUARANTEE a fire (.) period.

Sometimes if I am lazy and the weather is awful, I'll use an esbit to light a fire.

BUT

Although making a fire by alternate methods (spark, friction) is fun, to pretend that you need chemical accelerants to light a fire is like carrying lighter fluid or a propane torch. I have made it through nearly 50 years of extensive BPing and maybe half a dozen times I have used a "fire starter" or propane stove, to start a very wet fire. Chemical firestarter accelerants have no place in a modern backpack except as entertainment for the user. They certainly are not required.

Just my $.02
Jim

Depends. If someone is in the situation of the protagonist in Jack London's "To Build a FIre," which I'm sure all of us have read, they need all the help they can get! A piece of "better living through chemistry" (not available back then) might have saved his life. I fell into a creek last summer myself, but the temp was in the upper 40's (above zero, not below) and my insulated clothing and sleeping bag were all in dry bags, so they stayed dry. I really didn't need to use them; I was able to warm up and dry out with 10-15 minutes of fast hiking. (Well, relatively fast, for me.)

I used to be really good at the "one-match fire." However, since I started using a stove and eschewing a fire, I've gotten out of practice, as I found out when trying to show off my skills to my granddaughter! Moral: Do NOT boast to your grandchildren!

Then there are those REI emergency matches, which (unlike the cheaper kind, which require a regular match or lighter to light them), light easily and burn like a rocket motor for several minutes. With those, a fire starter is unnecessary. They still seem like cheating, though!

Man, I forgot about reading that story. It is definitely a classic. I think I read it in Middle School and loved it then.

I find it alot harder to use a small hobo stove or even a Kelly Kettle when its -20F. A regular sized bic is alot easier to flick and you can flick it a few more times before you have to rewarm it and your hands. The main problem though is fuel. When its that cold everything is snappy and so your not sure what is dry and what is just wet and frozen, especially in the dark. Spruce sticks dead on the tree, and Paper Birch Bark are always safe bets, but not always available, especially when its dark, and even when they are they can sometimes have ice in them in winter.

For winter I think a large hobo stove is needed, or you need to go to a small campfire, or maybe use something like an esbit tab as a kicker. I don't normally like the idea of carrying fuel when I can burn wood, but I think a few kickers for special occassions are a good idea in winter. I've also learned to always carry enough good fuel for the next fire. It's just a hobo stove or kelly kettle full, not alot. I might also get into the habit of drying it or even charring it for the next fire, after I've made had my dinner and tea and dried by mitts and socks.

I know that I'm revealing a lot about myself... and my mental health... by posting this. But I've been collecting dryer lint for several years. This picture was taken nearly one year ago. I'm now on my seventh jar. My friends, particularly my girlfriend, think I'm a bit bonkers. I knew that someday I would find a use for it. This thread answered that calling.

Well, it isn't as bad as collecting belly button lint.

You should buy a spinning wheel and learn to spin! Looks like you have enough there for a couple sweaters...

Looks like it WAS a couple o'sweaters.
Jim

Funny. I was going to suggest making new clothes from it. It could look like the garments from midevil times.