When it’s been pouring rain for several days and you’re desperate to get the campfire roaring, having a good fire starter to help get things going can be extremely comforting.
Yes, there’s plenty of natural material in the bush to help ignite your fire—birch bark, dried grass, cattail fluff and resin from a balsam tree are some of the best—but having homemade back-ups stored in your pack and always available can be an extra bonus. Even if you don’t make them at home, you always have plenty of flammable materials in your pack as well.
If you are in a rush and don’t feel like making things at home. You can pick up some survival tinder for dirt cheap. Or, pick up our Campfire-Building Bundle.
If you don’t want to always have to carry matches or a lighter with you, grab one of our Fire Starter Paracord bracelets while we still have supplies remaining.
Dryer Lint & Egg Cartons
The classic homemade fire starter is a wad of dryer lint placed in each empty storage department of a cardboard egg carton with melted wax, or better yet, melted paraffin wax poured over top. It’s an easy project and brings back days of making crafts in public school. The main trick, however, is to melt the wax without burning the house down or ruining your good cooking pot. Wax or paraffin wax is highly flammable so don’t just throw a cube of it in a pot and heat it up over the stove burner. To slow down the melting rate and reduce the chance of combustion, make a double burner by having the pot with the wax in it above another pot of water. The simmering water will melt the wax at a much slower and safer rate. You might want to use an old coffee can rather than a cooking pot to melt the wax in. Melted wax makes a real mess to clean up. If you don’t want to spend the money on paraffin then simply gather all the half-burned candles in the house (or go to a bargain store). Sawdust, shredded paper or even cut-up pieces of egg carton top work well as filler. You can also try dipping rolled up newspaper tied with string (don’t use nylon string) or pine cones into the wax to make fire starters.
Cotton Balls & Petroleum Jelly
Cotton balls are my favourite. They’re lightweight, and when petroleum jelly is worked into the ball, it becomes highly flammable. I’ve even dipped them in paraffin wax or melted petroleum jelly and stored them in my pack in a Ziploc bag. If you’re on trip and you don’t have cotton balls or petroleum jelly but you do have Q-tips and lip balm, try those together.
Hand Sanitizer
Squeeze a good supply of hand sanitizer on the wood and it will burn long enough to dry things out. Make sure the product you are using contains alcohol. Some companies are now making alcohol-free sanitizer and that won’t work.
Charcoal in an Egg Carton
Place a chunk of charcoal in each section of a cardboard egg carton. Light the carton—you might want to squeeze hand sanitizer or bug repellent on it first to help get it going.
Waxed Paper & Dryer Lint
Waxed paper burns fantastic on its own but you can also use it to wrap up dryer lint or sawdust, twisting both ends of the paper to hold the contents. Remember, it may look like a doobie—but it definitely doesn’t get you high.
Chips
The greasier the better when choosing which snacking chip will burn the best, but trust me, they do burn. Pringles Hot and Spicy, Doritos Spicy Nachos and Fritos Corn Chips are my choice. Once the fire is going, it’s snack time.
Duct Tape
Yes, one more thing you can do with duct tape—use it for a fire starter. It’s highly flammable and burns for a good chunk of time. I’ll spray bug repellent or squeeze some hand sanitizer on it as well, just to get things going.
Rubber Tubing
Michel Ngelin, Flickr, CC BY 2.0
It’s probably the most toxic fire starter on the list, but it’s still effective. When your bike gets a flat, keep it and cut it into strips. Just don’t breathe in the fumes when its ignited.
