Starting a fire

[Arzosah]

I've been reading about starting a fire with bits of cotton wool dipped in vaseline .... has anybody actually done this? What I'm wondering about is whether it has to be cotton wool - why it couldn't be old clothes or rags cut up into small patches, for instance? I'd have a little practice myself, but I've got a streaming cold and I'm not up for anything practical, just my brain whirring about, and this is what its tossed up!

[mongrel]

I do use petroleum jelly as a fire starter, I think that's pretty much the same as vaseline ? cotton wool is a great fire starter but I find it gets wet to easily, I prefer birch bark always available and easily collected and to use with a Magnesium Flint And Steel Striker.
Always play, and try new methods of lighting fires but I find you can't beat the magnesium flints, have one in every bag I own.

[Arzosah]

Thanks Mongrel! Haven't got a steel/flint thingy, thats on the list.

I was actually thinking of replacing the cotton wool, in a bug-in situation - old clothes, that sort of thing? Any f/b on that? Ta muchly for your response.

[daylen]

I second the magnesium blocks and flint fire starters. They're great and seem to last forever. I've still got the one I had as a kid - and I made a *lot* of fires as a kid

Cotton wool does get wet easily but it's also easy to keep dry and it compacts down very well. Obviously though I'd recommend getting used to finding tinder in the wild too for the situations where you don't have access to your cotton wool.

I've not used rags but my gut instinct would be that you'd have to use very light-weight cloth. I can imagine a heavy cotton being quite hard to light as a tinder.

[Arzosah]

Thanks Daylen, thats a good point, about the density of the material ... when I *am* up to experimenting, I'll make a note of it.

[itsybitsy]

Soak some cotton wool balls in petroleum jelly/vaseline and store them in a plastic cigar container in your bob.

[jansman]

It is the loose fibre of cotton wool that catches the spark,the vaseline/petroleum jelly(same stuff) just prolongs the flame. The flint and steel thing is last resort,although worth knowing how to do. Way to go is disposable lighters. They last ages and are reliable,cheap and easy to stash. I suppose I will be criticised by the bushcraft/stoneage/make -it-hard-for-yourself brigade,but lighting a fire is easy. I do it 9 months of the year,every night.

Try reading either of the books by Cody Lundin. You will see what I mean. Go out and have a play,it is not the great mystery that the survivalist community will have you believe.

[Arzosah]

Thanks Jansman - it does seem to be quite a palaver, yes. But it makes sense that its the loose fibre that catches. Just thinking of the rags I've got stored (yep, my mum did it, I do it - old sheets etc) I've got some very lightweight ones, almost like muslin, that might well have the same effect.

I've seen the flint and steel thing done by a Napoleonic re-enactor, and he sent off a right old shower of sparks (took quite a bit of puff tho!). I have boxes and boxes of matches, but I like the sound of disposable lighters especially for bugging in

Soak some cotton wool balls in petroleum jelly/vaseline and store them in a plastic cigar container in your bob.

Hi itsy! I'm enquiring about replacing the cotton wool with something I already have. I'll buy where necessary, but if I can supply a BOB item, or TSHTF-in-general, item, from existing supplies, then I'll do that. I was just wondering ...

[Moony]

If you want to use your existing scrap/ rags lookup "making charcloth" on the interwebz. It needs to be natural fiber (cotton/linen) and not synthetic material, but it makes a great firelighting material.

[Ferricks]

Charcloth is a great idea!

Arzosah, you could also fray your cloth so that it "catches" better and keep the scraps in your bob as Itsy suggests?

I think we should conduct trials ..... I'll try some different approaches over the weekend (yes, I too have an undersink cupboard full of old t shirts and sheets duly cut up..) and post how i get on.