# What do you use for fire starters?



## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

I'm looking for ideas of what you guys use for fire starters. I know the simple answer is charcoal lighter fluid and yes that works great but if for what ever reason it doesn't get the fire going I don't like squirting more on there. So... I looking for alternatives that I can use to put in the wood stove that will burn for a lot longer than paper to make sure the fire starts. A friend of mine uses paraffin wax with some cardboard. that sounds like a winner if anyone has any pictures of what one of those would look like that would be a good start.


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## WhiteElder (Jun 26, 2012)

You can get some resin saturated wood aka fat wood.

Or rub some petroleum jelly into cotton ball.

Compact sawdust and a bit of wax into the sockets of a paper egg container and rip off one egg to start your fire.


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## jim p (Oct 29, 2003)

Fat wood, heart pine is number one. Pine cones. rolled up newspaper soaked in wax. 

If you go to the trouble of getting the right size and dry wood, then you don't need much to get a fire started. If you try to start a fire with wood that is really big, then you need a flame thrower.


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## bill_collector (Jul 5, 2009)

dryer lint and wax makes an excellent fire starter


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## Sasquatch87 (Jul 18, 2013)

Cotton ball rubbed in with petroleum jelly


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## camar068 (Feb 12, 2015)

receipts from my wallet and 12/24/30 pack box.


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## idw (Feb 4, 2015)

Cornchips, and other junk food. 
Dryer lint with some petroleum jelly or wax welding into a toilet roll. 
Stringybark,paperbark,other fiberous tree barks (I'm an Aussie don't know any sort of thing thats the same up there)
Waxed cardboard from fruit shipping boxes cut into strips is great stuff.


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## BigMike1223 (Sep 21, 2013)

Fritos are awesome lol


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## ozarksbuckslaye (Jul 24, 2008)

Diesel fuel !


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## PaulME (Jun 11, 2014)

Oxy acetal in torch&#55357;&#56832;
Fritos s actually a good idea, individual ones burn for a long time. At the extreme there were some people that had a contest/challenge on who could light a charcoal grill the fastest (in the 90's I think), they "won" when they went to liquid oxygen. There are some issues with this method, like melting the actual grill so I can't recommend it, but the video is online if you search charcoal grill liquid oxygen.
Paul


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## gofor (Feb 4, 2013)

If it was 50 years ago, I would just say"Ask any Boy Scout". Don't know if they teach that stuff anymore.

I just use some dry thin kindling or newspaper. Sounds to me like your firewood is too big or too wet for starting the stove up.

However, if you just want something for occasional trips to the camp, etc, something like this is easily found: https://www.duraflame.com/products/stix-firestarter-light-bbqs-and-fireplaces.

If you want to make your own, I found this site with a short search: http://preparednessmama.com/diy-fire-starters/ For more ideas, just search "make your own fire starter sticks"

I would never use a flammable liquid like charcoal starter or diesel fuel in an enclosed space like a stove. Too easy to get the right combination of oxygen and fumes to create an explosion.

JMTCW

Go


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## MSExpat (Sep 17, 2015)

Hand sanitizer packs. Take up no space and burn hot and longer than you would think. Keep them and a bic lighter stuck around in numerous places so one is always handy. They are great for cleaning your hands after field dressing also.


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## crankn101 (Jan 26, 2007)

ozarksbuckslaye said:


> Diesel fuel !


 Diesel + sawdust = winner!


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## mattbrewer320 (Oct 29, 2009)

Cotton ball + hand sanitizer.....it will throw a good flame for almost 10 minutes


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## latremorej (Nov 22, 2013)

Another cotton ball and Vaseline guy here, if you need to make them so that there are 3 or 4 cotton balls balled up together for damp camp wood. Oh, and split the logs small for start up.


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## ozarksbuckslaye (Jul 24, 2008)

gofor said:


> I would never use a flammable liquid like charcoal starter or diesel fuel in an enclosed space like a stove. Too easy to get the right combination of oxygen and fumes to create an explosion.


Using diesel does require common sense. My advise to people who don't have any would be to stay away from fire all together. I've used it my whole life to start fires with indoors and outdoors and so have a countless number of other people.


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## Commfishmtk (Oct 11, 2013)

I use a blow torch with some small pieces of kindling works like a charm.


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## Brandon H (Feb 20, 2010)

I pick up pine cones and keep on the back porch, they smell good, and burn hot. I also have scrap framing and rich pine to help, but the pine cones are like little torches.

I rarely have a fire to completely go out once it gets cold, so its not that big of a deal.


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## Dark Draw (Mar 3, 2013)

Commfishmtk said:


> I use a blow torch with some small pieces of kindling works like a charm.


This. I have been lighting my shop stove with a MAP gas torch, same cylinder for the last two years. Hopefully I will get another year or two out of it. The plus side is that there is no left over residue collection in the flue and damper from using petroleum products which I have used in the past.


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## Bowhuntertim214 (Jun 19, 2012)

> dryer lint and wax makes an excellent fire starter


This works great... Dryer lint with wax or petroleum jelly... will light with just a spark and burn long enough to get the fire going in most cases. I have some form of this is all my packs, just in case. Once you see how fast dryer lint will ignite, it will make you inspect that machine in the basement!!




> If it was 50 years ago, I would just say"Ask any Boy Scout". Don't know if they teach that stuff anymore.


Yes, they do still teach that stuff. I was just at an outing this weekend with my oldest and we worked on friction fire starting...


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## tchudson (Jun 30, 2015)

We heat our house with a wood stove - no central heat or air. Ninety percent of the time just balled-up newspaper, a little kindling, and good dry wood gets the stove going pretty quickly. Some mornings, though, I think I need a blow torch as nothing will get the damn wood to burn!


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## rweyman (Apr 12, 2010)

Old tube socks work great!!


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## smokin x's (Apr 30, 2007)

idw said:


> Cornchips, and other junk food.
> Dryer lint with some petroleum jelly or wax welding into a toilet roll.
> Stringybark,paperbark,other fiberous tree barks (I'm an Aussie don't know any sort of thing thats the same up there)
> Waxed cardboard from fruit shipping boxes cut into strips is great stuff.





Bigmike007 said:


> Fritos are awesome lol


Fritos and Doritos both burn really hot and ignite surprisingly easily. 


Starting a wood stove isn't too difficult if you've got good dry seasoned wood. Take a log and splinter it down. 
Ball up a couple sheets of newspaper, lean your smallest (pencil sized) splinters over the balled up paper making a tent. 
Lay the rest of the splintered pieces (smallest to largest) over top of the pencil sized pieces. 

Light your newspaper. When that gets a good flame going, add a small log or two until they get a real good burn going then you're set. 

I always have fritos or Doritos in a Small bag when I go out a decent distance from my vehicle though, it's a good little snack and it can help me get damp wood lit with the help of some found kindling.


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## 1/4ing away (Jan 23, 2006)

I can't remember if it was petroleum jelly or not, but I read about taking straws, melting one end shut, filling it with (let's say) petroleum jelly, and then sealing the other end up. Then you just light the straw. You have airtight, waterproof, non leaking fire starters.


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## Justin Beeks (May 23, 2014)

Dryer lint soaked in acetone


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## smokin x's (Apr 30, 2007)

1/4ing away said:


> I can't remember if it was petroleum jelly or not, but I read about taking straws, melting one end shut, filling it with (let's say) petroleum jelly, and then sealing the other end up. Then you just light the straw. You have airtight, waterproof, non leaking fire starters.


That's a good idea. Might have to give that a try. Those wax charcoal starting blocks might work for that too, give them a little heat until they liquify then pour them in the straws.


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## Yota4me (Jul 23, 2012)

Cut off the rubber grip from pens to use as additional fuel for your tender. These can be cut into thinner strips if you wish to spread them out more or saved for another fire. Give one a try and if you like them save them from your old pens.


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## Pipecrew (Dec 29, 2005)

Last year I started using used dryer sheets and pine cones in my fireplace. I started using dryer sheets when I ran out of lint. Dryer sheets burn fast. The garbage can next to our dryer always has a steady supply of lint and dryer sheets in it!!! Lol


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## cnvf250 (Oct 15, 2012)

So I didn’t believe you guys when someone said to light a Frito corn chip and use it for a fire stater. I’ll be a son-of-a-gun, it works. One small corn chip burned for almost five minutes just sitting on the driveway. It was easy to light. 

Good news is I have a simple fire starter if needed. Bad news is I am not allowed to eat Fritos anymore. lol


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## smokin x's (Apr 30, 2007)

cnvf250 said:


> So I didn’t believe you guys when someone said to light a Frito corn chip and use it for a fire stater. I’ll be a son-of-a-gun, it works. One small corn chip burned for almost five minutes just sitting on the driveway. It was easy to light.
> 
> Good news is I have a simple fire starter if needed. Bad news is I am not allowed to eat Fritos anymore. lol


Yup. Corn chips are some of the best. Either fritos or Doritos. Found that out probably 7 or so years ago at a cookout. Dropped some Doritos on the ground, so I picked them up and threw them in the fire. It really shocked me how well they burned


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## wmn2 (Sep 16, 2008)

I carry a few of the dryer lint and wax things in a plastic baggie in my pack, along with a magnesium firestarter and a lighter.


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## kballer1 (Aug 31, 2010)

Any small sticks & a flare, they don't even have to be dry & will light. I alway carry 1 when out west!


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## sam.cornish (Dec 22, 2012)

I'm in aus. I keep my used tea bags, dry them than soak them in kerosene and keep them stored in a small jar. Works well for me.


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## Berdo (Dec 21, 2013)

Vaseline on a cotton ball. Throw a few of those in there. It will work well. Probably also a good option for backcountry too.


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## carpe_diem (Feb 19, 2012)

Used motor oil from my small engines after I change out the oil for the season. Soak a little kindling and it lights right up. Used vegetable oil from the deep fat fryer works good too


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## Ouztse (Jul 28, 2010)

My hunting buddy thought it was too much work to harvest the pine heart wood. I walked in to a clear cut that was cut about 2 years ago, found a pine stump and 5 minutes later had a 5 gallon bucket full. Now he doesn't use anything else. Awesome stuff if you are willing to work alittle.

Eric


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## RobRiguez (Feb 24, 2015)

If you are using this to light a stove I would be very wary of using anything that could cause a chimney fire. 

If you keep the chimney clean I guess its not a big problem but I'd still be cautious about using anything other than kindling or newspaper. 

For the person who mentioned the boyscouts, yes they still teach how to build a campfire.


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## concepthomes1 (Jul 2, 2012)

latremorej said:


> Another cotton ball and Vaseline guy here, if you need to make them so that there are 3 or 4 cotton balls balled up together for damp camp wood. Oh, and split the logs small for start up.


I've taken a cotton ball, coated in vaseline, and stuffed it into a 2" piece of a drinking straw, then crimped the ends. I can pack quite a handful when heading out and they stay dry until I need them.


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## Mordekyle (Aug 8, 2011)

cnvf250 said:


> So I didn’t believe you guys when someone said to light a Frito corn chip and use it for a fire stater. I’ll be a son-of-a-gun, it works. One small corn chip burned for almost five minutes just sitting on the driveway. It was easy to light.
> 
> Good news is I have a simple fire starter if needed. Bad news is I am not allowed to eat Fritos anymore. lol


I heard plastic grocery bags are good for starting fires. Petroleum product, Waterproof, lightweight.

Care to test this out?



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## elkbow69 (May 7, 2010)

I usually use ample (about 4 sheets) of news paper or a bot of dry cardboard and about 8- 1" x 16" pieces of dry kindling. Paper on the bottom then ladder stack about 8 stick and then put a small pine 1/4 log on top. Start it with a match and let keep the stove open about 2", the draft keeps the paper going well and it will be poppin and cracklin an about 3 min. For the strubborn ones though Ill use the torch. 


If you stove is not lighting easily or low draft check the pipe. How long has it been since its been cleaned?


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## B-RadZ (Oct 14, 2014)

I just use newspaper or cardboard, whatever I habe laying around and tree bark I accumulate from splitting. My house is heated 80% or so by wood in the winter


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## AK0tA (Nov 8, 2011)

I heat my home and cabinet shop with wood and burn 30+ cords a year. In the shop I have a few 5g buckets that collect left over lacquer thinner/paints and saw dust. At home I keep a cord of small split pine and a few buckets of kindlin size on hand. I take a block plane and quickly shave off 2 handfuls of pine shavings and stack kindlin then bigger stuff around it and it lights with a match every time and no odors for my wife to fuss over.


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## chrisben (Oct 8, 2014)

When I was in scouts we would roll up newspaper, and make little bundles maybe 2 inch wide, 3/4 inch in diamater. Tie them with twine, and dip the whole thing in parafin.
To light, we'd light the wax-soaked twine like a wick and they'd burn for a good long while.

I've also seen people use a cupcake mold, fill each cupcake with newspaper, like a cupcake liner, then saw dust and a piece of twine for a wick, then pour parafin in. let harden and remove the puck. The wax coated sawdust burned for a little longer than the wax coated newspaper, so would require a bit less kindling.


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## goathollow (Jun 18, 2008)

I've not tried it yet but I have been told you can put wine corks in a mason jar then fill with rubbing alcohol. Each cork becomes a good fire starter.


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## hungry hollow (Apr 19, 2008)

How about using hand sanitizer? It's mostly alcohol.


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## Thirty pointer (Mar 8, 2014)

Put dry chainsaw shavings in small Dixie cups fill with paraffin or old melted candles ( I find them at yard sales cheap ) I usually make about 100 at a time as I have wood heat at home and at the cabin they will burn 10 -15 min .


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## user_name (Sep 14, 2010)

Save your toilet paper rolls and stuff them with dryer lint. It's what I use to start all our bonfires/fireplace.


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## HawgEnvy (Mar 2, 2011)

Bigmike007 said:


> Fritos are awesome lol


Yes they are. So is pine sap. Slats off a pallet split into slivers w a hatchet


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## beeksie (Aug 23, 2015)

char cloth


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## owl (May 28, 2004)

If it's dry out, old man's beard rubbed with pinesap will burn a long time. If it's wet, not so much


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## eclark53520 (Sep 11, 2012)

If paper won't light your fireplace, there's a couple reasons - 

1. Kindling isn't dry enough
2. Kindling isn't kindling - You're not using small enough kindling
3. You have O2 starvation problems...

There's no reason a couple sheets of twisted up news paper shouldn't start your fire if you're using the right kindling and wood.


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## Ala_Archer (Nov 1, 2006)

I use rich pine (the heartwood from old pine stumps, smells good).

I did this for hiking and backpacking, got it out of a Backpacker Magazine:

1. Cut some strips of cardboard 2" wide X 6" long;

2. Take the cardboard strips and peel one side off. The side that peels off will just look like a piece of paper, discard this. Now what remains is the smooth side of the cardboard with the corrugated part still attached (look down into a piece of cardboard from the end, you will notice that cardboard is comprised of 2 smooth pieces of paper with a crinkled looking filler between them. The crinkled filler is the corrugated paper. 

3. This remaining piece, the 2/3's of the cardboard will easily roll up like rolling a cigar, roll each strip and tie it with a piece of cotton twine so that it won't unroll. Leave the tag end of the cotton twine about 3 inches long, these will look like firecrackers with the long fuse coming off the side;

4. Get a tin can, remove the lid and wash it out;

5. Get some paraffin wax;

6. Place a pot on the stove, place the tin can in the middle of the pot and put the paraffin in the tin can, now pour water in the pot around the can NOT IN THE CAN, only and inch or so of water will be sufficient;

7. Turn on stove and heat the paraffin until it melts;

8. Hold your piece of cardboard by the string and slowly submerge it and 1" of the string into the melted paraffin;

9. Remove from paraffin once the cardboard has become saturated with paraffin and set it aside to dry; continue process until all pieces are dipped;

10. Once cooled off, the strings can be cut right at the line where they were dipped into the paraffin, this leaves a "fuse" or "wick" about an inch long on the side of your fire starters.

I have made and used these for years. They burn HOT and they burn for a long time.

Ala Archer


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## MBT-IT (Oct 5, 2013)

I use some paper and sometimes just a bit of diesel fuel

I discovered, time ago, the "reverse method" for starting fire in my fireplace. It works better that the "traditional" method I used for several years.

I found a similar description in English. Take a look, maybe it can be interesting

https://sanctuarygardener.wordpress...er-way-to-build-a-fire-reverse-fire-building/


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## billbam (Jun 10, 2003)

For my backpack, I always carry steel wool and a small 9 volt battery. Keep them separate of course.
Stack your kindling over the steel wool and then short the steel wool over the battery terminals. 
Instant fire.


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## smokeeter (Jan 31, 2007)

If you have any varnish that you never got around to use before it dried out , it makes a great fire starter. Just cut or break it into small pieces it lights very easily and burns for a long time enough to get a fire going. Put the cut up pieces in a zip lock bag and keep it in your hunting bag.


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## MattPetersenMDL (Jul 12, 2015)

DIESEL! Wait... you're inside. Do NOT use DIESEL. Cardboard, dry wood shavings, both, mix in some of the lighter fluid and you should be good to go!


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## jogr (Oct 2, 2010)

It's very easy. Tinder, kindling, firewood and a match. You don't need anything else. If you do then you haven't learned how to build a fire.


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## droppixel (Nov 5, 2010)

I've found that if you take egg cartons and cut them out so you have singles, fill them with dryer lint and pour paraffin wax over that you get a nice little fire starter bundle/pod


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## trelson (Dec 30, 2006)

I used cotton balls saturated with vaseline.


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## chindits (Feb 5, 2015)

In the field I always have a little zip lock back with a couple of cotton balls gooped up with petroleum jelly. I don't normally need them, but just in case.

I heat all winter with wood except when I am not home for more then a couple days. It has been sub zero now for a couple weeks, negative 25 this a.m. so I go through some wood. I cut all my wood, and I split my wood old style with a splitting maul. It splits easy in sub zero weather and that always leaves plenty of splintered wood and wood chips. I don't just leave that splintered wood and chips to compost, I use as much of it as I can. I even burn the bark that falls off as I split rounds. 

I can start a fire any time with newspaper wood chips and waste oil. I change my own oil (car, pickup, atv, dual sport, and dirt bike) so I have plenty of it. If I didn't use my waste oil that way, I would have to pay an auto parts place here in town to take it and they would just burn it in their furnace.

Those wide mouth liquid laundry detergent bottles make great storage containers for waste oil. I then transfer as needed into a liquid dishwashing detergent bottle. I can start a fire with just newspaper and wood chips but to get rid of the oil I squirt some on top of that and it will start up with a single match whether the wood is wet or dry.


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## KimberTac1911 (Feb 27, 2012)

Kindling and a butane torch starts with no problem at my house. I will use pine cones dipped in wax when hiking or will just find pine needles. When in the woods you can always find dry pine needles if there's pine trees around


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## Glamsland (Apr 14, 2015)

Check out your wifes tampong! Remove the plastic and peel it out like ball. Burns very good!


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## StrngFllwHwk (Jan 7, 2011)

I always liked playing with different fire starting materials. Pork Fat Rules. Bacon grease and cotton balls for beach fire pits. Folks get hungry inhaling the smoke.lol My favorite is Chaga(tinder fungus) which is rare in my state. If I don't use it to start a fire, I put some chunks into some boiling water and have a great medicinal tea.


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## SparkyLB (Dec 27, 2015)

Long time ago my dad used dryer lint with Hoppes #9 and kept it in an empty Hoppes jar. Smeared with a knife on whatever and it burns well. Nice thing was the jar is airtight and won't stink up the contents of your backpack, or dry out. Downside was the jar is glass, but I've never had one break.


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## snort742 (Jan 5, 2008)

A flame


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

Well since this got bumped back up let me clarify my original question...
What I'm doing is trying to start a fire in a wood stove that is in my wall tent. Now I typically bring my own firewood and do my best to keep it under the tarp but here in the pacific north west when it starts to rain it gets misty and foggy and clammy. Pretty much everything gets wet no matter where it is or how it is stored. Even in the ten just our exhaling water vapor seems to build up on the ceiling and drip on ya. The fire helps to dry things out but even paper that is sitting next to the fire when you go to bed feels damp when you wake up. The moisture is just pervasive, so please no more silly answers like "dry kindling". Lets just assume that if we had dry anything that this thread would have been pointless. What I'm looking for is solutions that no matter what will get the fire going. 

Like you just got back from a 6 hour hike you are soaked to the bone and bordering on hypothermia. You need to get that damp firewood started without delay and you need it to work the first time no question.


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## 96coal449 (Jan 13, 2016)

In your situation I would save cardboard milk and juice cartons. They are waxy and will hold up to moisture while awaiting use. In these pack a mixture of sawdust, wood chips, and used veggie oil. Look for the consistency to be clumpy. Crack some small rounds of wood in half or 1/3's and you will have some "dry" starter wood to help. Veggie starters burn for a while so keep some handy and your all set. Be safe and keep that chimney clean.


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## WASHECA (Jan 3, 2012)

I camp about 30 days of the yr so every yr I will make firestarters w/ cardboard egg cartons stuffed w/ hardwood chainsaw shavings w/ melted wax usually from old candles poured into and over the wood stuffed egg cartons. I melt the wax in a small pot over an outdoor stove or propane burner. softwood chainsaw shavings work fine but do not burn as long. I do this outside and be carefull the wax is very very hot. when I go on wilderness trips I just pick up birchbark off the trail, but I do have mre heaters for emergencies. they will get about anything to burn.


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## vf52rcl (Apr 28, 2010)

I like road flares, cut if thirds, burns at 1100 degrees, I wrap one with e-tape and keep in my hunting pack just in case. Works great getting our Northwest rain socked wood burning. Good luck finding something for you, see you at the club


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## srod (Oct 2, 2013)

This


bill_collector said:


> dryer lint and wax makes an excellent fire starter


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## GetLethal (Jan 28, 2016)

Another vaseline soaked cotton ball guy. Incredible how well this works.


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## scrub-buster (Apr 22, 2009)

I use osage shavings


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## deerbum (Oct 16, 2014)

Birch bark, though I don't know how much you're apt to find in the Pacific Northwest. It's very waxy and will burn when damp, it's our firestarter of choice on spring BWCA trips.


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## Boxerguy8888 (Jan 20, 2015)

I didn't go through all the posts so this may have been mentioned. In boy scouts we used to make these. You take about 4 pages of news paper cut it into about 3inch long strips. You roll this up like a little newspaper log and tie it with cotton string leaving a piece a few inches long hanging off. Make a bunch of these and dip them all in wax. If using in home one dip is good. If camping, 2 or 3 dips and it's water proof. Only worth the trouble if using often enough, like camping or daily stove lighting. I've seen these light fires in wet wood and wind. For extra kick I used to add a match here and there as I was rolling the paper. And eventually would use those cheap magnesium survival lighting bars, shave some of that off in the paper while rolling it up.

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## aeds151 (Feb 19, 2016)

Fatwood, pineknot, dryer lint


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## Winston_7 (Jan 17, 2015)

Tea candles with the metal bottom taken off work well to start your wood 

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## paeatonhunting (Mar 11, 2016)

Birch bark and Balsam Fir pitch.


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## talon1961 (Mar 13, 2008)

I keep a candle (homemade) and pieces of pine heartwood aka pine knot in a ziplok bag and a magnesium block/flint steel starter and bic lighter also inside the bag. I can easily start a fire anywhere with it in any weather. I am always picking up pieces of rich pine whenever I'm walking the woods. The candle is easy to light and will burn for hours. The pine shavings/slivers will burn quickly but really hot. If you can collect pine resin, it's pure kerosene and when dry, it stores easily inside the bag and will burn great. The gun powder from a shot shell or rifle cartridge will also work to get a fire started. These little firestarter "kits" in zip lok bags fit easily into a pack without taking up much room and make starting a fire a lot easier. The charcoal lighting blocks are cheap and easy to store. Place a couple inside the zip lok bag and you have another source to start an emergency fire.


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## chaseh2003 (Mar 9, 2016)

Dry grass, twigs, sticks, logs stacked in that order.


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## cooperjd (Aug 18, 2009)

survivalfire.com is a cool striker tool with magnesium to chip off for a really hot starter.


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## Inn.Outdoorsman (Feb 4, 2016)

A lemon, some nails and wire.


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## modern (Mar 16, 2016)

Cut a newspaper in to strips that are 2"-3" wide, several sheets at a time so that when you roll them they are about 1.5" in diameter. Tie the rolls with twine, leave an inch or so to use as a wick. Heat paraffin in a coffee can with boiling water. Soak rolls in liquid paraffin, then remove from heat. Dip a few times as paraffin begins to cool. The rolls will burn forever and the twine makes it easy to handle and light.


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## kballer1 (Aug 31, 2010)

Rail road flare. Will light any thing.


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## jhhitman (Jan 9, 2011)

We call it Diesel dust. Take some saw dust add a little diesel fuel let it soak for a bit and then you can get anything to start.


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## sbcff15 (May 25, 2015)

Those little alcohol prep pads. They light easy and weigh next to nothing.


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## deerbum (Oct 16, 2014)

I've been using waxed produce boxes lately. Put a full one on to get a bonfire going or cut into small pieces with a box cutter, hard to beat and free.


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## Offshore1 (Mar 21, 2016)

Old rags or clothes that you plan to throw away are good.


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## HbDane (Sep 13, 2013)

Dryer lint or fritos


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## couchsurfer (Aug 13, 2010)

A little charcoal lighter fluid for me, not much, just enough to light the paper and start a good draw. Of course one must be careful using it in a stove...


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## echoyankcharlie (Oct 21, 2019)

Birch tree bark is the best I find. I tend to collect from fallen trees or from the ground. Cotton balls also work well.


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## miles220 (Sep 4, 2018)

diesel fuel and cellulose insulation


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## miles220 (Sep 4, 2018)

or propane/mapp gas torch and good kinling


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## ihatefelt (Nov 15, 2019)

Another fan of dryer lint here.


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## supermonkey (Feb 19, 2008)

I use dryer lint or fat wood.


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## soaringeagle (Jun 2, 2008)

I use unscented hand sanitizer 


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## jk3campbell (Jun 11, 2016)

Round cotton makeup removers. Melt old candles and mix some Vaseline into the molten wax. Dip the cotton rounds in and sit them on a sheet of wax paper to harden. The Vaseline keeps them from getting super hard. I keep about 5 or 6 in an old chew can and wrap the seam with tape for water resistance. They burn for several minutes. We use them for starting campfires when on overnight kayak trip.

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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

You know what I just started bringing charcoal lighter fluid to camp. I squirt the hell out of the wood and torch it off!


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## Hercdriver (Sep 22, 2006)

Coleman white gas works really well. Just don't be too close to it. I have used that multiple time for an instant camp fire.


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## canopyghost (Jul 10, 2012)

I work for the railroad, we use diesel and cellulose mixed to heat rail back together, works great


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## BluMeanie (May 5, 2014)

Malwart. I paid $7/box, on clearance last year. They have them every Winter Season, stock up in Spring when they clear them out, just put it in a gallon Zip bag or vac-seal, to minimize evaporation of the aromatic tgey saturated them with.


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## Matthew7 (Jun 8, 2019)

Cotton balls and Vaseline 


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## RB2143 (Nov 23, 2019)

This winter has been dryer lent and lamp oil. It’s been working very good.


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## BlkArrow (Apr 6, 2013)

Alcohol hand sanitizer works great and it has gel like qualities which will, for the most part, stay where you put it. Be careful because the blue flame isn't always visible! 
Any wood with high concentrations of pitch will burn just about anything but it can take a bit of heat to get the pitch to ignite. Combine hand sanitizer or vaseline cotton balls with the resin wood and you can have a fire going in no time.


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## arrowman2317 (Mar 17, 2008)

calcium hypochlorite and automotive brake fluid
potassium permanganate and glycerin
potassium permanganate, acetone, and sulfuric acid
sodium chlorate, sugar, and sulfuric acid
ammonium nitrate powder, finely ground zinc powder, and hydrochloric acid
sulfuric acid, zinc, and platinum (as in Döbereiner's lamp)


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## Bluejeep (Mar 29, 2020)

Cotton balls and vaseline.

Pro tip: instead of rubbing it in with your fingers, just put some in a soup can and melt it on the stove or such. Then just dip part of the cotton ball into the liquid Vaseline. Just don't dip it all the way in, seems to work better with about 1/2 to 3/4 dip (the liquid Vaseline wicks up the rest of the cotton). Faster and cleaner then the regular way.


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## Savoie (Mar 8, 2018)

Dryer lint in eggs carton with melted wax. We use the leftover from scented burner. Stuff the egg carton with lint, pour wax that was melted in a glass measuring cup, let dry, break in individual pieces and voila!! Free fire starters from stuff that is usually thrown away!


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## AKAUMike (Feb 28, 2020)

Cotton balls with vaseline will get you about a 9 minute burn.


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## Graeggar (Mar 9, 2014)

Melted parafin wax filled with wood shavings from my shop until there are no standing puddles of wax, then spoon that mix into egg cartons. I used to use dryer lint, but got frustrated with pulling long strips of lint soaked with very hot wax out of the double boiler. The wood shaving and wax slurry fill the egg cups much easier.


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## flyingturbines (Jul 11, 2020)

Cotton ball works great. I need to try the sawdust.


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## mgorm16640 (Jul 22, 2020)

50 cent pencil sharpener. The kind where you insert pencil an twist and out comes a wood shaving. In goes the stick, out comes dry tinder that lights easily, no matter how wet the stick was.


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## bltefft (Sep 16, 2015)

Fat lighter.


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## Sd375 (Apr 25, 2019)

Pencil sharpener idea - genius


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## Josh8476 (Oct 10, 2020)

A wad of duct tape works!


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## Kirk77 (Oct 11, 2020)

BigMike1223 said:


> Fritos are awesome lol


I second that.. lol


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## tunasteak (Nov 24, 2020)

Mint tin filled with cotton balls and Vaseline is really cheap.


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## 138104 (May 14, 2009)

In case you haven't figure it out 5 years later, I've used these.


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## Marmax1967 (Nov 25, 2020)

I recently started a camp fire with two cotton balls with a nice gob of petroleum jelly sandwiches between them. It burned nicely and for long enough to catch the wood. I used some paper but it burned up quickly and the damp wood did not catch, but the cotton ball trick did the job!


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## Mike_P (Nov 22, 2020)

b0w_bender said:


> I'm looking for ideas of what you guys use for fire starters. I know the simple answer is charcoal lighter fluid and yes that works great but if for what ever reason it doesn't get the fire going I don't like squirting more on there. So... I looking for alternatives that I can use to put in the wood stove that will burn for a lot longer than paper to make sure the fire starts. A friend of mine uses paraffin wax with some cardboard. that sounds like a winner if anyone has any pictures of what one of those would look like that would be a good start.


I use the “Weber” brand Cube fire starters.. they’re great for the charcoal BBQ and the Stuck burner Smoker....,


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## BowStringDepot (Dec 25, 2013)

In your local grocery store in the produce section ask them for the wax soaked boxes their vegetables come in. Cut them up and you are ready to go.


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## t35henry (Aug 22, 2018)

Liberals


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## dtrkyman (Jul 27, 2004)

Bic lighter with some gorilla tape wrapped around it works well.. I like the pencil sharpener idea!

I also bought some commercial made ones on closeout at REI, they are a little wedge of was I would say but have a tip like a giant water proof match!


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## Tumble (Nov 29, 2020)

Cotton balls and vaseline. Can't beat the slow burn of the petroleum jelly. 

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## 2Rivers (Dec 6, 2020)

vaseline and cotton balls never fail.


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## Hoyt crx 32 (Nov 24, 2019)

Lighter knot from pine stumps make good fiar starter


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## Jeremy11 (Feb 11, 2020)

Small pieces of off-cut plywood soaked in diesel for a few days. Then store them in an airtight container in a handy place.


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