Is olive oil and cotton balls a good fire starter? vs pine needles? (1 Viewer)

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We end up in places where a "barbq or stove" is ok but not a "fire" .. so we bring our solo bonfire stove.

I also bring some split cut hard wood so we're not looking for wood first night out.

Usually I bring a box of dried pine needles as they pack in a cardboard box light and burn hot.

Do cotton balls and olive oil burn as hot to start a fire? I pack olive oil for cooking.

Looking for some cheep light weight fire starters for when the area is wet and the area is a little wet.
 
test it at home.
my go to is pine pitch, spruce pitch. all readily available from wounds or broken branch stubs. any time i'm out in the woods i'll collect some. smear it on a few of your thinner pieces of your kindling n fire it up. you should be able get a fire going in a deluge. being a carpenter, alot of my waste turns into tinder n kindling, so may be talk to any carpenter, cabinet maker you may know to get some of their waste. i find 1/4" or thinner just plain works
 
seems like cotton balls / lint and vaseline / petroleum jelly is quite popular as a fire starter.
 
cotton balls and petroleum jelly works really welll. But I find that most of the time, the shreddings from my home office paper shredder works too and less messy to prepare.
 
Another recommendation for cotton balls smeared in Vaseline. They burn for quite a while. While this might not be necessary for car camping, I stuffed three soaked cotton balls into a section of drinking straw. It fits nicely in my Altoids survival tin. If saving space isn't an issue, a sanwich bag would work fine.
 
Compressed paper egg carton, lint, wax.

Stuff egg crevasses w lint, seal w melted wax. Tear out sections as needed.

This is the correct answer. Dryer lint burns quick and easy but the wax slows it down. 1 waxed-dryer lint "egg" will burn for a good 15 minutes or so depending on the amount of wax used.
 
I use these little treasures...wish I had time to make some...:lol:

 
I cook over lump charcoal at home several days a week and always use a paper towel soaked with some regular cooking oil to start the fire. Also do this for camp fires and fire pit. Rather than buy/stock up on other stuff, using what's readily available WORKSFORME.
 
I usually use some shavings from a few pieces of fat wood. Super flammable, lights easy, burns hot, and no mess. Otherwise cotton balls soaked in vasoline as they are compact and multi purpose. Both take sparks easily.
 
1. Find some cotton blue jeans that need to be thrown out.
2. Get an Altoids can and cut pieces of blue jeans to layer in the can.
3. Close the full can and use a knife or Drill to make a small hole in the top of the can.
4. Heat in A 350 degree oven until all of the cloth is well charred.
The resulting tinder can be started with only a spark.
 
There are dozens of compact fire starters for charcoal available. Just take a few of those in a ziplock. Some are paraffin based and some are less petroleum based (e.g. Tumbleweeds) but they are all cheap, very portable and work well.
 
Candle stubs, pine cones, pitch.

Also melt wax into paper egg cartons.; separate and use.

Steel wool.
 
For those that have Cottonwood trees on their property or live near them and endure the cottonwood balls & fuzz that can plague the area around the trees, you can gather up the balls of fuzz and pack them away in your fire starter kit. They are quite flammable and useful for just that. As long as it's dry, it's as good as dryer lint, anyway.
 

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