Egg box fire lighters

[38thfoot]

Often seen these made by others, been planning on making them for ages.

Ingredients:

Card egg box
Tumble drier lint
Candle wax
Saw dust/twigs/shavings

Sacrificial pan - empty bean tin used

Simply put melt the wax (I used a bean tin in a pan of boiling water) and pour it over the lint placed in the egg box, let it solidify and then cut into individual fire lighters.

I added some small shaved twigs and wood chip for extra fuel, seen sawdust added and will try for the next batch.

Lit easily, seemed pretty wind resistant and burned for about ten minutes

Not sure if it is a factor of the wax (mostly my wife’s left over scented candles) but it did burn with an oily black smoke so I’ll use them in the burner and bbq.

38

 

[saxonaxe]

Great idea, and impressive burn time too, handy for damp kindling

 

[38thfoot]

Gave off a fair degree of heat as it scorched the logs i used as a windbreak. At the base of a pyramid it would certainly help dry the thinner fuel.

38

 

[Ark79]

For a wile I have dismissed things like this, out of ignorance lol and tried to light fires with fero rod or friction. Great fun but very problematic as yous know. Am coming round to stuff like this more and more , will give this a go 38 , spot on

 

[38thfoot]

Still tend to use ferro, cotton wool and Vaseline, these were a bit of an experiment.

38

 

[Bam]

Still tend to use ferro, cotton wool and Vaseline, these were a bit of an experiment.

38

My 'go to' is a lighter.... there ! I said it.

Not very bushcrafty I know and I enjoy playing with a ferro rod and birch bark etc but I can't remember ever using them 'in anger' as it were, I must have at some point but its usually one of the multiple lighters for me.

 

[Ark79]

Speaking through experience @Bam , mucking about with wood and a frerro rod in the morning makes you want a more simplistic way, A blooming lighter and 9 times out of 10 when my fire skills have let me doon I use a lighter

 

[38thfoot]

I find ferro rod and Vaseline balls easier than a lighter, with which I always end up burning the tips of my fingers or it blows out. I always carry a lighter as well just in case!

38

 

[Ark79]

I find ferro rod and Vaseline balls easier than a lighter, with which I always end up burning the tips of my fingers or it blows out. I always carry a lighter as well just in case!

38

Av always got a lighter as am a smoker but I now carry cotton pads dipped in wax for the ferro rod also

 

[Bam]

I have plenty options in my fire kit and as I said, I do enjoy 'keeping my hand in' at it.

38, have you tried the 'jet flame' type lighters, they push the flame and heat out 'straight' so easier with meth pots etc.

 

[teef]

i've been mucking about with things like this lately too.

first try was a variation on the lint fire-starters: cotton balls drenched in a paraffin wax + larch pitch mixture, tossed into a box of carving chips to dry. these work great: cut them in half as a full cotton ball is a bit of overkill, when it's time tease them apart a bit to expose fluffy bits for better flame catching. needless to say you can use pretty much anything to set these alight and they burn a good long while, probably 5ish mins. very convenient and almost wind-proof.

second go was a bit of hemp rope (5mm) soaked in that same wax + pitch mixture, then stuffed through a suitable bit of elder (nice and hollow, as elder usually is) about a finger long or so. when it's fire time you push an inch or so of the rope out past the end of the elder tube, fluff it up a bit, and light it with whatever method you prefer. catches very easily from a ferro rod if that's your pleasure. anyway, once alight you have a big, long-burning match that you can poke into your fire nest or whatever. pretty much wind-proof too which is nice. when your fire is a go you pull the rope back into the hollow of the elder tube to snuff out the flames, ready to stuff back in your fire bag for next time. i've been doing this for months now and i've barely used more than an inch or so off the original length of rope. at this rate the 10 inches or so of rope i started with will last for years!

 

[38thfoot]

I have plenty options in my fire kit and as I said, I do enjoy 'keeping my hand in' at it.

38, have you tried the 'jet flame' type lighters, they push the flame and heat out 'straight' so easier with meth pots etc.

I’ve got one that I used with hexi, a lot of my firelighting is working with kids so ferro Rods are part of the magic.

38

 

[Bam]

I’ve got one that I used with hexi, a lot of my firelighting is working with kids so ferro Rods are part of the magic.

38

I get that, even as an adult, the first time I lit a fire from bits and bobs with a ferro rod I got a real sense of satisfaction.

 

[lol]

My 'go to' is a lighter.... there ! I said it.

Not very bushcrafty I know and I enjoy playing with a ferro rod and birch bark etc but I can't remember ever using them 'in anger' as it were, I must have at some point but its usually one of the multiple lighters for me.

Have used rod/bark/whatever most times this summer....has worked well!

 

[IAM ODIN]

i've been mucking about with things like this lately too.

first try was a variation on the lint fire-starters: cotton balls drenched in a paraffin wax + larch pitch mixture, tossed into a box of carving chips to dry. these work great: cut them in half as a full cotton ball is a bit of overkill, when it's time tease them apart a bit to expose fluffy bits for better flame catching. needless to say you can use pretty much anything to set these alight and they burn a good long while, probably 5ish mins. very convenient and almost wind-proof.

second go was a bit of hemp rope (5mm) soaked in that same wax + pitch mixture, then stuffed through a suitable bit of elder (nice and hollow, as elder usually is) about a finger long or so. when it's fire time you push an inch or so of the rope out past the end of the elder tube, fluff it up a bit, and light it with whatever method you prefer. catches very easily from a ferro rod if that's your pleasure. anyway, once alight you have a big, long-burning match that you can poke into your fire nest or whatever. pretty much wind-proof too which is nice. when your fire is a go you pull the rope back into the hollow of the elder tube to snuff out the flames, ready to stuff back in your fire bag for next time. i've been doing this for months now and i've barely used more than an inch or so off the original length of rope. at this rate the 10 inches or so of rope i started with will last for years!

View attachment 22436

Nice poo sample pot. Where's the little spatula gone?

 

[teef]

i bought those sample vials off flea-bay (new and unused!). i find them pretty convenient for small item storage: compact, pretty much unbreakable and waterproof .

 

[Bam]

i bought those sample vials off flea-bay (new and unused!). i find them pretty convenient for small item storage: compact, pretty much unbreakable and waterproof .

I was mocked for my piss sample pots too teef, they're a bunch of swine on here.

If it works, it works, they're built to be tough for obvious reasons and I'm able to source some 'unused' ones. What's not to like.

 

[Joecole]

Often seen these made by others, been planning on making them for ages.

View attachment 22434View attachment 22435

Ingredients:

Card egg box
Tumble drier lint
Candle wax
Saw dust/twigs/shavings

Sacrificial pan - empty bean tin used

Simply put melt the wax (I used a bean tin in a pan of boiling water) and pour it over the lint placed in the egg box, let it solidify and then cut into individual fire lighters.

I added some small shaved twigs and wood chip for extra fuel, seen sawdust added and will try for the next batch.

Lit easily, seemed pretty wind resistant and burned for about ten minutes

Not sure if it is a factor of the wax (mostly my wife’s left over scented candles) but it did burn with an oily black smoke so I’ll use them in the burner and bbq.

38

Wood pellet cat litter would work well I recon, I use it a lot in my wood gasifire

 

[lol]

Cat shit on a gas fire?????/

Party at Joes!!!!!

 

[Ystranc]

I know it isn't particularly "bushcrafty" but no one ever mentions elastic bands or strips of inner tube anymore these days, I swear by them as a way of getting heat into kindling in an emergency. Utterly waterproof they will even work after a dunking or in sub zero temperatures.
My knowledge of natural tinders is not huge but I do keep a tinderbox with some king Alfred's cakes and some char-cloth for use with flint (knapped for a flintlock musket) and steel. After learning using flint I find ferroceum rods quite easy, however I usually use matches...While it doesn't rival a fire bow or a flint for bushiness there is also a pleasure in lighting a fire with a single match.