Comments on: How to Start a Fire with Magnesium, Cotton and Petroleum Jelly

By: Roy Scribner

Roy Scribner — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:30:54 +0000

John – this is the first time I’ve owned a sparking device, but I think I’m sold, just from ease-of-use with cold fingers. Of course, you have to have good tender – supposedly you can light small twigs directly with these, but I think that would be difficult.

Karen – I think you’ll have better luck using an egg carton and then cutting-out each individual “egg” if you need to make them smaller. The egg carton burns well and gets everything else going.

VE – a blowtorch, yes I think I saw the Survivorman using one of those

By: VE

VE — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:26:57 +0000

That's interesting. I prefer to always bring a blow torch, of course... VE’s last blog post..Ghosts

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:45:25 +0000

I’ve heard cotton balls and petroleum jelly work really well. I’ll be camping next weekend and I think I’ll give it a try. I tried to make my own firestarters with the lint and wax, but I think I used too much wax. They were difficult to get lit. I put the lint in a pie plate and poured wax on it, then cut them into little cubes. Maybe I’ll try it again with much less wax. Of course, if the cotton balls work well, that’s even less work . Thanks for sharing Ray.

See you ’round the campfire,
Karen

By: John Soares

John Soares — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:22:55 +0000

Very timely post for me Roy. I'm in the process of updating everything I take with me on hikes, and right now fire-wise, I just have some waterproof matches. John Soares’s last blog post..July Hike of the Month: Seven Lakes Basin in the Trinity Divide Mountains