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Thread: cotton wool fire balls

  1. #11
    NaturalBushcraft Founder Ashley Cawley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnnyboy1971 View Post
    http://www.kuenzi.com/tips_e.htm

    These are dead handy things and you only need an old candle.
    On the theme of those, occasionally I have used small pine-cones dipped in a pot of old pot of candle wax, works well.
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  2. #12
    Native wildish64's Avatar
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    I was just concerned with youngsters on here not to encourage them to play with sparks and aerosols.

    I didn't think of youngsters,will be more specific in future

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ashley Cawley View Post
    I was just concerned with youngsters on here not to encourage them to play with sparks and aerosols.

    Perhaps I'll do a short vid on how I carry my cotton ball fire-lighters.
    That would be good, I just carry a small tin of vaseline and some tampons. If i need first aid, anti chafing, lip balm still useful for that, mix the two to make firelighters....simple and more importantly THRIFTY
    [

  4. #14
    Dick Proenneke rawfish111's Avatar
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    Some good ideas. I've never used more than just the cotton wool itself but I like the sound of some of these.
    We owe the debt of our blood to our ancestors and our skills to their perserverance.

  5. #15
    Magic biscuits are a good simple way of helping to light your fire.
    There are a few ways of creating these from cotton wool balls dipped in vaseline to face pads soaked in wax.

    Items needed are

    Candle (supermarket bought for£2)
    Vaseline (optional)
    Face pads
    Old pan
    Pair of pliers/forceps to remove from liquid wax.


    First step is to shave pieces of wax from the candle into the pan, i have used a knife for this but also an old cheese grater)


    Then i add a good helping of Vaseline to the mix

    place the pan on the heat and melt the two together slowly until there are no lumps of wax or vaseline left, then turn the heat off. The mix will stay liquid long enough to dip the pads.



    Next using your pliers pick up and dip the face pad in the liquid and coat all over. The longer its in the more it will soak up, this may be required but i prefer not to as when you break them open it leaves you with some cotton wool to light instead of having to melt the wax first.


    Then carefully lay them out on some greaseproof paper and allow to dry. The greaseproof paper can then be peeled off and your left with flat wax infused cotton pad.

    I store some of mine in the bottom of my Wild Wood stove along with some other firelighting bits (thanks BareThrills)

  6. #16
    Samuel Hearne butchthedog's Avatar
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    Some good ideas here to play about with, I will be trying a few of them out. Thank's fella's

  7. #17
    Bushman Sar-ian's Avatar
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    Try adding a block of beeswax, instead of vaseline to the candle wax, as beeswax burns longer/hotter/cleaner. I've also used this when making a bushbuddy, and instead of cardboard, used the wick out of the candle and made it a 5 wick candle....
    non est vivere sed valere vita est life is more than being alive..........ALWAYS GIVE MORE THAN YOU TAKE

    Ask not for a lighter load, but a stronger back.....

  8. #18
    One with Nature
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    hello,
    Two simple solutions a Tampon (absorbent material usually cotton, rayon, or a mixture of the two)
    Brasso Metal Polish (Wadding) look up Wiki for contents http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brasso
    both flamable ignite with very little issue. I've used both for years in my kit.
    Regards
    David

  9. #19
    Native Stamp's Avatar
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    Can't see the point in this really, I thought the idea was to use materials that you find while your out? These are free and with a little knowledge easy to find. Cotton wool works great on its out and can be used in an emergency if all else fails.
    I would say, spend a day collecting natural tinder and keep it with you, when you get low fill it up again. Plus its nice to get out in the woods rather than mess about with flamable liquids???
    Just a thought anyway...

  10. #20
    Samuel Hearne paulthefish2009's Avatar
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    Hi Stamp and welcome to the forum,the point is that the guys are trying to show methods of lighting fires when for example all around is soaking wet.
    I agree using natural tinder is more bushy but there are times when you just need to get a brew on rather than fafing about trying to get something natural to take a spark.
    There is a point so there Paul

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