Fire Starters: Perfect for Backpacking!

On the Team Green Frozen Head backpacking trip a couple weeks ago I over heard someone talking about how to make home made fire starters. It had rained the entire day before and most of the wood around us was wet. A fire starter really saved us because it was able to burn long enough on its own to dry out some of the wood and generate enough heat to burn the rest. You can buy fire starters pretty cheap at most outdoor stores, but they usually have chemicals of some sort in them. Here are step by step directions how to make your own out of house hold items.















What You Need:
Zip lock bag full of dryer lint (maybe even some wood chips or dry leaves)
Glass container
Two or three cheap wax candles (99 cents at Micheal's)
Boiling Pot
Match Box

1. Break the wax candle into pieces and removed the wick. Place the wax pieces into the glass jar or glass.
2. Fill a boiling pot 1/3 to half full of water. Place the glass container with wax in the pot and cover with lid. Boil water until wax melts
3. Stuff dryer lint into melted wax. Before wax dries completely, mold the melted wax and dryer lint into small balls (about the size of a doughnut hole). Make sure that dryer lint is well saturated with wax, but not much more than 50% of each.
4. Place match stick into dryer lint/wax ball and allow to dry for several hours.
5. Light one to test in an isolated area and see how long it burns. You'll want it to burn on it's own for at least 10 minutes.

I tested mine the other day and it lasted almost a half hour. The larger you make each ball, the longer it will burn. If you are a backpacker you can appreciate the need for things to be small and light weight. Customize each for your activity needs.