Easy, offbeat fire starters

[deceiver]

It's simple. Most of you have propane bottles. I'll bet most have propane torches like the kind for repairing water pipes. Even wet campwood succumbs to a propane torch. Starts the fire every time. I've been using it for years. To heck with the light the match, blow till you get dizzy and hope for the best type of thing.

[Martini]

I used to carry a kit with potassium permanganate and ethelyene glycol (anitfreeze) just to impress the kids. Take about a tea spoon full of potassium permanganate and put it in a nest of old pine needles or wadded up paper. Add a few drops of ethelyene glycol then cover with more needles or paper wads. Look kiddies I made fire without matches or a lighter.

[AJP]

I like to take a few paper towels, pour about a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil on them. Cover in your small pieces of wood and light, should burn for 30-45 seconds and get your wood going.

[jstrubberg]

One of my other hobbies is buildign wooden longbows. The favorite wood for logbows here in the USA is Osage Orange (also known as bowdark, Bois D'Arc or hedgeapple). Osage orange makes the best firestarter I've ever used. We save the shavings and sawdust and put a good sized handful in those paper lunchbags and roll the tops shut. Just set the bag in the firepit and light. Burns as hot as cedar, but a bag will burn for 20 minutes or so.

[Wolffarmer]

That sounds interesting. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some of that wood. I save the wood curls from hand planing And as I have a lot of it for the number of fires I make I put a whole mess of the curls down and put wood on and light it up. It is usually a mix of pine, oak, maple, cherry and now sycamore and a bit of mystery wood thrown in. Kind of bulky to carry but for me is seldom a problem.

Randy

[T&CLongmire]

I have used C-4 as a fire starter with excellent results - it burns like Sterno, just hotter.

How does one obtain C-4? I've heard of some people cutting open Claymores or melting it out of opened grenades, but that's too much work (and maybe a little dangerous) not to mention damaging good ordinance. It's far easier just to pull a M112 stick out of a satchel charge (M183), cut off a small slice, and put it back. You get to start your fire and keep your ordinance.

Don't try stomping the fire out though, or you could lose a leg.

All out of satchel charges? I guess you could use a little Sterno, but where's the fun in that?

If you want to start a large bonfire, there's always napalm... but that's another story. Ran out of Napalm? You can get some more here: http://www.napalm.net/ j/k

Brings back some great memories. We were in the field near Vitmire (sp) Germany in 1980, heating C's with aforementioned C4 chunks when brand new 2nd lieutenant walked up. Asked the source of fire and upon realization what we were using stomped out of reaction. Put him flat back on his keister. Forgot to eat we laughed so hard and long.

I put OOOO steel wool in a ziplock bag, once lit burns hot, real hot. Will also light with a spark tool, as will dry cat tail fronds broken open and spread out.

Tim

[lancew]

few winters ago, i used chainsaw to cut some wood. i took the sawdust and added wax. <ask family n friends for all old candles>. after a good mixture of wax n wood, press into toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls. cut it into sections n light. the sections are about 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick. i use these to start camp fires and even use them to start my grill. when done laughing at my camp neighbors as they are trying to start a fire. i walk over and hand them couple of these. good way to meet new people. lol.

[Wolffarmer]

Could also do that with the paper egg cartons

Randy

[Corwin C]

Try 'em ... you'll like 'em.

[Oldragbaggers]

I've heard of a camper who got lost and in an emergency only situation used balls of duct tape to get the fire started and dry out the only available (wet) wood going.

There is absolutely no end to the uses for duct tape!!

[Sparksalot]

Could also do that with the paper egg cartons

Randy

My daughter and I did this recently with the egg cartons, dryer lint and wax. One egg cup burned for just under 15 minutes in our driveway test.

[bc toys]

lots of the Las Vegas campers use the egg cartoons to start our char coal works really great with a chimney starter

[sushidog]

Of course you could always just bring your laptop and play a crackling campfire loop like this: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=vid ... F1&first=0

But what would be the point? Unless it's 100 degrees outside like it is today - or it's raining and you want a campfire inside your camper, but would also like to live to camp another day.

Chip

[lancew]

I just turn on the propane to the campfire and reach for my long barbaque flicker.

done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no fuss no muss!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the old fashon real campfires are for the birds

I love my little red campeco fake campfire.

I don't blow I don't look for any fire wood.

I don't pack fire wood.

I don't carry a ax

or a saw.

I have no worrys about startig a forest fire when I am done!

no smoke to blow in your face and chase you around the camp fire.

5 pound propane bottle last all night and the next moring with gas to spare

on a small indian type fire.


and when I leave its in its case in the back seat of suv and you will never know I had a campfire.

best thing to start a camp fire.

is just say the heck with the real camp fire.

and get a propane fake one.

I love mine! to death.

and it lights every time and I then just foreget it and go walk over to the teardrop and go cooking.

I never add a peice of wood to it.

and when I am done with the camp fire.

just turn the propane nob on your propane tank off!

any flicker that is hardly working at high altude will light my fake campfire.

just get the gas going and you get one spark and "WHOOSH!

you got great flames and then your totally done grab your chair and stare away athe camp fire and don't worry about fighting to get it going.

or keep it going.

propane beats fire wood any day espeicaly with nearby forest fires and a fire banns in place all over.

and the propane campfires are legal in a fire bann where as a real one is NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

slow.

wow, lol pretty boring you is...lol

[Wanna Be]

I forgot about the nut shells in with the dryer lint !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And mix it all up with some wax,,, Way to go !!!!!!!!!!!!!


Wanna Be