Firebugs -------------------------------------
Figured' i'd post these bad boys...
im really into homemade supplies
-Chainsaw
FIRE STARTERS:
Friendly but ugly
For all you campers who are environmentally conscious, here are
instructions for the ugliest but the absolute best fire starters.
Use old paper egg cartons, stuff till full with dryer lint (you
know, the greyish blue stuff), then melt old candles and pour wax
over.
Leave to cool and dry and then rip the little cups apart. You
have 12 fire-starters that will help you light any type of wood.
Just throw one in and light the edge. Told you they were ugly!!
Not a good gift.
firebug:
1. Go to your local supermarket and buy the following items:
a. 1 pound of paraffin wax from the canning supplies section.
b. 2 or 3 large boxes of Diamond brand strike-anywhere matches.
(Make DAMN sure you get the strike-anywhere kind!!)
c. A couple of containers of waxed dental floss.
2. When you've got it all home, set the paraffin aside for a while.
You don't need it during the first part of making a batch of firebugs.
3. Gather groups of ten or twelve strike-anywhere matches together with
the heads all facing one way and lash them together with the dental
floss. Be generous with the floss and wrap at least an inch or so
on each bundle of matches. Leave a few inches of floss on each bundle
to hold it by when you dip it in the paraffin.
4. After you've made as many of these as you want or need, find an old
saucepan that is deep enough for the matches to stand up in without
getting above the rim of the pan.
5. Take a block or two of paraffin and put them in the saucepan and put
the pan on your stove on VERY LOW HEAT. THIS IS IMPORTANT!! IF YOU
GET IT TOO HOT, PARAFFIN WAX WILL FLASH AND YOU'LL HAVE A HELL OF
A FIRE!!! KEEP AN EXTINGUISHER HANDY AT ALL TIMES WHEN YOU ARE
DEALING WITH HOT, MELTED PARAFFIN!!!
6. After the paraffin melts, take each match bundle and dip it in the wax
rear end first, taking care not to immerse the heads of the matches,
and leave each one in the wax for a couple of minutes so the paraffin
soaks into them well.
7. After you finish all of them, dip them all again in the same way, but
this time just dip each bundle and pull it out again and wait for the
wax to harden. Keep dipping each bundle until it is well coated. The
object of this second series of dippings is to waterproof each bundle,
and provide more wax to burn at the same time.
8. The last step is to dip the head end of each bundle several times
to coat it thoroughly with wax to waterproof it. When you have finished
this, you can cut the excess dental floss off of each bundle.
You now have a bunch of the finest homemade firestarters I know of at
less than a tenth of what a package of store bought firestarters costs,
and you can make two or three dozen of them for less than 5 bucks!
It is easy to use a firebug. Simply get your firewood together and make
a firelay. Then find a good big rock with one relatively flat side and
rub the head end of a firebug against it until the paraffin wears off
and the matches ignite. Shove it under your tinder and you should have a
decent fire going in five or ten minutes.
buddy burners..
you take a tuna fish can and bits of paper, carboard, saw dust or rag and melt parafin into it. Some people put a rope wick in the center also but I dont see any need too. You can use these as a fuel for a hobo stove, which is just an old coffe can with a row small holes punched around the outside top and bottom, you can also add, a bail or a little door to add fuel. These work well, unfortunately both of these methods are a bit smoky.
Here's a way to use up the wood chips from chainsaws. Fill a cupcake paper nearly full with dry chips. Then pour melted parafin in the cupcake cup until it's nearly topped off. You can then break off sections as needed. The chunks burn very hot, and are good fire starters.
Another method is to use an old icecube tray to make small fire starter cubes.
