John,<br><br>So far the vaseline has not moved out of the straw. However, I made these in probably February, and like Tom noted, they have not been exposed to any high temperatures. <br><br>I put 3 of these in the hollow handle of my CReeve knife along with a BSA Hot Spark. Any migration of the vaseline here will not matter. <br><br>I placed 2 in my PSK, which rides in my daily carry bag 90% of the time and in my shirt pocket occasionally. I opened this today....lots of tape, and there was no mess in there either. I took the precaution of placing these straws in pieces of "dry" cotton balls that I have used as anti-rattle firestarting stuffing (ARFS). Any migration should cause no harm. My cotton was by no means soaking in vaseline. <br><br>I will watch these over the summer to see if sealing would be a good idea, but I really do not anticipate having to do much.<br>

I haven't done the straw thing (yet), so this is just a WAG (WildA$$edGuess), but if leakage is a problem, couldn't you just fold the end of the straws over and either staple them shut or whip them with some dental floss or something???

PC2K<br><br>Mothers & wives are a lot alike--they're always making you clean up after your projects. 'Ceptn' maybe for Tom Ayers, and I think maybe he's tellin' a tall tale when he doesn't think she's listening. ;^} <br><br>Try to enjoy being a teenager. The best time of your life is always the one you're living at the present.<br><br>John<br><br>

miniMe,<br><br>We do get a lot of mileage out of that rationale. And she even recognizes that it is largely true. But sometimes ...<br><br>John

PC2K--Congratulations on your command of the English language. I wish my 14-year-olds could speak another language 1/2 as well as you speak/write English. You honor those of us who are native English speakers by putting in the effort to communicate with us in our own language. Thanks.<br><br>Robb

PC2K, I wish most American 14 year olds could use English as well as you can, much less a second language.

I tried using a Wendy's straw and my own iron to seal the ends, but it didn't work. But what's wrong with smearing the inside of the straw with Krazy Glue (put a drop on a piece of plastic, then 'paint' the inside with a toothpick), and crimping it shut?<br><br>And why do you need the vaseline? What does it add? I just took a standard cotton ball out of the package, fluffed it up like you guys said, and struck a light with four Ronson lighter flints that I KG-ed to the lid of my Altoids tin. The first one lit in two tries, the second one in three. Granted, they only burned for a few seconds, but if you've built your fire properly, that should be enough, shouldn't it?<br><br>Where's the advantage in messing about with vaseline or other accelerants? What does it gain me?

Forget about postings about divorce...the real question is have we seen ANY posts from Tom since he tried it! <br><br>Robb

The official american medical name for vaseline is petrolatum, nf

I thought "petrolatum" was mineral oil?