Just read this in an outdoors monthly publication...

They say that strips (1" wide and about one foot long) of an old cotton T-shirt soaked in petroleum jelly makes a great firestarter and burns for a whopping 15 minutes!

Anyone willing to try this with a old T-shirt?

I can believe it. I mean it's the same idea at its base as burning a strip of seal fat in a kudlik. In a synthetic kinda way.

It makes sense, as long as it's cotton and burns, as opposed to polyester, and melts. I suppose you could use the strips for bandaging too... multi-purpose is always a good thing <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> It's beginning to sound like, just maybe, a small jar or tube of vaseline might be worth the weight in a kit, after all, you wouldn't want the vaseline on a burn, but it would be an advantage for a sucking chest wound... wouldn't it??? Any comment from any of our MDs/EMTs?

Troy

I was taught something nonstick over the hole, like plastic wrap, and then duct tape. I always carry duct tape and small zip locks, enough for the in and the out.

I'll give it a try. I just need to find some petrolium jelly

Well, I just tried it. I got a 5 minute burn time. I had to start it with a flame. I struck a spark onto some frayed jute string and used that flame to start the t-shirt. It started right away and in a half minute or so I had a very useful flame, probably up to 5 inches high. You could start a fire pretty quickly if you had everything ready. It does burn with a bit of black smoke but who cares when you're needing a fire.

Not real scientific but I thought I'd share anyway. I'd advise you try it and see if you'd find it useful. Besides, it gets you outside and playing with ,er, I mean "Testing" your gear.

Now its back to cutting up the T-shirts to make more char cloth.
Regards
Kenn

This is off thread but, Ben, if you read this.....hello from a fellow 4-stringer.

Actually, if the chest wound has an entrance and and exit, the exit would be sealed tight with a petroleum jelly coated gauze (or piece of t-shirt) while the entrance would be covered with plastic but only taped on three sides to allow air to escape from the plural space surrounding the punctured lung.

It's a sign- I need a refresher. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

1. Pure Cotton burns better than cotton/poly
2. WD-40 makes a better oil
3. Basically you're dealing with oily rags here, which means Spontaneous Combustion, so don't store where Oxygen get get to it. Last thing you need is your bag igniteing.