I posted earlier in the month, a recipe for making fire starter balls from cotton balls and petroleum jelly, (and then covering the balls with wax to help alleviate the PJ messiness). After reading posts about all the various commercial forms of fire starters, I decided to attempt making a reliable waterproof and wind resistant fire starter that can be made in the home or in the field.

First I tested the difference between PJ and wax....the difference is insignificant, they are both fuels and they burn at a similar rate; the main difference is PJ is messy. Also while trying to compress the cotton balls, PJ would become more solvent and the cotton ball would not compress therefore, I ended up with large grape-olive size fire starter balls. So I decided removed PJ from the equation.

Next I decided to add magnesium flakes. Magnesium is the compound that makes gag birthday candles spring back to a healthy flame after being blown out. In this application magnesium chips will keep these little balls-o-fire (BOFs) blazing in the wind.

Recipe:
Melt candle wax in a double boiler (or it can be melted in a solar oven easily) and let the wax cool a bit. An electric burner is preferable (no open flame).

Make magnesium chips. Magnesium is very soft and easy to file. I clamp a magnesium block in a vise with a piece of newsprint paper underneath to collect the chips. I use a medium wood rasp and make a teaspoon full of chips; it takes just a couple of minutes and will make many BOFs.

Take a single cotton ball and dip just one small portion of it in the melted wax, (so you have about a nickel size spot wet with hot wax). Next, dip this waxed portion of the cotton ball into your little dish of magnesium chips letting a healthy bunch of chips stick to the wax. Let the cotton ball sit and cool for about 15 to 30 seconds, just enough so you don't burn your fingers on the wax as you work the ball.

Next take the cotton ball and fold the wax with the magnesium chips attached, into itself and start needing the ball with your fingers; it will be warm; keep compressing the ball as the wax cools. You should end up with a compressed ball about the size of a large pea. Let it cool while you prep the next cotton ball. After the waxed and chipped balls are compressed and cooled, take tweezers and quickly immerse them in wax one more time. Let cool.

A spark from a flint is more likely to make flame when it lights upon microscopic fibrous materials. Breaking up a BOF to ready it for the spark is important. The more loose fibrous cotton exposed, the easier it will be for a spark to hit the cotton fibers and ignite a flame. So tear the BOF in half and raise the cotton fibers with a tool or your fingers.

When I was experimenting with these BOFs in the kitchen, I scooted one that was lit, off into a pan of water.... It stayed floating and lit within the pan of water for about 1 minute (sizzling and complaining but lit). I haven't had a windy day here but have tried to blow one of these out....No chance...not with all the magnesium mixed in, the flame just starts back up immediately.

So, for all you do-it-yourselfers, give it a try. I'm done with fire starting. I'm off to my next project....finding local magnetic variation by using a shadow stick.

Pretty cool! <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
I like that you followed up on your previous experiment.

What is your comparision to the taking of spark?
Your BOF vs. PJ/CB
As easy as PJ/CB
Not quite as easy, etc.

sounds great. Keep us posted on further developments

Very cool ! <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> Gonna make me some this weekend ! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Very cool - I'm going to try this soon... I am a bit worried about "cold hands" being able to use these effectively. I assume it's not too tough to NOT compress them so badly and keep a mix of both pea size and bigger...

Any ideas on which waxes burn longest?

Anyone out there know a good source for magnesium blocks of this type? A little too pricey to grind up a magnesium and flint fire starter (ala Doans??)

I use the Leatherman pliers to get the ball torn up and loosened up and the cotton nicely frayed. As far as types of wax, I just use plain old candle wax. I melted down candle stumps that we had around the house. You'll have a 3-5 minute burn-time for each BOF which is plenty of time to get your accumulated tinder materials started.

Blocks of magnesuim that come with a strip of imbedded flint web page are available in most sports, camping and big-box stores. These are actually knock-offs of the military types. There's enough magnesium in those to make hundreds of BOFs.

I actually prefer these old types strikers, probably because I'm used to them. So I can't give an opinion on these newer forms of sparkers. Anything that makes a spark will work....even a 9 volt battery and steel wool will work.

If I use scraps, mine are going to give off some nice aroma too... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'll have to see if we have some unscented votives or something laying about.

I read that the anodes in older water heaters were often made from either magnesium or aluminum.

Scott: All of these take spark and start to burn very quickly.... I think it's a function of the spark hitting the fiber, and the fuel feeds after the flame is established. A cotton ball without fuel will flame quickly too, it just doesn't keep a strong flame because there is no fuel.

Good point.

New HW heaters, too. The better HW heaters have one or two magnesium alloy anodes. Average and cheap HW heaters have a single aluminum anode. The magnesium ones work much better and will be pretty used up in an old HW heater. Lawnboy mower decks are a magnesium alloy, but have never filed / burned one so don't know if there is enough magnesium to make it worthwhile. Pure magnesium is soft as heck and burns far better than the alloys.

HTH,

Tom

Yes, I know you're pushing these Coghlan tinders....and I'll bet they work great BUT, try to make a bunch of these while your stuck in the middle of knowhere.

Can you blow one out? Will they burn in water? BOF's are a much better fire starter.... (I need a jingle)

I've been making my own in a pretty similar way. I use a 50-50 mix of parafin (any old candle) and the wax used to seal toilet bowls to the flange in the floor (yes I used a new wax ring). That ring wax is sticky soft and will never harden. That combination gives you a wax that is still soft, not sticky, and you can pull the starter apart to fluff the fiber even when its frozen. Candle wax by itself can get pretty hard.

If you look closely at a cotton ball, it's not really shaped like a ball but a cylinder. Make sure it's oriented up and down when you do this. I dip the cotton ball bottom in the wax for about a nickle sized spot (that was a good description of how much), and set it on a piece of parchment or wax paper that's on a cookie sheet (and forbid, do not just put it on the cookie sheet, the wife will flip). Then with a plastic spatula I squash it straight down. Hold it for a few seconds, and while keeping the pressure down, slide the spatula off. After you do a couple of them you get the hang of it and they look like little cookies. Do a bunch of them and let them cool before popping them off the paper.

They're fairly compact like that, but even better is using your vacuum food saver\sealer and make up some small bags. When you vacuum seal them, they really squash down into little biscuits. Kinda cool because you can make some little 2 or 3 paks that take up very little room in your PSK. When you use them, just peel them apart like a flaky biscuit to fluff the fibers for lighting. They burn great and are hard to blow out.

This is a fun and CHEAP project for the kids or boy or girl scout troop. They'll have fun making them, and then practice using them.

BTW The wax rings for sealing toilet flanges can be found in any hardware store (Home Depot) for about a $1.25. Just get the cheapest one, the more expensive ones have a urethane foam core and\or plastic funnel shaped flange that make them more foolproof for setting the toilet, but waste your money cause you'll just throw that stuff away anyway. It's enough wax to do a couple hundred starters when mixed 50-50. This stuff is really kinda sticky soft, so use a plastic throw away spoon to handle it.

The magnesium chips sound like a great idea.

Great tinder experiments! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I took a Coghlan's and pulled it all apart and soaked it in water. It will not stay lit. Even with a lighter it will catch but not stay lit.

Then I took a whole Coghlan's and soaked it in the water for about 30 seconds. I shook it off, pulled it in half and put it back together with the fuzzys sticking up. It lit easily and burned with a flame about 4" tall for about 5 minutes. It was hard to blow out.

I took another one and lit it and put it in a pan of water. It will not stay lit floating in the water.

Then I took a magnesium block and drilled out about a teaspoon of fine shavings. Then I took a Coghlan's and got the magnesium all embedded in it. I once again soaked it in water and pulled it apart. It burned nicely and flared from time-to-time. I was able to blow it out.

I think the Coghlan's work fine just the way it comes. You can get them wet and they work in the wind. They do not burn in water or if pulled apart and soaked. They do work better than PJ cotton balls. They are also not messy.

My favorite trick is to wrap half of one on the end of a stick and put the other half in the fire lay. I then light the Coghlan's on the stick and use it like a match to light the fire.

It costs three dollars for ten Coghlan's Emergency Tinder. Each burns for at least five minutes. That gives you a 4+ inch flame for about an hour.

What a deal! <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

A couple of years ago I needed to burn some brush that I'd cleared on a property. I had some PJ and CB firestarters in my trucks bug out bag. It was towards the end of summer (around here, 100+ is common) and when I pulled them out the high heat had basically turned the PJ into WD-40 which had leaked out of zip lock bag and gotten all over everything. The petroleum had also reacted with some plastic stuff that got goey and ruined more stuff, including most of the first aid kit and waterproof matches. In all, had to throw out probably half the stuff and couldn't start the fire the easy way. It was a real eye opener. Would have been completely SOL if I didn't have a sparking mag bar. Was also difficult to get a good spark, had to scrape some gunk off first. Might have been on the way to ruining the flint too.

Just read about using chapstick as an expedient coating for cotton balls. I would rather not have to use the chapstick for that. Spent a recent weekend doing roof repair to rental in a hard, all-day wind. Didn't have any chapstick and was just miserable. Got very windburned. Got to thinking about how that would have added another bad layer to an already bad survival situation. Just like being cold and wet, that kind of stuff can really add up and sap your will to survive.

Moral here is to try the recipes\ideas on this thread. They won't leak and ruin stuff, and you won't be using up a resource that can be used on lips, face, and hands in a survival situation.

Too much PJ in mix! A little dab will do ya! Less is more!!

I just tried the recipe with the toilet flange wax addition, and it works quite well, burning for 2-3 mins. . Now I just wish I could find an easier way to grind the magnesium flakes.

Use your electric drill.

Magnesuim is very soft. Drill, belt sander with heavy grit, files, saws, they all work. Finer magnesium particles rather than large chips, will mix more thoroughly in the cotton and burn more evenly.

E-BAY. I got a 1 lb block for $10 including shipping.