I just want to hear what criticisms you have of this.

Currently, I carry a .35oz Vaseline Lip Therapy tube. It's 100% PJ, but the size of a chapstick in a squeeze bottle. The cotton balls are in a standard orange match case. I actually put three pennies at the bottom of the match case, which makes it easier to get that last ball out.

My thoughts are to make the pj cotton ball tinder when I need to, and can actually use the cotton balls for other purposes if need be. The tube of pj can also be used for its intended purpose as well (chapped lips). I also found application of pj on the cotton ball alot easier to manage than using a jar of pj (I tended to use too much).

I thought this is a great tip, but would like to hear some devils advocate comments. One thing that comes to mind is what if I'm already beyond the point of hypothermia that I wouldn't be able to mix the 2.

We know that Chapstick-and-cotton ball can substitute for PJ and cotton ball.

Can lipstick be used instead of Chapstick or is the base non-color material not appropriate?

That pj tube sounds like something extra to pack in a FAK. A good idea. My question is this: How long do you want your pj soaked cottonball tinder to burn? I sometimes have to use damp wood and shave-out kindling to get a fire going, so I REALLY smear and soak each cottonball real good in pj by hand (messy job) and roll it real small and tight. Afterwards, they will burn about 7 minutes, 9 minutes if I roll them in magnesium shavings, after catching a spark from a sparklite. I have to fluff them up a little for the sparklite if they don't have the magnesium on them of course. I put them in the same kind of orange match case, but haven't tried the 3 penny trick.

Thats the beauty of it, it's not chapstick, its 100% PJ in a squeeze tube. You can look at it on the vaseline web site. Look at the lip therapy one.



Surprisingly, I believe there's enough PJ in this tube to saturate all the balls in the match case (roughly 10).

I read a post of a gentleman on a different forum that suffered hypothermia. He had great difficulty just getting his PJ cotton balls out to use them.

I now carry two mini Ziploc bags of Coghlan's Emergency Tinder. You can see them, you can cut into them and if you drop and lose one you are still good to go. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Think in terms of having an IQ just above a rock, only able to use one hand and you are freezing your a$$ off. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I wouldn't. I would go with spark-lite tinder tabs because they are very easy to light. Even if I am shaking like a leaf. I would be inclined to drop a couglan's on to the tinder tab to increase the burn time. Or two or Three.
Save the PJ ans cotton wool for non critical firelighting.

I find that the better I prepare BEFORE I try to light my fire, the easier it is. Start with a good tinder bundle, ie scraped and fuzzed up bark, dry grasses, etc. Have a good amount of small kindling and an adequate amount of fire wood. A match, lighter or ferro rod should start this up pretty easily. Even if you were in survival mode, you would still need to prepare otherwise whatever you start won't last. And in a survival mode, that handy road flare in your pack should start pretty much anything up even if not prepare in the best way because you are under duress.

I like and use the PJ and cotton ball method a lot. It just makes making a fire easy. Oh, I also carry some fatwood. I have never been in a survival situation and hope I never am. If it is life or death, you can bet I will use the biggest, baddest, fasting thing that will get the job done. No such thing, to me, as overkill in that scenario. Hence the road flare. If I had a flame thrower, I would use that too.

Sorry for the long winded post. In summary:

PJ + cotton balls + fatwood + ferro rod + lighter = easy to carry on person

Add redundancy and a little emergency "overkill" = easy to carry in pack

Leigh,

You are the man! <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Anyone have stories of being cold and your hands not working and/or not thinking clearly?

Too many.

Why do you think I carry a highway flare or two in my gear when it's really cold out? If you can't light a fire with that, you're already mostly dead, and unless your buddies can get you to Miracle Max's, you lose.

Yup, hiking the fjords of British Columbia as a teenager. Got caught at 7,000 feet in a bloody rotten storm with nothing but a rainfly above me and solid granite underneath. All night I was soaked from the water running down the rock, and the next morning had to get dressed in the rain. I was shaking so bad, then I stopped shaking, and fortunately the guide with us realized what was happening and slapped a big down parka on me and got my pack on me and got me heading down the trail. In about ten minutes my core temp was back up and I was feeling better. In an hour we were well down in the treeline, where we got some breakfast going.

What I remember was that as my temp lowered, it was getting increasingly difficult to get my clothes on, and then it got hard to talk. That was probably the closest I come.

Y'all have given me an idea. I am gonna start scheming an idea on a device that can be triggered simply, but has a reliable safety, and generates a flame for a good 10 minutes. I'll have to work on that, something that you could trigger by hand or even use your teeth if necessary. Hmm, time to go to the dungeon.

Sounds like you're looking for a refillable butane pocket torch. I've got one made by Blazer that I've had for a good ten years with no problems. It burns very hot and has a little switch that locks it open.
It also does wonders on frozen car door locks.
They are available in many sizes and price ranges. Check cigar websites for them.


Edit to add: http://blazerproducts.com/lighters/

Benjamin, they already have one. Look at Leigh's post. Highway flare. There are even small ones available in some places. But a full sized one really doesn't take up that much space. Mine is vacuum sealed in a foodsaver bag. I can light it with one hand, so I doubt you'd have any trouble.
Not as exciting as inventing a new gizmo, I agree. But they're pretty idiot proof and they can serve multiple purposes.

My ultimate light in anything option is the lifeboat match, (You know them in as the REI match). With a esbit or Wet-Fire cube that I have just crushed.
One thing I have found out about them that is interesting: They are normally sold in one of two containers. A conventional matchbox or a sealed tub. Don't go for the sealed tub. Unless they are for use at sea. The strikerboard on the tub is much smaller than the one on the conventional matchcase. That makes igniting the match much harder. The ones I have ignited on the normal striker board have lit the first time, every time. If you need to waterproof the matchcase, a small ziploc plastic bag of the type used for small electrical parts, say 4" x 4" or there abouts, works very nicely.
An esbit or W-F cube delivers quite a lot of heat on its own. Which is a significant consideration.
One other consumable that you should have is the single use chemical heat packs . They allow you to rewarm a hypothermia victim in situations where the classic put them in a sleeping bag with another person technique is impractical. (That's Brit-Speak for impossible). <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You could make a fire starter with a pull string, or similar, but these would be banned after arsonists start using them with a time device to start fires in buildings (time delay like a bag of sand with a hole in it, etc)

INCONCEIVABLE!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Yes, I do keep a small zip bag with cohlans tinder.. And yes, the pj + cotton would be mixed and used when conditions are ideal. Just wondering why people pre-mix it instead of carrying it like I do. Unless of course it is your only tinder...

I do find the road flare an outstanding idea.

I just picked up some of this Weber Firestarters (lighter cubes for charcoal grills).. It was 24 cubes for $2.99USD. It's a bit large, but I think I'll light one tomorrow and see what the runtime is like.

I carry the Tinder Quick stuff for emergency use, but yes, I pre-mix cottonballs and pj and have them for the specific use of tinder for non-emergency use also. Just became a habit for me. Handier than having to go shave cedar bark, buff out some grass/vine to make it suitable, buy fire starter sticks, use a fuel tab, or make my own char cloth, etc. etc, etc.

Personally, I would recommend that you premix the Vaseline & cotton balls. I like that method of fire starting. When the Vaseline is mixed well, it doesn't matter where the sparks hit the cotton, it will light. However, if you wait to mix the two, and it is 10F out when you need it, you might have a problem. Vaseline gets a little stiff when very cold. It will be difficult to work into the cotton so that it will burn effectively. When you most need it, your tinder pile from nature will not be at its best, possibly damp, so you will need the maximum burn time from that cotton to get your fire going. In addition, if your fingers are very cold and stiff, and you just got done trying to work Vaseline into a cotton ball, you will have a hard time trying to grip your fire starter with your cold, wet, and now greasy fingers. My recommendation is to pre-mix. Carry a Vaseline tube in addition if you want, or in a pinch, rub a coated cotton ball on your lips.