That's a good idea. I'll admit to having something of a "container fetish"... I'm forever buying pencil boxes, glasses cases, kitchen containers etc to re-purpose for camping & survival uses! While hexamine doesn't strictly need to be kept dry (so far as I can tell) I like the idea of having it in a sealed plastic tube, if for no other reason to keep it from stinking up the rest of my gear. But you're right, you could tape it up and burn the wrapper. Good thinking.

I will say that I have found some other, larger tubes of the same size. They require a bit larger quantity purchase but I may still go that route. For now the coin tubes are about $.60 each and ideal for a small fire kit.

Thanks! Another source I'll have to investigate. BTW, I like the kit!

It would be akin to trying to slice a frozen Hershey's bar. Pretty crumbly. If you put the tablet out you can reuse it and get extra starts that way, but I don't know if I'd be keen on dropping the warm tab on top of the other ones! Since they're only 21-25 cents each I'm not too concerned about getting extra lights. For the most part I envision using them as emergency tinder; I generally enjoy keeping regular "scheduled" fire making a bit more prep intensive and "low tech" (although I confess to being utterly infatuated with potassium permanganate & glycerine!).

One thing that might be interesting would be too pulverize some tablets and fill a container with just the "dust." Would it remain as flammable all crushed up? How long would it burn? Hard to guess without some testing.

M&M tubes can be repurposed too.


http://www.instructables.com/image/FDZPHJAFYG85RNC/Fill-empty-tube-with-quarters.jpg

I've never seen those before. Are they from the M&M candy? I haven't seen a package like that.

In my neck of the woods ( the other side of the planet) we have them in almost every store. But you can get them on-line as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Ms-Chocolate-Minis-1-08-Ounce-Tubes/dp/B003N7T55I

Nice! M&M's in any form is a WIN!

I use fire starter packets from the grilling stuff at lowes.. I use a different brand but they are the same thing as these pictured below. I like them because they are in self contained packs (about the size of a condom). You touch it with a flame and you have a fire. I have other methods on me, fire steel, cotton, etc.; but in an emergency when your cold and wet; you do not want a spark, you want a FIRE & you want it NOW. Thats what I save these for. I keep a ton of them on hand for charcoal grilling in the back yard as well..lol

I got beat to it but M&M tubes are what I use for all kinds of stuff. Quarters, Q-Tips, tinder.... They are great for a lot of stuff. The small ones also hold 20 bucks in quarters perfectly. Pretty nice.

M&M tubes come in two lengths. Shorter ones I have found at dollar stores. The longer ones have been seen at Walmart.