Since I've started reading and gathering info on different firemaking methods I ran across a post mentioning wax cotton balls(AKA, WCB's). Contained in this post are my trials and tribulations of making the WCB's and what I've found so far with my testing of the different tinders.

I began this experiment looking for parrafin. The only thing I found was two 1lb bags that are made by Homedics to use in their parrafin dips. Cost was $12. Too much money and more wax than I would ever need.. So I looked into buying wax blocks. Couldn't find any locally and I didn't really want to buy any off the 'net. I would have thought some place like Michaels(craft store) would carry it. Nope just candles and containers. I finally broke down and bought a 50 count bag of Mainstay Home Unscented Tea Lights. Cost $1.95 or so from Wal-Mart.

The link below will take you to a photo album I have setup with pictures of before and after the CB is made, various containers, & how I'm melting the wax.
Wax Cotton Ball photo set.

Tinder Tests:
I tried the PJCB's(Pertroleum Jelly Cotton Balls) and can tell you I didn't get much burn time out of them and they are darned messy. The WCB's have given me a much longer burn time. My guesstimate would be some where around 5 minutes on average. Once you get a small tuft of cotton pulled out(with something sharp) a SparkLite will fire them right up. I also tried Tinderquik(from the D.R. PSK plus an extra Sparklite kit I picked up from Brigade Quartermaster) and a pack of Coghlans Emergency Tinder. The Tinderquik's do not last long and the Coghlans was a little messy. It was not easy to hold on to as it seemed to melt in my hand as I tried to pull it apart. They did last longer than the PJCB's & the Tinderquik. I also noticed it has a wax residue during and after the burn. The one thing my homemade one's dont have.

Enjoy and when I have a bit more time I'll try to write up how I actually make them.