Gazrok
A True Doomsday Prepper
Survival uses for a tampon, LOL:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...feminine-products-wild-camping_n_1581922.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...feminine-products-wild-camping_n_1581922.html
This one might be covered elsewhere and I'm sort of resurrecting a thread here, but another cheap and easy firestarter out of trash materials is one using cardboard egg crates. The foam ones don't work for this but the eggs I get at the grocery store come in the cardboard containers and they are perfect for this little trick. Once you've used up your eggs, cut all of the little cups apart from each other. The cuts don't have to be pretty by any means. Then, fill each of them with dryer lint, shredded papers that you were going to throw away, or sawdust from your workbench and then use a candle to drip wax across the tops of the cups, sealing in your chosen tinder-trash. Put down a decent layer or two of wax, flip them over and put a layer on the backs, and presto chango, you've turned trash into very flammable, fairly long-burning, very lightweight firestarter balls. Simply set it down in your fire area with the edges up, and light one of the edges with a flick of your lighter or a match or whatever you use. (For me the ferro-rod is a backup only.) The cardboard lights easy, the wax burns long, and the tinder-trash adds to the heat coming off the wax flame. Just used one out back and it burns pretty high once the inside gets going. Burn time could be longer but I didn't fill them all the way as I only had so much sawdust from this mornings' work. You can store them in a ziplock bag to keep the corners dry. If they do get wet, the wax keeps the tinder dry, and you just need to get one corner dry to make it usable again.
Have you tried one of these?We don't have a dryer, so I stock up cheap tampons, tissues, matches, steel woll, 9V batteries and vaseline-soaked cotton. I also store them in empty spicejars to make it waterproof.
The tissue is wrapped around a match (the top part) and soaked in hot candlewax. The matches burn longer and makes it easier to light a fire. Bonus: waterproof. Note: cut the off the part where you strike the match and store them in a waterproof container.
Nail polish remover, hairspray, and cheap perfume also works great. I prefer to not light cooking fires with them (or the tampons) because of the chemicals.
Better safe than sorry.
A 9V battery and some steel wool is both fun and useful. Take some steel wool (soap free) and tap it with the battery. Voila! Firestarter.
When I go camping, I use white birch bark and straw. The white, flaky part of the bark catches fire with ease. Dry straw (and tall grass) will also do great.
TIP: the native people of Norway is said to be able to light fires even if the wood is soaked. The trick is to have the wood be no longer than 10-20cm and two thumbs thick, have the flames burn at the middle of these sticks and the water will boil out. As long as you can get a small fire going, you can build something more sustainable.
~Alex
I have to admit, I've never actually tried to make a bow with a stick and make a fire. I've seen it done, and think I probably could (with a few blisters anyways) in a pinch, but have to admit, the cordless drill would help. Of course the 800 lb gorilla in the room is if you have a cordless drill then you probably have other ways to start a fire as well.besides the cordless drill..i also have a electric drill.and a hand operated ratchet drill as well..so they'll be getting tried out as well..
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