How To Make Homemade Tinder Tabs

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Sometimes when you’re in the woods after or during a rainy day, finding dry tinder can be difficult if not impossible. When you need to get a fire going quickly, this is not a good situation to be in.

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This is why it’s wise to carry your own premade tinder with you. Making your own tinder is cheap and easy to do, and can be done with items you likely already have.

In this video, Survival Dispatch explains how to make homemade tinder tabs.

First, you will need to gather each of these items:

• Cotton (go with real cotton and not anything synthetic)
• Toothpick
• Straw (a common drinking straw would work; go with bright colors so you can see it in low light)
• Lighter
• Pliers (or a Leatherman)
• Knife or scissors

Once you have accumulated the above items, follow these steps:

1. Take your straw and cut it down with the knife or scissors to your desired length; the straw can literally be as long or as short as you desire.
2. Take a pair of pliers (or a Leatherman) and squeeze the end of a straw together.
3. Ignite your lighter and hold the flame to the end of the straw; the heat will cause the end to fuse together to seal it off.
4. Take your cotton and pull it apart.
5. Stuff as much cotton as you can down into the straw, using the toothpick to help.
6. Once you have stuffed in as much cotton into the straw as you can, repeat step 3 with the opposite end to ensure the entire straw is sealed off.

And that’s it! You can stash these little tinder tabs in your car, in your backpack, survival kit, or even in your pocket. The point is to make sure you always have at least two or three with you for when you venture out into the woods.

The best part about these tabs is that they are fully waterproof. To open one to access the cotton inside, just use a knife to cut one of the ends open.

To see how it’s done, watch the video bay Survival Dispatch below.

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