Whether you’re going camping or surviving in the wilderness, having some firestarters will make your life so much easier. Imagine it’s damp and a bit windy outside. Even if you find some tinder, you’ll have a hard time getting it to burn, much less keeping it burning long enough to ignite your kindling.
But if you have some highly flammable firestarters with you, getting a good fire going will be a piece of cake. There are many types of firestarters, but sawdust firestarters are particularly effective. And in this video, Tactical Intelligence explains how to make them.
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Here’s what you need:
- Ice cube trays
- Wax (paraffin is good, but you can use another type)
- Sawdust
- A pot for melting the wax
Here’s what to do:
- Melt the wax in the pot.
- Fill the ice cube trays with sawdust.
- Pour the melted wax into the trays with the sawdust.
- Put the tray into the freezer for about 15 minutes.
- Get them out and they’re ready to go.
These firestarters work really well. As you’ll see, they will burn even if it’s a bit windy and sprinkling outside. Watch the video below to learn more.
I’ve done the same thing, but instead of using an ice cube tray, i’ve used the little bathroom cups. They work really well because you can use part of the cup as a wick to get it started
the part where you say I’ll just put these ‘jobbies” in here. In the UK a hobby is a turd, a Poo a number 2, a devils dumpling, satans smelly sausage. faeces. Ogh how we laughed.
Jobby not hobby,
If you buy eggs in the 5 dozen boxes, there are paper dividers to make 5 (maybe 6) dozen fire starters. Faster “manufacturing” time than using the dozen size box.
I would worry about storing these fire starters as the heat would start to melt the wax if the SHTF if you were outside in 80+ degree heat, unless you really insulated them in rolled up clothes in a BOB after you put them in a ziplock bag.
Trish ,
Living in Arizona l understand the storage / temperature concern . A very simple cure is plain cheap store brand waxpaper , for ice cube size , take a piece of waxpaper 6″ × 6″ , wrap the starter , and twist the ends like a tootsie roll . Even on our 100 + degree days the wax doesn’t seem to leak out . Hope that helps .
What a great way to use up old candle wax! I also like the egg carton suggestion.
Thank you.
Add a cotton ball on top, and it will make it a bit easier for a spark from a ferrocium rod to start it… Leave a bit of the cotton not waxed for best effect… A poke with a knife or sharp object can pull some more fibers out.
That was good video just wondering how to store the sawdust cubes
Does it fire easily with a firesteel? Thank you very much from Brazil!
Probably not, you’d want some good tinder for that. This is more to help you quickly turn a small flame into a hot fire.
I did this but used an egg carton instead of the ice cube tray. I then cut them apart. The paper of the carton helped the light more easily
if you make them in cardboard egg cartons you can just cut the carton apart and burn the whole thing this will also make the fire starter stronger. I use soy wax for candles, buddy burners and fire starts like this.