Homemade Firestarters

Okay, I am great at starting a fire with one of those long lasting easy lighting firelogs you get at the store. That gets it going and I am good from there.

Everytime we go camping or hiking the boys all get excited, start saying, "Me Man - me make fire!" So, this morning Byron was away and I wanted to prove I have some primitive survival skills too. I didn't have a firelog. I will not tell you how many hours I spent trying to start a stinkin' fire! The kids are startin' to snicker and I smell like smoke!

Did you know those fire logs are just compressed sawdust and wax anyway? We buy them by the case ALL the time! I have made some imitations in the past. You melt some candle wax just like I did here and put some sawdust in some cardboard egg cartons, add the melted wax over the top of it. Wha-la - no wick needed because it burns higher and longer that way. Here's a link for lots of other homemade firestarter ideas. Here's another firestarter I am going to try made with toilet paper rolls.

Anyway - I didn't have time for all that this morning. I also knew that some people make firestarters with cotton balls dipped in petroleum jelly. That I had time for. They really flame up a long time too, way better than newspaper would be. But, after 1/2 a jar of petroleum jelly - that wasn't working either.

So, I had this genius idea.

I wrapped a log with cotton pads dipped in petroleum jelly -

wrapped dryer lint around the log and wrapped the whole thing in tissue paper. So genius! I started a fire! Well okay, then I let it go out. Guess I'll go make more. I am really determined to have a roaring man fire by the time Byron gets home!
This is the pile in front of the fire last night - right before the dog sat on me in an effort to move me out of the way between her and the Alpha Dog. I think that dog is jealous of me, and she almost worships Byron in kind of a creepy way!