Homemade Fire Starter Sticks
Sometimes starting a fire is not as easy as pushing the button on your gas logs and dialing up the flames to the desired height. Lighting a fire in the woods on a camping trip or a survival weekend can be difficult. When kindling is wet, building a hearty fire is a challenge. Increase your odds of building a warm fire no matter where you are by making some homemade fire starter sticks. Fire starter sticks take very little time and effort to make, and they will help get that fire going quickly.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Candle wax
- Two metal sauce pans
- Corrugated cardboard
- Scissors/knife
- Matches
- Kite string or cotton string
- Pliers or tongs
Instructions
-
-
1
Fill a metal saucepan approximately two-thirds of the way with water and bring it to a boil. Place a smaller saucepan in the larger pan and place candle wax in it to melt.
-
2
Cut pieces of corrugated cardboard into sections about 2 inches wide by 6 inches long. Roll the cardboard pieces into a tube.
-
-
3
Tie each cardboard roll with a piece of kite string or other cotton string. Insert three or four matches into the corrugated holes in the cardboard.
-
4
Dip each cardboard fire starter stick into the melted wax with a pair of tongs or pliers for five or 10 seconds.
-
5
Dip each cardboard roll in the melted wax one more time and set it on a safe surface to dry. Dipping the fire starter sticks in the wax twice will make them burn longer.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Peel the outside layer off regular cardboard boxes to get the corrugated or ridged surface for making the fire starter sticks. The corrugated section of the cardboard allows the wax to penetrate into the fire starter sticks.
Be careful not to splash any wax on your hands while dipping the fire starter sticks. The melted wax is extremely hot and can burn your skin.
