The other night while I was trying to get the campfire going, the lighter I had just bought wasn't working that well. Though it had plenty of fluid, it just didn't want to stay lit. I had some good kindling but just couldn't get it to stay lit. One of my sons was with me and said, "I know what will work." With that he disappeared and came back with some potato chips. I looked at him kind of funny but said though what the heck. I threw one chip in and the fire flared up and lit the kindling. That was all I needed to get the fire going. Now I know to always bring potato chips with me when camping.
Corn chips work well also. With one proviso...They need to be the fried ones. Baked chips do not have the oil content that makes them good fire starters.
Now that is funny.
I hope you sent him out on a snipe hunt after that.
cheese doodles will do the same thing ;)
That's clever and a little scary at the same time.
I use dryer lint, but that's a good thing to know....DH discovered the fun of throwing pistachio shells in the fire and watching them flame up
As they say "You're never to old to learn something new."
Thats funny.
Quote from: DrayThat's clever and a little scary at the same time.
And we're putting that stuff into our systems. Yuk!!
A great fire started from my Boy Scouting days....saturate cotton balls with vaseline. Sutff them in used plastic 35mm film canisters for storage. When needed, fish one out and place it at the bottom of your kindling. Touch a match to it and it will keep burning long enough to get your fire going. Used this on a recent (wet) hunting trip above the arctic circle in Alaska and never failed to get the fire going.
When starting a fire on an RV camping trip, I rely on EZ Fire Starters. (
//www.EZFire.com) They get a campfire going fast and they never fail either.
Have also used the dryer lint which is a darn good use for something that otherwise ends up in the land fill.
The Girl Scout in me makes the ones we used then......Little cup cake cups (papers) sawdust and melted wax.......Works great and doesn't cost much to make.
Quote from: AZsixThe other night while I was trying to get the campfire going, the lighter I had just bought wasn't working that well. Though it had plenty of fluid, it just didn't want to stay lit. I had some good kindling but just couldn't get it to stay lit. One of my sons was with me and said, "I know what will work." With that he disappeared and came back with some potato chips. I looked at him kind of funny but said though what the heck. I threw one chip in and the fire flared up and lit the kindling. That was all I needed to get the fire going. Now I know to always bring potato chips with me when camping.
AZsix I replied to your message but your private box is full.
I stuff dryer lint into used paper towel and toilet paper rolls. Q-tips with the paper 'stick' work well too.
Quote from: cjpoppinThe Girl Scout in me makes the ones we used then......Little cup cake cups (papers) sawdust and melted wax.......Works great and doesn't cost much to make.
My friend and I used to make these when we had a wood shop together years ago. I found a similar commercial product on the shelf at our local Meijer. They ran $5 for 4, but always work, wet or dry wood.
We use pine cones as fire starters. We have more than we can use in the backyard. ;)