Fire Starters

For starting campfires, these burn better, and are easier to carry, than the news paper we traditionally bring along on camping trips to start fires.

All you will need for this project is a small jar of petroleum jelly, such as Vasoline ( found near the baby care products in most stores), a bag of cotton balls, and a small plastic container that closes tightly ( pill bottles and film containers work well for this).

You simply scoop out blobs of petroleum jelly with your fingers



and rub it all over a cotton ball.



When the cotton ball is completely saturated with this greasy goo, place it in the pill bottle and cover more cotton balls.

This is a very messy project, so it's a good idea to have a paper towel nearby to wipe those greasy fingers on.



We were able to fit about 10 cotton balls into our pill bottle, by tightly packing them.



Because of the small size of the container and how light weight it is, this would be perfect for hiking trips.

Once these balls are lit on fire, they don't easily go out. Blaze tried to blow this one out several time and it just burned more.