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Making Your Own Firestarters
Several are commercially available, such as Trioxane bars or tablets, but what if you need to make some on short order? One way to accomplish it is to use cotton balls and petroleum jelly. Use a whole ball for longer burn time or tear one in half for less time. Drag it through the Vaseline or whatever else you have, and make sure it is completely saturated by rolling it back and forth between your fingers. Store your completed firestarters in an empty 35mm film canister.
Unfortunately, pure cotton balls can be difficult to find, but an easy alternative is to utilize your dryer lint. As long as it came from a load of cotton clothing, such as jeans or shirts, you should be good to go. 
Tear off a piece of lint about the size of a large marble and thoroughly pack it with petroleum jelly. The lint doesn't always want to stay together neatly, but after making a couple, you'll get the hang of it.
In the photo to the left, you will see two firestarters burning on an upended can. The one on the left is made from dryer lint and on the right is one made from a cotton ball. Both burned for at least six minutes. The inset shows that both continued burning even when struck by an approximately 40 mph gust of wind. Note that when these firestarters are burned in the open, the melting vaseline can splatter out to a foot or more, just like hot cooking oil. This doesn't seem to be a problem when used inside a pile of kindling. Be sure to test your firestarters by lighting at least one of them in a safe place and timing it's full burn time to ensure that everything is up to par. Since it's a good idea to assume you'll be starting all your fires under wet conditions, go ahead and make a fire during or after a heavy rain. 
I constructed this fire using only wet twigs and a dryer lint firestarter that had been sitting out in the rain for over an hour. The method I use is similar to a log cabin fire, but you can arrange the fuel in whatever pattern you prefer. Just remember, it's a good idea to have at least one layer of sticks for your firestarter to rest on. As the vaseline melts, it will drip down and help to ignite everything below.
Initially, these firestarters require some patience to get them started, but once they're lit, they really burn hot. I spear one on a stick and hold it over my Zippo lighter until it catches and stays burning. A lot of wind will make this more difficult, but try to keep your back to it and continue to relight the firestarter if it goes out. Once it's lit, use the stick to carefully place it in amongst the pieces of wood. At the time this photo was taken, the fire had been going for less than ten minutes and was hot enough to have dried all the wood out, as there was not much smoke. Thanks for reading this article. Please let me know what you think about it and if you have a great tip to share, send it to contact@weapondoctor.com If I include it in a future edition, I'll give you credit for it. Last updated August 30, 2005 
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