Prepping your Bug Out Bag means you’ll need to think about fire-starting options that are available. Your best bet is to try out as many as possible before choosing what will work best for you. A wide range of options will greet you, from the expensive packaged camp store versions to a few you can create yourself at little to no cost. Take these things into account:
- When it comes to fire-starters, more expensive doesn’t necessarily mean more effective. A lot depends on the conditions and the weather.
- If a bad situation turns even worse, you should probably also figure out how to make fire-starters without the benefit of money or nearby stores.
How You Can Make a Fire-Starter With Items at Home
One option that can be quickly made at home with very little cost is a fire-starter made from the lint found in your clothes dryer. You probably have more dryer lint than you need, so you can’t beat the availability of this ingredient. Consider a few things to consider before you go lighting the gray stuff on fire out in the backyard.
- The fabric of the clothes that were just in the dryer actually play a pretty important role. You’ll probably find the best results come from cotton clothes like shirts and denim jeans. A dryer with a load of clothes made up of microfibers or other synthetic materials might not be as effective. Test out the lint from a few different laundry loads to find what works best and let us know in the comments.
- After you’ve found the materials that are the most combustible, try out two different fuel extenders to make the lint even more effective. Basically, a “fuel extender” coats the lint and makes it burn for a longer time and, in turn, catches your smaller pieces and kindling to smoldering and smoking. Try out petroleum jelly for an extender that you can find around the house. Mix it with the lint to make some tidy little fire-starters. Try out paraffin wax or melt down some leftover holiday candles and add that to your lint.
Ways to Carry Your Dryer Lint Fire-Starters
The beauty of using dryer lint as a base ingredient of your survival fire starters is that most of the ingredients can be found around the house and cost pretty much nothing. You will need something to hold your newly found lint fuel.
- You can use a cardboard egg carton by putting a bit of the mixture of lint and fuel extender in each small section or use a discarded toilet paper roll to stuff the mixture in. Either way, consider how you’ll keep your starter dry.
- When using the egg carton container you could also consider the extra step of dipping them in melted fax for a waterproof and fuel based option. Re-using small plastic bags of packaging or the Ziploc bags that only held a lunch sandwich are good ways to recycle household items that would normally get trashed.
A fire-starter holds the potential to save the lives of you and your loved ones, so take the time necessary to make sure you make them correctly by trying out difference ingredients and safely starting fires of your own before a time of crisis arrives. The weather, the types of wood available, and the lighting device are all factors to consider.
