When hunting in the backcountry of Colorado and elsewhere, you sometimes get caught in a rain shower and need to get warm and dry off quickly, or you might discover that you’re lost and need to start a signal fire. I started making these fire starters about ten years ago, and have found them to be very effective at starting a fire quickly, even when all you have to work with is damp or wet wood.
Fill each compartment of a paper egg carton with wood shavings or sawdust. Use an old pot or teakettle–I found mine at Goodwill–to melt some canning wax or an old candle. Pour the melted wax into each compartment and allow it to cool completely. Tear or cut the carton to make individual fire starters. There is no need for a wick; simply light the side of the carton. One of these fire starters burned very hot for thirty minutes without any added fuel! The flames were about 12″ high. That gives you plenty of heat to get a larger fire going without any trouble.
I’ve been making these same fire starters for years. I also add a piece of dryer lint to the top with only wax on one side to hold it to the rest of the egg carton. This will start with about anything that can make a spark.
Brilliant! This is a great tip—I never thought about the egg carton piece. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been making and using these for several years and have found them to be very valuable, both at home for starting fires in our pit, and for camping fires.
Great tip. Will be doing this in very near future.
This sounds like a good idea. A friend and I got caught out in a bad storm once and needed to get warm and dry off. We got a fire going, even with wet wood/twigs using the inner dry bark off a Stringybark gum tree (here in Australia) so, if I make some with the bark I think it would be a good combination.
I have been making them as well. They work great. Using them for home and camping fires. I have made them with paper cut up by a shredder, yarn clippings, and twine/jute. Thanks for publishing the tip.
They make great gifts for friends and family that are the outdoor type.
Keep at least a couple of these in your pack whenever you are outdoors. Those, a Bic lighter, and some stormproof matches (UCO) in a watertight vial and you will always be able to get a fire going when you need one.
It might be a little harder to find lately, but a small plastic bottle of hand sanitizer also is something good to carry. Test it first to make sure you got the kind with a good amount of alcohol in it. I’ve been making the egg carton type for a long time, but I do carry both.
This is a great tip but one thing to remember when heating wax is to be very careful with it and heat it slowly. Many years ago when I ran a trampoline, I was heating wax in an old 50 mil ammo
can to wax my traps. I was using a fish frying burner close to knee level. This wax had been used many times before and had confiormed to the shape of the can. Just as I leaned over it, it blew up and covered my face with hot wax. My face was burned very badly and had I not been wearing glasses, I would probably be blind today.
These work great, are cheap to make, don’t take up much room in the back pack. You have no excuse for not having 2 or 3 of these with you. Don’t forget matches, lighter, magnifying lens , or striker.