Petroleum Jelly cotton balls are widely known as the goto homemade tinder. They're cheap, reliable and can be tightly packed into an empty film canister for countless fires. Problem is...they're messy! I hate having to dive into a container and end up with grease and dirt sticking to everything when I need to start a fire.
On solution is to pack some home made capsules of PJ cotton and cut them open as needed. The nice thing about these is that they can be packed into Pocket Survival Kits (PSKs) because of the relatively small size.
These aren't my idea and I don't remember where I picked it up from, so if anyone knows who the credit belongs to- feel free to leave a comment.
STEP 1
Gently warm the end of the straw with a heat source. Be careful or the straw will take the flame and become uneven.
STEP 2
Once the plastic is warm and has curled up on itself a little, quickly take a pair of pliers and press down on the open end until it is sealed.
STEP 3Using a bamboo skewer (or something reasonably long and thin) begin pushing the cotton into the open end of the straw. You may need to fluffy up the cotton a bit to get this to work.
STEP 4
Repeat step 1-2 on the opposite end
You now have a self contained tinder capsule, ready to cut open and light using a firesteel, matches, or lighter!
Hi There! I just discovered your website while I was looking for information on Kochanski. I think you have done a great job here and I am surprised that you have so few comments/followers. I like your suggestion for the firestarters above, another gem of an idea I have found from other people of similar interests. Keep up the learning. I am thinking about going to do a course with Kochanski but I live in the States and the cost is prohibitive at the moment but I feel that the knowledge gained would be invaluable. All the best. Gary
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