Getting a fire started real easy.

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gman51

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I read about this and so I tried it and I have been using it ever since for starting a fire whether it be a BBQ or campfire or just getting a burn pile going. This really works and you don't need use a bunch of lighter fluid to get the fire or charcoals burning.

You know all that advertising flier trash mail in your mail box and those empty toilet roll or paper towel center cardboard tubes. Well here is a good use for them.
Roll the flier mail up with enough that the tube fits easily over the rolled up papers. When you need to start a fire just squirt some lighter fluid into the tubes of paper. Pile the charcoal on top of the tubes or put the tubes down into the burn pile. Squirt a short a stream of lighter fluid on the ground area leading to the tubes and light the fluid. Be careful when lighting the stream of fluid in case there might be fumes that could ignite. I use one of those long lighters so I am not close over possible fumes. The fire will follow the stream down to the tube setting it on fire. In no time at all you have a fire blazing and no additional squirting of lighter fluid because the charcoals didn't start burning before the lighter fluid burnt off. This works great for getting a campfire going.
It works for me.
 
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Modern woodcraft 101!

My daughter got a job in 2005 as Nature Director for a youth camp in the Catskills, because she was the only person anyone there knew that could light a fire.

I had 4 kids and didn't know pyromania wasn't the normal human condition!

Life rule #6 says: Fire was something to be enjoyed as long as possible, but it must be kept in the fire ring or inside the wood stove!

Life rule #18 says: Fire isn't just for boys! (My wife, my M-I-L and my mom, all were Camp Fire Girls! The 3 of them were known to sit around a campfire and tell Girl Scout jokes!)

Ivan
 
Back when my wife made candles she would make me some in large plastic pill bottles with 4 or 5 wicks in. I used 'em for fire starters. They worked great. Now I use a propane porch or for big stuff a weedburner torch
 
When I was motorcycle touring and camping, our preferred method was the “desert candle”. Cut the top off a beer can. Pour in a couple of inches of gasoline. Build the fire around it and light the gas. It will burn long enough to ignite just about anything, including wet wood.
 
In my hunting pack, I carry a small chunk of fireplace log fire starter, which is nothing more than wood chips and wax pressed together. Works great on wet wood.

Larry
 
My Mom taught me all I need to know. Pour enough Diesel Fuel on anything and it will burn!:D
 
As some of you may remember I got a fire pit for Christmas. For a long time I was able to go around new house construction sites and get all the lumber ends and scraps I wanted.

That's all dried up now and I'm using actual fire wood. you can lite the lumber with a Zippo but regular fire would requires a bit more effort. to make it burn I find it best to expose the inside of the pieces to the starting effort. Bark seems to be somewhat fire resistant.

then you need to know a little of the physics of starting a fire. First of all wood needs to be warmed up before it will ignite. You can use all kinds of excellerants but the WOOD will not burn until you can get it warmed up. And the greener the wood the harder it is to get it going. Until recently I would lay a foundation of old news paper topped with some small twigs that have fallen from my trees. (Always have an abundance ot that).

Then I soak 3 or 4 pieces of split log with some starter fluid and LET IT SOAK IN FOR A FEW MINUTES. other wise it burns right off before the fire wood is even warmed up. Then, with fingers crossed I light of the whole shebang and hope for the best. If I have enough kindling to last long enough to get the wood warmecd up I'm all set.

Recently on a visit to the country I watched my BIL get his fire pit going. He had one of those propane jugs with a torch hooked up to it. That rig would set water on fire.

Since I saw that I got me one of those torches and I already had a couple of tanks of propane for the fish fryer. On the package of the torch it says that it comes out of the end at 3,000 degF. You can understand that the wood don't take a whole hell of a long time to warm up with THAT.

Instead of 15 minutes or longer, depending upon the wood, It's more like about 15 to 30 seconds.

Sure wish I'd a thought of all that about 55 or 60 years ago. :rolleyes:
 
I played all those games over the years, both with the grill and a burn pile. Now, rather than waste any time or buy expensive gimmicks, I find that a light sprinkle of 93 Octane does the job just fine! WOOOM!
 
I use a charcoal chimney and most any paper will work to get the charcoal going but what works best is to use the paper towels that I drain the baked bacon on. One full size paper towel ssturated with bacon grease and a couple pieces of newsprint is all it takes. Cuts way down on ash that blows, too.

If no greasy ptowels available pour some cooking oil on one and light it.
 
In the old Taps Tips they took paper 12g shells and cut news paper strips the length of shell. Rolled up paper and put in shell then poured melted wax into the shell. They light easy with match and burn a good while. They also took a 12g shell and a 16g shell and cut off the crimps. These slide together and make a good match box. I don't think you can buy light anywhere matches anymore so that bit of info is outdated.
 
Marshwheeling said:
When I was motorcycle touring and camping, our preferred method was the “desert candle”. Cut the top off a beer can. Pour in a couple of inches of gasoline. Build the fire around it and light the gas. It will burn long enough to ignite just about anything, including wet wood.
Click to expand...

I like the idea using gasoline. :D
 
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