The Wilderness
Any Time Camping
Sure, we know how to start a campfire. Just do what they do in the movies and television shows. Rub two sticks together and in about eight seconds, that fire is just bursting at the seams.
There’s also the flint and steel method. Heck, I saw an ancient American Indian on a television show do it in three strokes, even without the flint and steel. Rock against rock. Poof!
Did you ever try that in real life? I’ve watched grown men nearly come to tears at the effort it takes, even when they assembled one of those bow things to make the spinning of the stick easier. One time a companion of mine was dripping sweat in the 20° air, just from “rubbing two sticks together.”
There is an easier way. Before your trip, go to the store and buy some sort of fire starter — an easily ignited pocket-size packet of paraffin mixed with other ingredients — that burns hot and sets your wood on fire with hardly any fuss.
But that’s vaguely like cheating, buying something in the store. Here’s a better way, and more fun. Make your own fire starter. Impress your friends!
You do laundry? You have a clothes dryer at home? Gather up a handful of dryer lint. Ball it up into a size that fits in the palm of your hand. This next step is important: take this fuzzy thing out of your hand and place it on the ground in your yard, or on a sheet of aluminum foil or in an egg carton. Do not hold it in your hand. Do take the eggs out of the carton first.
Now, procure a nearby candle, light it and drip wax all over your lint ball and let it dry. That’s it. When you want to build your fire, light this thing with a match and place wood above it, of course leaving room for air. It will burn slowly and create just enough sustained heat to get your campfire going.
What would you call this fire starter? You could try, fire starter, but that’s so common and obvious as to be lame. How about this? Take a four inch long piece of yarn and as you drip the wax onto the lint, affix one end of the yarn to the waxy ball and let the other end trail. Form the ball into the shape of a rodent. Ta-da! You’ve created a Lint Rat!
Fire away!