Fire Starters...or....We Didn't Start the Fire....

Tuesday, June 04, 2013
 I'm working on a little somethin' somethin' that includes fire. And so....here are a few ideas for fire starters adapted from 7,456 things I've seen over the years.
#1-little fire starters.  You know when you light wood or charcoal and you run in a circle sparking little areas in hop that one will catch? Enter...these doo hickeys.  You can add them to the bottom of your pile o' stuff and light them to burn and help catch the other 'stuff' easier.
Just take toilet paper or towel tubes and fill them with dryer lint and shredded newspaper if you are low on the lint...
 Stuff....
 Roll some recycled store bags around and twist or them shut, then toss them on the bonfire while it's just a bon and you are hoping for the 'fire' part to happen....
 Next up....a place to store my matches.  I always run out of striking area before I run out of matches, so I'm actually storing these in my house for my candles, but it would also be great to take out to the bbq or on a campout.  There is just something that makes me a little nervous about those little paper boxes filled with matches....a little glass jar makes me feel less nervous.
Grab a mason jar and some sandpaper (found 12 sheets for a buck at the 99 cent store...you do the math)...
 I cut out a circle the shape of the lid and put it on top and then filled 'er up with matches (make sure they are the strike anywhere matches-they still will light on sandpaper, but most matches are made to just strike on the box, you can still light them on sandpaper with enough heat, but the avg person may take a few tries).
Do you "noes'tice anything in the picture I was trying to take below?  Welcome to my life....I have the greatest inspection team this side of the Mississippi.

4 comments

Unknown said...

I've tried this before (the mason jar & matches) I couldn't get any of my matches to light from striking the sandpaper :/ My husband thinks I got the wrong grade of sandpaper...Do your matches light? What kind of sandpaper did you use? Thanks :)

Christy said...

I actually bought a pack of sandpaper at the 99 cent store. There are different grades, if it feels smooth to the touch, that's probably your problem. There are different grades, and the 'roughest' feeling has it's textures spaced further apart and raised a little bit higher. I had the same problem with smoother sandpaper and matches in the past! It works with the roughest grade (not sure on numbers). Hope that helps!

Christy said...

OK Jenny, I think I might know the problem. They sell two kinds of matches-the ones that would work best here (I just learned the hard way b/c it worked the first time, not as easily the second time). There is one (strike anywhere) that will light easily on sand paper. Most matches are made now for 'safety' reasons to only react with the side of boxes blah blah blah. They still can be lit on sand paper, but it's not nearly as easy! Hope that helps!

Christy said...
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