Fire starters

[Patrick62]

used oil. diesel. propane. acetylene. paint thinner. cardboard/paper. compressed air.
whatever happens to be on hand. Lots of used oil...

 

[muddstopper]

Amazing the many different ways folks find to start fires. All of them beats rubbing two sticks together, altho a few of them i kind of wonder just by how much, LOL. I get tons of splitter scraps and what not off my wood splitter. I pick them up in a bucket and just set them beside the stove for starting fires. Fresh noddles are not as good as dry noodles in starting fire so my wife like to go by tractor supply and buys a bale of pine wood bedding shavings. She takes a handful and just sets, (doesnt toss), them in a pile in the stove, throws on some wood splitter scraps and uses one of those long grill propane lighters to set it on fire. Throws on some small splits and leaves the draft wide open for a few minutes and it will turn the sides of the stove red. Pile on some big wood and adjust the draft and its good to go. Of course we dont build many fires during the winter, we light it and keep it going, only letting it die down to clean the ashes. I say my wife does it this way because I travel a lot and she is usually the one that keeps the home fires burning.

 

[Idahonative]

The best firestarter I know of is a handful of noodles.

^^^What he said^^^

Noodles are the best fire starter in the world. They are free (just have to make them), burn hot and quick, and won't have a negative affect on your cat (if you have one). Soaking anything in old motor oil, paint thinner, etc. may not be kind to your cat.

 

[Idahonative]

^^^What he said^^^

Noodles are the best fire starter in the world. They are free (just have to make them), burn hot and quick, and won't have a negative affect on your cat (if you have one). Soaking anything in old motor oil, paint thinner, etc. may not be kind to your cat.

I guess I should mention that not every saw will be able to noodle. Been camping off and on for most of this month and we keep a bag of noodles around the firepit. It's standard material I guess. Couple of family members tried making noodles and both saws immediately plugged up. One was a Poulan Wildthing and one was a small homeowner Husky (40cc ?). All the Echo's in my sig with the exception of the 345 (haven't tried it) make noodles like there's no tomorrow.

Like Reed and his 620:

 

[Full Chisel]

I'm kind of a hard ass when it comes to starting fires. I see propellants as "cheating" and not a proper way to start a fire. When I am camping, I always try to start a fire using a flint and striker. My friend in WI sends me chaga fungus for tinder and I try to keep pine needles or noodles around as starter. If the humidity is not close to 100%, I'm usually successful. There is not much else more satisfying than being able to start a fire without matches, a lighter or propellant.

If I'm starting a fire in the stove, it's with matches, noodles and kindling.

 

[Full Chisel]

If you try to noodle with a saw under 50cc, you're gonna have a bad time...

 

[Marshy]

Dryer lint, some card board and dry kindlen.

 

[blue924.9]

Will have to try some of these, do you use wheat or whole grain noodles

 

[olyman]

At my cabin I save cardboard boxes from food such as oatmeal, Mac n cheese, etc in a liquor box and when the box is full I put it in the sauna dressing room. A food box or two and a little shot of diesel or charcoal lighter plus a few carpentry scraps gets the fire going quickly.

careful,,the epa nuts on here,,will turn you in for using diesel..........polluter...

 

[Saddle Mander]

I'll frequently use egg carton/dryer lint/wax starters for the firepit, but I thought that wax wasn't good for EPA stoves and class A chimneys. Am I wrong about that? Are these starters safe for my NC13?

 

[Whitespider]

I fill the firebox with full-size splits... grab a golf ball sized wad of dryer lint (my wife saves for the purpose) and poke it between a couple of bottom splits... squirt the lint with a couple-three tablespoons of whatever liquid fire accelerant I happen to have on hand... flick the Bic Lighter... slam the door... walk away... (shrug)
*

 

[Wood Doctor]

Pack the noodles (or shredded paper) in a leftover Stax potato chip container. Wrap that loosely in a newspaper section or two. Surround it with logs and one or two sheets of corrugated cardboard. Light the newspaper. That's about all it takes.

When I run out of leftover Stax containers, I use small corrugated cardboard boxes. I'm blessed with a ton of those.

 

[JB Weld]

Me and my little girls make starters from wax and wood chips. It is a big project we set up in the garage (we have done it in the kitchen as well). We melt the wax (candles, old crayons, paraffin, etc.) in a jack-leg double boiler and ladle it into cupcake liners that have a wick and wood chips/noodles/little pine cones placed in them. We use 2 old cupcake pans to hold the liners. We get wicks from the hobby store. I guess you could stand up a couple of wooden matches as wicks. Then the fun part. As they cool both girls sprinkle them with glitter. Once they are "properly" decorated they go into the garage fridge to harden. By the time one is solid, the other is ready to go into the fridge. They love making them and we usually make a bunch and give them as Christmas gifts.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Me and my little girls make starters from wax and wood chips. It is a big project we set up in the garage (we have done it in the kitchen as well). We melt the wax (candles, old crayons, paraffin, etc.) in a jack-leg double boiler and ladle it into cupcake liners that have a wick and wood chips/noodles/little pine cones placed in them. We use 2 old cupcake pans to hold the liners. We get wicks from the hobby store. I guess you could stand up a couple of wooden matches as wicks. Then the fun part. As they cool both girls sprinkle them with glitter. Once they are "properly" decorated they go into the garage fridge to harden. By the time one is solid, the other is ready to go into the fridge. They love making them and we usually make a bunch and give them as Christmas gifts.

I've seen old egg cartons used in a similar fashion. These were crude but effective:

I think they mixed sawdust with the wax.

 

[Mike-M]

3 crumpled up pieces of newspaper on the bottom, and a few thin chunks of cedar on top of them.

 

[stihlaficionado]

2 sticks of fat lighter & kindling