I have used straws this way for many, many years and found these little capsules to be the perfect way to carry individual portions of fire starters cleanly and safely and waterproof.... I have stuffed these capsules with various things such as Vaseline cotton balls, waxed cotton balls, Q=tips treated the same ways, matches, and individual portions of char cloth.... These little capsules can be stored easily, take up very little room and weigh almost nothing.... While camping / hiking /fishing I keep a few in my pocket along with a small ferro rod and it has actually saved my butt a few times when I needed a fire while away from camp.... One thing I do while melting the ends is, once the plastic is melted I quickly scoot the pliers and actually "pinch" the melted portion with the pliers which assures a tight seal and it quickly cools it off... doing it that way I have never had one fail to seal and never had a capsule break open or leak.... anyone who says this is a waste of time is just being lazy... the whole process gets faster and faster the more you do it.... I made hundreds of them in a single rainy afternoon.... carrying Vaseline (or any liquid) in a plastic bag is a recipe for disaster.... I will stick with the straw capsules.
Great idea! I do the same thing to take spices and seasonings with me on my camping excursions, but I use regular straws and color code them for each seasoning. It also works great for medicines like Tylenol and Motrin. And the cool thing is that they'll keep indefinitely, so your seasonings or meds never get damp with the humidity.
Just finished your video, and set about making my own supply of fire starter straws. I found that I was having trouble getting the crimp to seal after stuffing the straw. My hot glue gun was sitting on my bench from a previous project. I tried filling the end of straw with hot glue after stuffing and found it worked well every time.I have had no trouble with the glue plug coming out before I was ready. Just another option to try.
I think if you add one more reusable tool, you could get a very consistent result. If you have a glass eyedropper, you could preseal one end of your straws and preshape and measure the size of your cotton balls. Drop some of the wax or candle gel into the opening of the straw then put in the dry cotton. With the gel at the bottom you'd have your fluff at the top of the straw. If the timing and temp is right, your first one would be hardened by the time you stuffed your last straw. Then seal the openings. As long as you didn't over fill your tubes or stuff the cotton in too tight you wouldn't have totally soaked your cotton in the tube not leaving you a fluffy end to strike your fire. Use a marker to mark the bottom or the top so you'll know where's your fluffy end. Just a thought.
I bet petroleum jelly would work as good as the candle jelly and is many times cheaper! Also, those fine needle nose pliers might work a lot better than that pencil for stuffing the cotton into the straw. I have used this straw packet idea to store lots of other items for outdoors like salt, pepper, neo-sporene (first aid), lotion, fishing sinkers, .22 ammo, etc, etc. The list is up to your imagination! Sometimes convenience stores have straws that are 1/2" wide for giant slurpies but ask to buy them first as sometimes they stock the same number of containers as straws. (go figure) With these larger straws you can store fish hooks and other stuff that won't fit the smaller ones. I have even used this "edge-melting" idea on plastic bags! To each their own!
So, now I finally have a use for those extra drinking straws I always grabbed at the fast-food joints in the past. I've collected an impressive pile of them over the years.
Sure try it out. You'll notice s difference in the quality of the straws from different restaurants. Some are brittle and will crack easily. And the bigger the better--the thin straws are difficult to stuff.
I was taught to always use a double boiler to melt wax in order to prevent ignition and flash fire. One pot of water, 3-4 pebbles, hex nuts, or anything to elevate the second, slightly smaller pot, off the bottom of the water pot. The water jacket regulates and limits the temperature of the wax preventing accidental fire.
I have one possible improvement for your great idea, if I may. Before you seal the tube with the cotton/gel already in it, squeeze it as much as necessary to get the air out of the tube. If you fail to do this, AND you travel to an area of significantly higher elevation (which is quite easy to do in the Western US), the resulting change in air pressure could 'inflate', and perhaps rupture the tube. While this MAY not reduce the effectiveness of the cotton/gel TOO much, it could make a mess, and a potentially flammable one at that.
Great hack; the straw idea solves a lot of problems with baggies. I used Vaseline, but the candle gel seems more ideal. I learn something everyday from the University of RU-vid!
Claire Wurr Slow down...clam down...take a breath....hold it in....aaaaand release. I didn't throw baggies under the bus, I don't act, and I never said there was anything wrong with them. I buy them in bulk at Costco, and use them for many, many, many things. I also use vacuum bags in lieu of baggies too, but didn't volunteer that information either. In the context of this video, and for this project, THIS works for me in how I plan on storing them, and where I store them. Now, go show us on your videos how you do it....
Yes & many different sizes, 3/4 & 1" diameter works good & I've found clear. Harbor Freight sells it from 1/4" to 1.5" in rolls around 6' long & very inexpensive.
Use Q-tips instead. The kind with the paper stick. Dip the heads, cut in half,then seal into regular straw. This gives you a stick to hold it by once lit. Use a candle to heat the plier jaws,then crimp straw. This will give you a better seal.
Great video, love the idea of making straw capsules in different sizes, and are waterproof! But my wife would kill me if I use one of her pots to melt the wax! Lol, I would use a old soup can.. and not have to sleep on the couch!
When I make my fire starters, i use cotten squares ( like for makeup removal ) and leave them at least 4 pads thick ( they will shrink considerably). I also put some type of combustible fluid on the cotton beforehand dipping it in wax. You don't want to " soak" them. Just get the center moist. This way, when you're ready to start a fire, you just cut an X on top and dig out some cotten. If you do the above, it will ignite easily and burn longer
I do mine the same way, but when I melt the end of the straw, I move the pliers onto the melted part and squeeze it together. You can also put your matches in straws.
On a similar vein... I take strike anywhere matches, wrap the stick with cheese cloth, dip it in paraffin, and then seal the whole works in a straw. If you just cut off the tip and prop it upright it will burn like a candle for a few minutes or you can pull out the whole works to get a larger, hotter, flame. I left one out in the shed for about five years and it started right up. Cheers!
Great video. I just received my order of boba tea straws that are wider than regular straws. I’ll be making some of these and making some for holding spices and other things too.
I don't have that kind of patience. :/ I would go as far as dipping half a cottonball in some beeswax and sticking them in a baggie, but that's it! One of the things i have in my bag is cotton balls and/or lint with a small piece of wax on the center. As the cotton burns, the wax melts into it. I have a ton of these compressed into a small glass bottle that I reuse.
I liked this video. Great idea. The video is a little long. Dryer lint soaked in wax or vaseline works well too. I used to store my DIY fire starters in small, snack size, ziplock bags. I used two just in case the outside one got compromised or punctured somehow. 0000 ought ultrafine steel wool works great too. flat cotton round pads that are about 1/16th of an inch thick, used for makeup remover and tucks medicated pads washed and dried out and then dunked in candle wax or vaseline work well too. All are great ideas including yours. Thanks for sharing.
I'm not a survivalist nor do I go camping but I'm always interested in new information if I ever need it, I just lock it away ready for use. I often look for ways to improve things or if I was to tackle something differently. One experiment or improvement I would consider trying is make-up removal pads (that have been pre-compressed into a flat disc shape) and you skewer a number of them together with 2 disposable bamboo BBQ skewers (for better control in applying gel) and dip the edges of the pads to a suitable depth, which you'd find after a little experimentation. You'd probably need to use a low edged frying pan to melt the gel too This would leave a flat pad with it's edges 'fuelled' and the centre dry providing it didn't suck up too much gel. As for packing, it may be a little more harder but I'm sure some industrial plastic would make pouches that could be sealed similarly to the straws but you'd need to seal 3 edges. Hard to determine the benefits of doing it by my theoretic method but at least you could try it and see if it was of any benefit. I guess you could pack them flat for starters ;-)
I do similar with the straws. I load them up with salt, pepper, sunblock, cooking oil, bug repellent, anti-bacterial gel, and more! Mark them with a Sharpie to differentiate the contents.
Plastic is one of the most toxic and poisonous materials in the world when melted the fact that Americans haven't figured that out yet and are constantly melting things just to seal it is honestly ascetic. Especially considering the fact that none of them I've ever seen go outside to do so
Claire Wurr Plastic is only toxic and poisonous if you get it to smoking point as it melts well before this it is safe to do inside. you can even melt or the word we should be using is fusing to pieces of plastic together in a oven or under a iron on low heat. Its ok as long as it doesn't smoke its the smoke that is toxic and is bad for your health. If your going to start saying its bad for you work out what part is bad. As I have said as long as it doesn't smoke and you just fuse/melt to join which is around 60-80 C and smoking starts at about 220C or more Forgive me if I am out on figures I learned it years ago and never had to recall it till today. Fusing plastic is safe at a low temp or as long as it doesn't smoke its the smoke that kills not the plastic fusing.
Exactly. You're not lighting the end on fire, just getting it to the point of softness. Also, you're not eating the plastic straw, just using it to store product. I'd worry more about BPE in my plastic bottles...
Spikestrip55 well add I forgot to put up about drinking out of plastic bottles. It makes me think Claire knows it all but really she doesn't know anything.
Spikestrip55 I'd like to see the demise of plastic in any form as a liner or container for food. Also it's really sad the amount of plastic contamination in the oceans around the world! It can strangle some animals but it's far more dangerous when it breaks down into plankton size pieces. It is then eaten and enters the oceans food chain! Bad news!
I like the idea, it's very creative. It may be time consuming but like you said it can be a fun project to do, especially with your kids (if they are old enough). Very nice job.
great video with valid tips. Like the small size of each piece so you can carry a lot and not worry about them going bad. Wonder if a knitting needle would work? Twist the cotton ball (keeping dry cotton fiber inside) and then pull it inside with the needle hook. Then seal both ends. You were very neat and tidy! I would need to protect my surface areas a lot more and stay away the good placements in the dining room! haha
Thanks man, neat idea. Yes it is time consuming, but we generally have plenty of time before the emergency strikes. Plus it is fun to do projects like this and you feel like you've done something good. Hopefully we won't ever need to use such gadgets.
Hey Hank--I tried using a double boiler, and it took forever to melt the wax. In fact only the wax on the bottom would melt--I couldn't ever get wax on top to melt. I thought that would be the best way too--but it didn't work for me.
i just tend to use what i find in the bush, nature has a way just have to find it, the more you carry the less you know, good video for survivalist and living of grid if materials are reclaimed or 'found'
+Scott Carse Yes it would. And, it would create less waste. Plus, the emptied bag when you're finished can still be used as a bag. The straw trick is clever, but not really needed.
+Scott Carse yes they would, but i think these will ultimately pack better. You can grab a handful and toss them everywhere. You don't need to worry about them squishing it being annoying to use or getting everywhere, or literally having all your eggs in one basket(or bag in this case). I personally use the sealable bag too, and i use vaseline so can use it to apply to cuts and burns and things like that.
I believe lint from the drier would work better because it would be cheaper but some people dont have a drier so maybe drier sheets might work also but I don't know if they would be a good fire starter
Put your sauce pan in a frying pan with some water to create a double boiler. Even then you have to make sure the wax doesn't get into the outer water, or it will boil unevenly.
If you go to an Asian foods mart, you can get bubble tea straws that would work great. Recently I also saw them at walmart. But I don't know if that's something they plan on carrying all the time. It would save you a lot of money on candy straws.
I don't think most men have ever heard of a double boiler. At least most do acknowledge that melting wax or gel wax is dangerous on stovetop but don't bother to make it safer. Super easy to make a cheap "double boiler" by using an old pot with water and set a clean tin can with your melting medium inside the water pot. Have only seen two videos for firestarters by the ladies but they were the only two who used "double boiler" method. Not trying to be critical, just don't want anyone starting their kitchen our house on fire incidentally. That being said, these are an awesome idea!! Thanks much!
Please anyone doing this turn the flame off if working with gas while you are dipping and dripping. Couple drips over the edge of the pot and there will be some serious trouble!
Just a thought, couldn't you use an electric soldering/branding iron with a wide chisel shaped head to melt the ends together? That would avoid the risk of open flame around combustible materials. Best reg and thnx for the vid. ☺
Would an iron work better to seal the straws? Maybe line then up under a strip of parchment paper and seal a few at once - at least for the first seal.
you can do the same ting with regular size cotten balls and a toothpick. but good idea with the gell and you don't need ant "dry" part of the ball it will still catch.and the 99 cent store straws work just as well
Quote: Hey Hank--I tried using a double boiler, and it took forever to melt the wax. In fact only the wax on the bottom would melt--I couldn't ever get wax on top to melt. I thought that would be the best way too--but it didn't work for me. Use a DIY double boiler. A true double boiler holds the contents of the top pan above boiling water in the bottom one. My DIY version -- An old kitchen pot that's large enough to hold a diced tomatoes can with room to spare. Holes punched in the tomato can to accept wire for a bail. A pour lip crimped into one side of the can. (Or lay the can on it's side & gently press the top edge of the can until it becomes oval in shape.) To use, add wax chunks to tomato can. Add water to the kitchen pot, until it reaches approximately 1/2 the height of the tomato can. Heat on med-high until water begins to simmer. Turn down heat to just barely maintain a simmer (few bubbles busting, NOT a boil.) As long as water remains in the kitchen pot, temperature in the can of wax can't exceed 212 degrees F. Well below the flash point Quote: Paraffin wax is mostly found as a white, odorless, tasteless, waxy solid, with a typical melting point between about 46 and 68 °C (115 and 154 °F), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin_wax Quote: If that wax reaches the Flash Point, then the vapors produced are extremely flammable. The flash point of wax is typically above 300° F. Never let your wax exceed 250 degree F. www.candletech.com/candle-making/wax-melting-instructions/ Quote: Most paraffin waxes have a flash point around 390° F. When it reaches its flash point it may not smoke or bubble, it will usually just explode, splattering flaming wax in all directions. To avoid this dangerous catastrophe, always use the double boiling method to melt your wax. Water boils at 212° F, which is well below the flash point of any paraffin wax. www.wicks-wax-scents.com/wax-melting-instructions.html Hope you find this to be useful. Made a bunch of waxed makeup remover pads for fire starters, a few days ago, using this DIY double boiler. Worked fine to melt the wax for that project. Have some gel, so want to try your tip for fire starters, too. Thanks for sharing.
tayclark91 ah good idea using heat shrink. I can get all sorts of diameters I use drill shavings from magnesium bars with a bit of Vaseline on a clump,of dryer lint. A self striking match or flint will ignite it.
Try 0000 steel wool instead of cotton. You can light it with the slightest spark. a aa battery will work. The straw container is a stroke of genius cause if the steel wool goes rusty you are screwed. Remember 0000 steel wool.
Just a thought, but... How well would it work if you put a "strike anywhere" match in the straw, sealed the end and then dipped the match in wax? it would be waterproof and you just have to scratch the match head to start it. Would that work?
That is neat, and awesome if prepared before hand. But what do that do when you run out and your miles from civilization? Not a bad idea at all, but post survival situation methods should be included. You may not get out of a situation in three days. Any run of the mill Bob will have supplies for three days. It's after that three days you gotta prepare for
I use the bags from the ice pops soaked in alcohol . they are wider and.they can also be used for peanut butter measured coffee.. creamer..etc just about anything you need to put in a food grade bag. but this is a great video
TheGadgetNut Great video. Just a tip: you can buy those jumbo straws in big boxes online. Just look for 1/2" bubble tea straws. It's a very easy to find food service product.
TheGadgetNut I should also mention that an alternative is actually feminine sanitary napkins aka tampons. The kind that are super tiny but expand huge inside come in plastic applicators and a plastic wrapper. They are pretty much instant fire starters.
I do it a little more neatly. I wrap about 6 inches of cheese cloth around a emergency match, roll it in melted paraffin, then roll it tight and slide it into a plastic straw. I usually just leave the match head exposed and carry them in a waterproof pill bottle and strike them without needing to cut the straw open but one could certainly seal the whole works inside. If one really wants to use a fire steel then one can do the same trick but leave the very center of the cheese cloth dry to catch sparks better. Then cut the straw open to expose the dry cheese cloth and spark it up.
Great idea. Please let me know how that works for you. I know those shavings take a really hot spark to ignite, and I'm not sure if the Vaseline/wax will prohibit the shavings from catching the spark. I'm curious now...
I Am going to use "Mc Donalds" Straws because they are large and pretty much free for the grabbing... (NOT Telling anyone to steal!!) But plan on trying this tonight...
I made some with smaller straws and finely chopped cotton dampened slightly with mineral oil, I ran a few tests and found they work great as a match. Now I feel like experimenting with chemical fire starters, maybe a large straw partly filled with potassium permanganate and a smaller inner straw filled with glycerine that you crush to ignite.
+theevilovenmit: Be EXTREMELY careful working with hyperbolic chemical "fire starters" such as you described. I'm an FBI/U.S. Army-trained bomb disposal technician, and was state and federally licensed to manufacture (conductive heat sensitive primary HE R&D mostly) high explosives as a side venture to my public safety career. I know what I'm talking about and you damned well better too! IF you understand the reaction kinetics involved AND IF your stoichiometry has been correctly calculated AND IF you have accurate chemical assays for your reactants available you SHOULD be okay. Otherwise you're playing with fire, no pun intended. In no way am I trying to dissuade or discourage you. Go for it! But realize there's an enormous amount of bullshit on the Internet (Who woulda thunk it?!?!?!) and you can't use my explosives library so you better do your homework, find a reliable source of reactants, and get your process right. Otherwise you'll see the flash but you'll never hear the bang.
+Threat_Dynamics You make it sound like the mixture is prone to detonating, I ran my experiments and found the result to be effective at starting fires but not safe for transport. I ended up making waterproof pouches via plastic welding which required smashing to activate, the reaction relied on a thermal runaway which makes it ineffective during winter. I agree, there is a terrible amount of misinformation such that gathering empirical data seems practical.
Hi my RU-vid Friend; A Vere Neat and Compact Idea, and it appears to work well. Just a small, even a petty, observation:- Instead of burning Plastic Straws - I'm thinking Eco Friendly, what other bio vessel can one use instead? Maybe Waxed Paper rolled into Tubes - and sealed staples at the ends? Best Regards; and Thanks; Steph
its better in his backpack rather a landfill or worse floating in the oceans. it already exist do something useful with it. reuse re-purpose reduce but hey I never seen condescension drip from a letter before LOL I appreciate the experience. Peace and Love for you Namaste
Actually I think the potential for shelf life is several years ++, if you look at the "wax infused jute twine" mentioned above a few times in the comments section, the poster says his creations burned as new after four years in his wallet. Admittedly it's a bit different but I would guess close enough to give an idea of it's longevity.
Or one could fill one with magnesium powder. I have used the straws for black powder, BB pellets, meds, just about anything small that you want in a small convenient package.
man i love the idea think it rocks but couldn't you also just put them all in a ziplock bag or some other plastic/weatherproof container instead of straws and just pull out what you need? peace.
I never post it but I used my leftover 44 cap C4 and then noticed that I can do it and still leave the primer and take the Led Out same thing with the straws but when I found this out on my own even better than cotton swabs save your dryer lint works much better than average cotton swabs dryer lent is so sensitive it will catch on a Miyagi hand rub LOL just a hint but thanks for the tip great video one prep to another
I always keep some cotton balls, and some petroleum jelly, in my survival kit and some matches, some rubing alcohol in some small waterproof containers, a knife, a wet stone, a tarp, 1 pair of extra clothes, some hand and feet warmers, 5 emergency thermal blankets, 1 extra pair of gloves, 3 extra pairs of socks, some tooth paste and tooth brush, a mess kit, a first aid kit, some flint and steel, a waterproof lighter, some crayons to use as candles, 1 rain jacket, some rope, some Para cord, lots of zip tize, some antibiotics, a brick of wax, a flashlight, extra batteries for it, some emergency food, and a 1 liter water bottle, some benadryl, for my more severe allergy to some food and or plants, 1 flip phone in 3 zip lock bags for emergency calls if I ever do get signal in the woods, and finally a splint ;)
caleb alan Oh, really, Captain Pimpleface Obvious? I would not have guessed! - Question is why you'd prefer to barf your ungodly waterfall of an insult to any reader's eye, rather than make yourself actually easy to understand with some periods and commas for structure. Not that I actually need to know an answer because you clearly have not been giving any fucks, why should you now ... "bro"?
CraniX Like CraniX said, being a sealed tube, it might be a quicker and easier process to swap the gel out for a little squirt of kerosene or similar. Seal one end, add the cotton, add a squirt of flammable liquid, seal up. However, having not tried this, I would be wary of the flammable liquid being more likely to ignite during the second sealing than the gel is. Anyway, seems to be worth a shot.
Nice video, not a lot of talking is better. Dip tampons and about 1" of string in wax. Already water proofed cause of wax and a nice size wick like a candle with very dense cotton. I love them for fishing in my waiters
Time consuming and dangerous. Interesting idea but vasiline and cotton balls stored in the zip lock bag you used to keep your hands clean are perfect and fast. I'll save the straws for spices and medical gels.
agree - this was a lot of work and cost for what you suggest (which is what I use) for a similar effect. But I'm always looking for alternatives, this one a bust.
