Firestarters

[Irving]

Great tip, thanks!

I'm going to put some Isopropyl rubbing alcohol (70&#37 in my penny can stove tonight to see how it compares to the lighter fluid.

Why? Just because 16oz of Rubbing Alcohol costs $.99 and 4oz of Zippo lighter fluid costs $1.99.

Well, I started before I even pushed "post reply" and already the experiment is a failure. Apparently 70% alcohol is not nearly enough. I can't get it to burn any where except for the main fill hole, and you'd even have trouble lighting a cigarette from that. Well, that was a good lesson to learn before I needed it.

[henpecked]

Great tip, thanks!

I'm going to put some Isopropyl rubbing alcohol (70%) in my penny can stove tonight to see how it compares to the lighter fluid.

Why? Just because 16oz of Rubbing Alcohol costs $.99 and 4oz of Zippo lighter fluid costs $1.99.

Well, I started before I even pushed "post reply" and already the experiment is a failure. Apparently 70% alcohol is not nearly enough. I can't get it to burn any where except for the main fill hole, and you'd even have trouble lighting a cigarette from that. Well, that was a good lesson to learn before I needed it.

*********************************************
try this
Get a metal coffee can
put a whole roll of toilet paper in it..(not unrolled)
soak with Isopropyl rubbing alcohol
light it
you can use the plastic coffee can lid to extinguish when done

[Irving]

That just sounds like trouble (fun).

[henpecked]

It actually work well.........

[StagLefty]

*********************************************
try this
Get a metal coffee can
put a whole roll of toilet paper in it..(not unrolled)
soak with Isopropyl rubbing alcohol
light it
you can use the plastic coffee can lid to extinguish when done

We did this in Scouts for an emergency heater-pull out the cardboard insert. Be careful while it's burning-flame is just about invisible.

[Irving]

I completely missed out on Boy Scouts. Is there a Boy Scouts for adults? Well, besides enlisting I guess.

[Krasni]

From my boy scout days... simple 1,000 strike flint & steel with a zip lock bag of dryer lint (only takes about a fanned out quarter size of lint). Tender/Kindling as appropriate. I've had a bag of lint tucked in my go bag for years. It regularly burns homes down, highly flammable. (Lint, not MY lint)

May have already been mentioned, eyes crossed on page 3.

[Ranger]

I take a lot of pride in my fire starting. I make batches of char cloth and keep some in every emergency bag I have, from there I use my Fire Stick and throw a spark on the the char cloth, bury it in pine needles or dead grass or whatever and work like a dog to get it going. Last resort, magnesium (only if very wet or very cold).

I also have a really cool fire piston that I use from time to time as well. Other tools: make my own wax/sawdust/egg carton firestarters, cotton balls in Vaseline, dryer lint, sawdust by itself, fire bow, heavy praying - whatever it takes!

Fire starting is an art for me, I really love trying every possible way to do it. Did the 9 volt plus steel wool a while ago, that was pretty impressive!

[StagLefty]

+1 on cotton and petroleum jelly-cheap and can carry a lot in a small container.

[hollohas]

Great tip, thanks!

I'm going to put some Isopropyl rubbing alcohol (70%) in my penny can stove tonight to see how it compares to the lighter fluid.

Why? Just because 16oz of Rubbing Alcohol costs $.99 and 4oz of Zippo lighter fluid costs $1.99.

Well, I started before I even pushed "post reply" and already the experiment is a failure. Apparently 70% alcohol is not nearly enough. I can't get it to burn any where except for the main fill hole, and you'd even have trouble lighting a cigarette from that. Well, that was a good lesson to learn before I needed it.

Denatured alcohol is by far the best fuel for a soda/penny can stove. It doesn't cost much either…find it in the paint section at walmart or homedepot.

I know we are now getting into the hobo stove thread but they are along the same lines so here it is anyway. You've seen the penny can stove online where they pre-heat the can top by burning some fuel on the top first. This serves two purposes. First, and most important, it heats the liquid fuel inside the can and turns it into a gas. The gas increases the pressure which makes it exit the holes like they are jets and makes your stove more efficient. Another way to pre-heat it is to cut the bottom of a tuna can off and set your soda can stove on it. Put a few drops of fuel on the tuna can and light it...to me this seems to pre heat the stove better. The second purpose is more obvious in that the burning fuel on top lights all the holes. Even with the tuna can method, the flames will jump from the base and light the holes in your stove.

Denatured alcohol readily turns into a gas, which is important to get the best burn, it doesn't have any water (water not good for fire), which rubbing alcohol does and it burns clean so you won't get that black stuff on the bottom of your pot.

And as you seem to be having as much fun with this fire stuff as much as I do...be careful with the denatured alcohol...you might not even know it's burning unless you're in a dark room because the flame is damn near invisible. If you can't see any flame, don't hold your hand over your stove to check...