By Cheri Sicard
Campfires and grill fires just got easier! The team from Wild Grit is here to teach us how to make some terrific DIY fire starters using items you already have or can easily find. These DIY fire starters resist wind and rain and have a long 10-minute burn time!
You only need three items to make these DIY fire starters:
- An empty egg carton: the paper variety, not Styrofoam.
- The end of a used candle: If you don’t have any candle remnants you can use some paraffin wax chips that you can find in any crafts store. You can also find paraffin wax in the canning section of grocery stores; cut this into shavings.
- Dry wood shavings: Make these using a knife and found wood, or purchase animal bedding chips (like are using for guinea pigs and hamsters). Depending on where you live, natural wood shavings might be all around you on the ground.
How to make the DIY fire starters:
Arrange the wood shavings in the empty egg carton. Melt the wax and pour a small amount of melted wax over the shavings in each cup of the carton. Don’t use too much wax—its major purpose is just to hold everything together.
After cooling, cut the egg carton apart into individual fire starters. How easy is that?
Store your completed fire starters in a plastic bag or plastic container where they will stay dry until ready to use.
Be sure to watch the video as they demonstrate every step, including how to shave wood using a knife, arranging the shavings in the carton, and pouring the wax. There are also some handy tips for the best results.
In the video, they make the starter in the wild at a campfire. But, of course, you can opt to make them at home before you leave.
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I’m. Not sure that placing a glass container near a fire to melt wax is very smart idea
It’s about as smart as building a fire with all loose flammable material laying loose around the fire.
I do the similar thing except that I don’t spend $$ on wood shavings…I save up and use the lint from the dryer. Been making these for over 40 years and they are no-fail!
She didn’t spend money on wood shavings.
When I was in the Boy Scouts back in the 50’s we made fire starters by wrapping the ‘perfect size’ rolled newspaper, tying a string around it, and dipping it in melted wax. These things worked great. This of course, was back when kids were allowed to use stoves and make fires. We no longer make fires when camping so there’s no need for fire starters.
Layer the following in the fire pit
Firewood log cabin style
Small sticks and twigs
Wadded news paper
Light the bottom layer and just like that you have a fire.
I recycle the toilet paper cardboard – pack it with dryer lint, tape the ends – add a match! My Boy Scout youth days (50″s) and Scoutmaster days – (80’s), we built a proper wood fire by using logs and small kindling underneath – somehow today’s tree wood doesn’t seems to want to burn very well without help! (Except when alive and living in a forest). But alas, my wife’s COPD has pretty much put an end to our evenings by a fire!
Roll a sheet of newspaper from corner to corner and then coil it so it makes a donut 2 of those and some kindling and you have a fire
Another great fire starter is duct tape Very flammable
The one I use is cotton balls soaked in Vaseline. You can stuff a bunch of them in a sandwich bag. Also, a 9-volt battery and a piece of steel wool works well too. You really don’t want to be holding the steel wool when you stick that battery on it though!