Came across this video for making a waterproof fire starter a while back on a Google+ community I belong to. Looked like a neat little project for us to do before our upcoming camping trip. And we just happened to have some beeswax around. It pretty much a candle fully enclosed in beeswax until you need it, then you peel it open and light the cotton on fire. The cotton and beeswax will burn for a couple minutes, but be sure to have additional kindling and tinder available. Along with some larger twigs and wood to keep the fire going.
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The video shows, and we used, regular cotton balls encased in beeswax. Save the cotton lint from the lint trap on the dryer when you dry a load of cotton clothes. That way the cost to make the waterproof fire starters will be even less.
It’s not as easy as he makes it look. It was our first try so after doing a couple I’m sure it would get easier to make the waterproof fire starters.
We did try them out, and they worked really nice. One recommendation would be to keep them a little warm before you want to use them. We tested them when it was about 20 degrees out and the beeswax was very brittle and wanted to break, not fold away from the cotton. Maybe hike with them in an inside pocket to keep the beeswax soft for when you want to start a fire.
