How to Make Waterproof Fire Starters for Camping - Intro

My name is Jp and I made some waterproof fire starters today for an upcoming camping trip that I am going on. These fire starters are good to use in both dry and wet camping conditions. If you get wet, or you have to use wood that is damp for your fire, you can still use these fire starters. They work by burning for long durations and drying out the wet wood. I learned how to make these while back in boy scouts (yes I made my eagle…thanks for asking).

Total cost for this project is about $3.50. The Dollarstore is your friend.

Items Needed From the Dollarstore

- Tealight Candles
- String (preferably string that is not plastic based. Yarn is best if you can find it)
- Disposable baking tin
- Newspaper (I like to collect the junk newspapers I receive for about 2 weeks before I start this project, that way this part is free)
- Razorblade/knife to cut paper

Step 1: How to Make Waterproof Fire Starters for Camping - Step 1

The first step to making your waterproof firestarters is to prep your materials.

Roll up 5-6 sheets of newspaper and tie a piece of twine evenly spaced out about every 2 -2.5 inches. I find that I generally get about 11 Fire starters out of one roll. Once you have all of your twine tied, use a razor/knife to cut the newspaper into little sections so that each section is tied off with twine.

Step 2: How to Make Waterproof Fire Starters for Camping - Step 2

Remove all of the wicks and outer tin from the tea light candles.

Place the candles in baking pan and melt the candles down using low heat. This usually takes about 10-15 min. I find that it’s a good idea to stir the wax to make sure you don’t burn it and that you get an even melt. Turn the heat off once candles are melted – they will stay melted for a long time, so you do not need any more heat.

Also, fill up a pot with cold water and keep it next to the wax tin. You will use this to cool down your fire starters in between wax dipping.

Step 3: How to Make Waterproof Fire Starters for Camping - Step 3

Once you have your wax melted you are ready to start making your fire starters.

Start by dipping 1 fire starter into the wax. I like to let it stay in the wax a little while on the first dip. This ensures that the wax gets really into the paper. The more wax you have, the longer the fire starter should burn. But you don’t want to overdo it – you still need to be able to light it.

After the first dip in the wax, I then dip the fire starter into the cold water to cool it down some. Then its back into the wax.

Repeat this step a few times until you have a good wax coating. Set the fire starter to the side to cool.