How to get prepared for wet tinder while camping.

Have you ever gotten to a camp site and all the ground is wet from rain, or have you ever awoken to your fire gone out and it rained that night before leaveing all the tender wet? In this instructable I will show you two methods to get you and your family warm and cooking. 

Step 1 Getting wooly

For this method you only need two things:

1 pad of steel wool ( you can use S.O.S. pads but they don't smell nice when they burn and if they get wet the soap doesnt let the steel wool burn well. Also steel wool when wet rusts very quikly, so it's a good idea to keep it in a plastic baggy when not in use.)

1 Lighter or

1 Box or pack of matches or

1 9v battery ( you can use AA, C, or D batteries but you will need two of said types of batteries to be able to light the steel wool. You can also use a cell phone battery or camera battery if in a survival situation.)

* saftey disclamer*

Never leave matches or lighters where children can reach them.
If children are going to be doing the lighting of any fires they should be supervised and assisted by responsible and knowledgable adults.
Steel wool when ignited produces noxious fumes. Try not to inhale said fumes for they can be harmful to your health.

Comments

[Schpool]

well, the wet steel wool is easily prevented by keeping it in a plastic baggy. The hardened pine sap isn't sticky exept for the part where it came off of the tree, but you could use a stick to get the still wet pine sap though. I used to do the same thing when i lived on the streets when i was younger with the wax and card board to make candles form the wax runoff of used candles.

[Schpool]

Also you can rub dirt into to sap residue on your hands until it is gone.

[HarveyH44]

Steel wool is fine, but brings the stuff camping? Once wet, it rusts quickly. If you take corrugated cardboard, cut it in long strips, roll up to fit inside a tuna or cat food can snugly, and soak it well with hot wax. It's waterproof, burns a longtime, and easy to start with a match or lighter, sort of like lighting a candle. You can make blocks, bricks, or pretty much any size or shape you want...

Pine sap is messy stuff, and incredibly difficult to clean off your hands, which usually involves a flammable liquid or solvent. We use to collect it by just rubbing a small stick on the trees to pop the little bubbles on the pine trees.