Cotton Round Firestarters

These are super simple cheap firestartes. They are easy to make and they are something that I feel are essential to a camping kit or B.O.B.

You will need Petroleum jelly, cotton rounds or squares, a razor and a water tight container to store them in. I used an empty spice jar.

Start by using your blade to rough up the surface of the cotton round. Try not to put an actual hole in the round. We are pretty much just fluffing it up, not trying to cut it in half. When its fluffed there is more surface area for the jelly to stick to.

Apply about 1 teaspoon of petroleum jelly to half of the fluffed cotton round.

Then pretend you are making a sandwhich with 1 piece of bread and fold the round or square in half. A lot of people use cotton balls but when you use them they get jelly all over your hands. If you use squares or rounds and fold them in half it cuts down on the mess.

Stow them away in your container until you need them.

 Of course I had to test mine against a cotton ball, mine lasted a lot longer!

Please feel free to leave feedback in the comment section below!