How to: Make Your Own Easy Fire Starters

Ask a dozen campers how they start their fires and you’ll get twenty different answers ranging from the purist – twigs, ruffage and a match to the YOLO crowd who splash some gasoline on the fire (yes, I’ve actually seen this happen in person). I usually kept firestarter sticks on hand and used them. One day walking through a camp store, I saw what was essentially cupcakes with bits of wood in them with some wax holding them together – the problem was, they wanted something like $2/each and I’m way too cheap for that.

Either cardboard egg carton
Or paper cupcake liners and cupcake pan (I used a disposable cupcake pan to save the wrath of my wife if I messed up one of her good pans)
Cedar gerbil/pet bedding (make sure it’s cedar and not non-wood materials)
Block of wax (the kind for candle making as long as there is no scent)
- A note about wax, bees wax is supposed to smell better and be less toxic for cooking but it is more expensive and wasn’t available when I was shopping
Optional: dryer lint

Bludgeon the wax into smaller workable pieces.
- This proved to be incredibly difficult with a knife and saw.
- My next plan is to beat upon it with a hatchet or hammer.
  - On edit: I made these later using a screw driver and hammer to quickly and easily break up the wax.
Fill the egg carton/cupcake liners with cedar bedding
- Optionally also layer in bits of dryer lint (it’s an easy burn to get these going).>
Melt the wax in the pan
- Be aware, the longer you leave the melted wax in the pan/on the stove, the hotter it gets – it sort of boiled when I poured it in the next step
- Get it melted and then work it right away
Pour some wax over the cedar bedding
- You basically need just enough to hold the firestarter together
- You’re not making a candle- don’t get nutty with the amount of wax you use (like I did!)
After cooling, cut into pieces
- Put it outside/in the fridge to cool
- I used my grill and just set it inside until it cooled down overnight
- A bread knife worked great for cutting, the wife wasn’t pleased about the residue left on it