How To Make A Fire Starter At Home

How To Make A Fire Starter At Home | Homesteading Skills

Want to learn how to make a fire starter the easiest and quickest way? You’ve probably never seen a tutorial on how to make a fire starter as easy and simple as this. Trust me, you’ll be beefing up your self-sufficiency skills with this!

Learn How To Make A Fire Starter And Survive Off-Grid

Need a quick way to start a fire? Or maybe you don’t have a fire pit and you don’t want to leave a trace? This tutorial will show you how to make a fire starter using recycled materials that you most likely already have lying around your homestead. It is also a great survival candle considering it is practically for free. Now you will know you don’t have to rub sticks for hours to get a fire going. Just make sure you’ve got these fire starters ready if and when you do need to make a fire, so check out this tutorial now.

Let’s Get Started!

Supplies You Will Need To Make A Fire Starter:

Easy open round tin can
1-2 mm thick cardboard
Candles
Marker and ruler
Scissors or a box cutter

How To Make A Fire Starter

Step 1: Prepare Tin Can

Open a can or cans (You will be using an extra to melt candles in or you might want to make more than one fire starter) and empty all contents.
Wash the tin can thoroughly to remove all residue and traces or smell of the previous contents.

Step 2: Prepare Cardboard Strip Wick

Prepare Cardboard Wick | How To Make A Fire Starter — Use the height of the can to outline the length of the cardboard strip.

Place the can, sideways, on the cardboard box to outline the height of the cardboard strip. Do this on both ends of the cardboard to make the length of the strip.
Use a ruler to outline the cardboard strip for the fire starter wick.
Using scissors, cut through the outline to make the strips. You can cut a few more strips if you have a shorter piece of cardboard.

Step 3: Prepare Fire Starter Wick

Make A Fire Starter Wick | How To Make A Fire Starter — Making a fire starter wick is as easy as one, two, three.

Fold one end of the cardboard strips inwards to roll the cardboard strip.
Continue rolling the strip until you make the thickness which fits right in the tin can.
Insert the cardboard strip roll inside the tin can.

Step 4: Douse Wick With Melted Candle

Douse Wick With Melted Candle | How To Make A Fire Starter — You can also melt old candles or hardened candle drippings in the candle holders.

Break your candles into smaller pieces, then put them in another tin can.
Light up the stove and put it on low heat.
Place the can with the candles over the heat until the candles melt and turn into a clear liquid.
Use pliers or kitchen tongs to take the can off the stove.
Gently pour the contents of the can all over the cardboard wick.

Step 5: Test Your Homemade Fire Starter

Test Your Homemade Fire Starter_How To Make A Fire Starter — You can use matches, a lighter or you can also test your fire starter with a flint.

Now you are ready to light it! We hope we helped you learn how to make a survival fire starter using recycled materials!

You can follow the full tutorial on how to make a fire starter in this video:

There you have it, homesteaders! The most simple and easiest way there is probably to make a fire starter with household stuff. Whether you’re learning this skill as a prepper or a homesteader, this will definitely come in handy. Have a fun time doing this experiment on your next camping trip!

Did you find this tutorial on how to make a fire starter helpful? Tell us all about it in the comments below!

Going on a camping trip with your family? Make sure to check these classics yet fun family activities around the campfire!

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This post was originally published in June 2014 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.