DIY Fire Starters

Kaydi Pyette

This campcraft article about how to make homemade fire starters was first published in Canoeroots and Family Camping magazine.

While nothing beats starting a fire with nothing but the local flora and quality bushcraft knowledge, sometimes a little help is nice—especially in the rain. Try these inexpensive and easy-to-make fire starters before your next camping trip to get crackling, whatever the weather.

Fire Crackers

This simple fire starter recipe reuses materials that would otherwise become household garbage.

You’ll need:

Newspaper

Cardboard toilet paper tubes

Dryer lint

Parcel wrap

Cotton string

Stuff newsprint into one side of a cardboard tube, using only enough newspaper to fill the first third of the tube. Next, stuff dryer lint into the other side of the tube. Finish by stuffing in more newsprint on that side, effectively creating a newsprint and lint Oreo cookie sandwich.

Once stuffed, roll the cardboard tube in a 10- by five-inch piece of parcel wrap paper. Twist the overhanging paper ends and tie them closed with paper string. Ta da—your fire starter is complete.

Magic Muffins

Campgrounds often sell a similar fire starter for $5 a pop, but you can make these almost free of charge just using ingredients from around your house and yard. Because this project involves using a stove and hot wax, parents should help kids.

You’ll need:

Paper muffin cups

Wax scraps from old candles

Mix of wood chips and wood shavings

Medium-sized cook pot

Tin can

Start by melting the wax…

Continue reading this article in the digital edition of Canoeroots and Family Camping, Spring 2014, on our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it on your desktop here.

Fire Crackers

Magic Muffins

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