Bucklowery
Well-Known Member
Who here has actually tried to use a Vaseline mixture? I did with both dryer lint and cotton balls, and it did NOT work. Are there different types of Vaseline and maybe I got the wrong stuff? So far, and based on my experience with it thus far I'm labeling it's usefulness as a fire starter to be an urban legend.
If you do try that Fritos trick, and the "Cool Ranch" chips worked extremely well for me, be sure that you don't ever want to eat them again. What drips out of the burning chip is pretty gross. Looks like hot fat, but doesn't burn. I'm pretty sure I don't need that in my body!
For now I carry a small propane torch and bottle in my off-road vehicles. I've found with those that full throttle singes the wood and make it harder to get a fire started. However, a soft flame does a fast job of getting a fire going.
I recently read about how fire-fighters are now starting back-fires from a helicopter. Involves essentially a ping-pong ball with some potasium permanganate in it that gets injected with ethylene glycol (automotive coolant) by a machine that then drops them out of the chopper.
We have been doing this for years from a helicopter. The balls are on the ground by the time they ignite and make setting fires fast and easy
Thanks
Buck