Magic Campfire lighting

[Peter the Wood Elf]

I am working on starting a campfire with Granulated Clorine and Pinesol, with little results. I do get some smoke and a little heat but not enough to do much good. If anyone has had success with this process please tell me what you did.

[Mike Long]

I'm not a fan of chemical methods of fire starting. To me they are way too unpridictable. Here's an idea that might do the trick though and be a lot safer. Get some super fine steel wool, a length of speaker wire and a battery (a 9-volt works well) All you have to do is connect the posts of the battery with the steel wool and the steel wool will ignite. I would build a "nest" of steel wool in the firelay, connect the speaker wire to the wool and bury the wire underground and run it out "backstage". At the appropriate moment an assistant could connect the wires to the post on the battery and presto, the steel wool will burst into flame. I have used this method with great results at Courts of Honor. Good luck.

[OldGreyEagle]

i have tried the steel wool and while it does work, the best results i have seen is this method.

 

Take a 9 volt light bulb, inject with needle and syringe enough kerosene to almost cover the filament. Place the bulb and socket (which, yes will be destroyed) in a cardboard box full of kindling, balled up paper, etc. Build your fire around the box, with the wires trailing off behind it. When you turn on the power, the filament will ignite the kero and the box will contain the bulb. Its 100% effective.

 

A variation is to use a model rocket engine bolted in place on a board, again housed in a box, if nothing else, this item does leave no doubt boy scout are pyros

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[compdcd]

Just a little story about my experience with a pine-sol and chlorine firestarter. A few years ago, my crack Commissioner staff decided to try this method for the opening campfire. They were successful, but the first 10 rows of the fire circle filled with a noxious, green smoke. So, if you're going to try this method again, please make sure you're in a very ventilated area.