If you’re like me you’ve probably struggled to get a fire started on the trail due to adverse weather conditions, a lack of nearby kindling or any number of potential reasons. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat next to a pile of damp kindling searching my pack for scraps of paper and burning my thumb with a hot lighter (or wasting cooking fuel trying to use my JetBoil to get the fire started) just to end up going to bed cold and disappointed. It can be frustrating and outright demoralizing, especially when the weather is chilly at the end of a long day hiking or when you have friends that are counting on you to get the fire going for some much needed campfire socialization.

Today I’m going to share a super simple, easy to make and lightweight fire starter that you can take with you anywhere and that will consistently perform even in damp, windy or snowy conditions. So without taking up anymore wordspace – I’ll get to the how-to portion of the post.

All you need is a small pot, a jar of standard petroleum jelly and a small bag of cotton balls.

1. You’ll start by emptying the cotton balls into a container that you won’t mind dedicating to petroleum jelly saturation, or something that you can throw away. For this instance I chose a leftover tinfoil pan. Once they’re in the desired container, set it off to the side, in a sink or some other easy to clean area in case there is spillage.

2. The second step will be emptying the jar of petroleum jelly into the pot before it goes on the stove. You’ll need a silicone spatula or something flexible that can get most of the jelly out of the jar and into the pan on the stove. Because of its unique viscosity this can be tricky and messy. Once you get the jelly in and on and on the stove, set the burner to medium and watch as the jelly dissolves into its liquid form.

3. Once the petroleum jelly is completely dissolved. Remove it from the burner and slowly pour it over the cotton balls, try to fully saturate as many as you can as they will burn longer than partially saturated cotton balls. Once you’ve completed this step, let the petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls sit and cool for about an hour.

4. Once they have cooled you can store them all together or separate the fully saturated cotton balls from the partially saturated ones. The fully saturated cotton balls will burn in almost all weather conditions and will stay lit for anywhere from 5-10 minutes. You can extend this time by wrapping the cotton ball in tin foil and pulling a small bit of cotton out like a wick to make a lightweight trail candle. This will extend burn time up to 20-30 minutes generally but will be affected by. wind resistance. While the partially saturated cotton balls won’t burn as long or as well as the fully saturated ones, they work well as an anti-chafing aid, trail chapstick and as a barrier against windburn on your face. So don’t throw them away.

The picture below is after 2 minutes of burn time.

This is after approximately 7 minutes of burn time.

Thanks for checking out this post. If you found this information helpful please leave us a like and comment to let us know how the DIY goes for you.