# Homemade fire starter



## woodhog73 (Nov 8, 2018)

ok I’m not sure this belongs in gear. But in the hearth section the pages move at light speed. In gear it’s slower and lots of user names posting here that have been around for years.

So....

What do you guys use for cold lights ? In this digital age I no longer get news paper delivery. I am buying those fat wood fire starter sticks. I’m getting tired of buying them.

What do you use to get your stove going ? Was thinking about melting candle wax in egg cartons with wood shavings mixed in ?? I’m running a non CAT stove if it matters.


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## Jazzberry (Nov 8, 2018)

woodhog73 said:


> ok I’m not sure this belongs in gear. But in the hearth section the pages move at light speed. In gear it’s slower and lots of user names posting here that have been around for years.
> 
> So....
> 
> ...




Someone posted these on sale a couple years ago for $5.00 if I remember right. I bought 2 boxes and still have a few left. Never used a stick of kindling since. Light one put it in and walk away. Amazing.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00545CXOW/?tag=hearthamazon-20


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## GadDummit (Nov 8, 2018)

I use papers from the kids' school. 2 elementary age kids = about 6 papers a day come home. 
I also keep all my Ebay delivery boxes in a stack in the garage through summer so I just tear one down for the fireplace each cold start. By summer I'm out of boxes again. 

If all else fails, I use charcoal lighting fluid. It burns slow so no flareups. Usually lights it right up if you stack 1" sticks on the bottom, heavies on the top.


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## Jags (Nov 10, 2018)

Super Cedars.  Not only are they a member of this site, but they produce the best fire starter on the market - bar none.
They also offer a reduced price for hearth members if the promo code of hearth18 is used. I get 4 to 6 starts from each puck and I DO NOT use kindling with them.

I have no affiliation with the company but the product works so well that I will gladly promote them. I buy a box of 100 unwrapped and that last for a few YEARS.

One trick for breaking them apart - I keep a couple pucks local to the woodstove in a large plastic zip top bag.  I break them apart in the bag.  No crumbs, no mess. Our very own @BrotherBart  has coined the term “pixie dust” for the crumbs that collect in the bag. It works well to revive an almost dead fire.


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## TJ1 (Nov 10, 2018)

If you change your own oil and cut your own wood try this. Pick up an empty 55 gallon barrel and put all your saw dust and wood chips in it. When you change oil dump it in and mix. Burns great and surprisingly clean.


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## Jags (Nov 10, 2018)

Small chunks of old tire covered in baby seal oil and lit with a bald eagle feather would work, but something about that seems odd to me.

(No bald eagles or baby seals were harmed during this post)


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## Jazzberry (Nov 10, 2018)

Jags said:


> Small chunks of old tire covered in baby seal oil and lit with a bald eagle feather would work, but something about that seems odd to me.
> 
> (No bald eagles or baby seals were harmed during this post)




I would think the bald eagle thing would be much easier than trying to get a 55 gallon drum in your stove. Maybe just dip the eagle in hot wax and toss him in there. Wear gloves they bite.


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## Montanalocal (Nov 10, 2018)

Pine cones burn like they are soaked in gas.


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## woodhog73 (Nov 10, 2018)

Thanks for the replies. Seems the cedars are cheap enough to use. Just tired of spending money on starters. I burn wood to save on my heating bill yet I’m spending money on starters !


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## Jay106n (Nov 11, 2018)

Find a cedar tree. C/s/s it separate from your regular stacks. In the fall turn it into kindle. Natural oils in cedar is fire starter.


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## xman23 (Nov 11, 2018)

Save all your paper towel and toilet paper tubes. I use one tube and a small pressed wood starter.


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## SuperSpy (Nov 12, 2018)

I use a plumbers torch to start the fire, and if I need more energy (like if the fire was out for a while and the box is cold) I throw in 2x4 offcuts from random woodworking projects.


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## Jan Pijpelink (Nov 12, 2018)

Dryer lint.


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## Jags (Nov 12, 2018)

Jan Pijpelink said:


> Dryer lint.


Disappointed- I would expect you to have some concoction that would safely ignite the logs with a mere glance.


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## Jan Pijpelink (Nov 12, 2018)

Jags said:


> Disappointed- I would expect you to have some concoction that would safely ignite the logs with a mere glance.


You might be surprised, but I am a very simple guy.


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## Jags (Nov 12, 2018)

Jan Pijpelink said:


> You might be surprised, but I am a very simple guy.


Chemical Engineering - better to be used for good, than evil.


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## Jan Pijpelink (Nov 12, 2018)

Jags said:


> Chemical Engineering - better to be used for good, than evil.


I am not a chemical engineer. I am an analytical chemist, lab guy so to speak. Well, I was many moons ago.


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## Babetta42 (Nov 12, 2018)

Hello new here and first post/comment.
I am a avid couponer and also aware that all newspaper men/women are required to recycle the left over unsold newspapers. 
So with that being said. Go check your local recycling bin out on Monday mornings. Not near as dirty as it sounds.  For a couponer it works out great as I get at least 10 to 20 Sunday papers


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## Jan Pijpelink (Nov 12, 2018)

Babetta42 said:


> Hello new here and first post/comment.
> I am a avid couponer and also aware that all newspaper men/women are required to recycle the left over unsold newspapers.
> So with that being said. Go check your local recycling bin out on Monday mornings. Not near as dirty as it sounds.  For a couponer it works out great as I get at least 10 to 20 Sunday papers


I am totally lost.


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## Babetta42 (Nov 13, 2018)

Jan Pijpelink said:


> I am totally lost.


Cheap free fire starter!


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## blacktail (Nov 13, 2018)

I make starters with egg cartons, saw dust, and wax. They work great with no kindling required.


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## firefighterjake (Nov 13, 2018)

Normally I'm a Super Cedar user . . . but I'm stripping off the cedar shingles on my garage and replacing it with vinyl siding. The two sides have been stripped and the bottom half of the front and rear . . . and I have all kinds of cedar shingles. I figure I have several years worth of fire starters.


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## salecker (Nov 13, 2018)

I milled up a bunch of old bridge timbers for flooring in my house.
I put all the mill scraps in an old truck with a canopy.I have kindling for another 10 yrs,all nice and dry.


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## Dobish (Nov 13, 2018)

we do dryer lint in egg crates, then melt down some dollar store candles (tin foil over boiling water), and pour it over. I cut up little pieces of string that get dipped in wax to make wicks.

They are cheap, fun do to with the kids, and they generally burn for enough to get things going.


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## Dakotas Dad (Nov 14, 2018)

Super Ceders. 
A) He is a great guy, a member, and years ago, I saw him help a member in a fine and awesome way. I won't ever buy another brand. 
B) I am heating my house, and keeping the Mrs. happy. Not earning a merit badge.
C) No kindling, no fiddling. Load stove with seasoned wood, stick in 1/4 or 1/2 of a SC, light it. Done.


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## Kenster (Nov 14, 2018)

woodhog73 said:


> ok I’m not sure this belongs in gear. But in the hearth section the pages move at light speed. In gear it’s slower and lots of user names posting here that have been around for years.
> 
> So....
> 
> ...


 
Every other year or so, I buy a corner cedar rail fence post.   I cut into 10 inch lengths.  Then I split each ten inch block into pencil size sticks.  They make excellent starter material.  Also, when I need to rekindle a fire in the morning, I throw a couple of cedar sticks on the coals.  They erupt quite quickly.  Then I add two or three splits and I'm all set.  

A cedar rail fence post costs about eight dollars and will make a ton of starter sticks.


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## Dobish (Nov 14, 2018)

Dakotas Dad said:


> Super Ceders.
> A) He is a great guy, a member, and years ago, I saw him help a member in a fine and awesome way. I won't ever buy another brand.
> B) I am heating my house, and keeping the Mrs. happy. Not earning a merit badge.
> C) No kindling, no fiddling. Load stove with seasoned wood, stick in 1/4 or 1/2 of a SC, light it. Done.


I normally just reload on coals. Making dryer lint starters takes about 5 minutes for 3 dozen.  I also have a pile of cedar shakes from a project that i split pretty small. I should give myself a merit badge though... i deserve it.  

I also start the fire starter with a blowtorch...


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## BoiledOver (Nov 14, 2018)

woodhog73 said:


> Thanks for the replies. Seems the cedars are cheap enough to use. Just tired of spending money on starters. I burn wood to save on my heating bill yet I’m spending money on starters !


How much do you need? With the crap that comes in the mailbox on a daily basis, I have all the fire starter and note paper that I can use, plus some.


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## Corey (Nov 16, 2018)

Between the wood I split, bark that falls off in the stacks and the constant rain of small twigs and branches from mature trees all over the yard, I'm actually working to get rid of the small scraps.  Every cold fire every day, seems like I shovel multiple handfulls in...way more than needed...and the next time I'm in the yard or wood pile, there is more where that came from.

In a pinch, a few seconds blast with the Bernz-o-matic propane torch will light dry wood - virtually no kindling required.


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## FTG-05 (Nov 20, 2018)

I just use splitter slash.  I have two 55 gallon barrels/trash cans full of the stuff, enough for a couple years at least.


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## Wood1Dennis (Nov 20, 2018)

Last year I got one of those 'expiring airline miles' magazine offers. I got 6 months of Wall Street Journal. I did enjoy the paper but not enough to pay full price for it. Good news is that I have a couple of years worth of non-glossy paper on a box downstairs to light fires with. I always set some nice straight grained cedar aside, split it real fine and use it with 3 sheets from the paper to start my fires.


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## kborndale (Nov 21, 2018)

Birch bark, natures fire starter, nothing better.......I used to use bacon grease.  It worked great but every time I started  fire I got hungry.


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## PaulOinMA (Nov 21, 2018)

Newspaper and kindling here.  I have two large piles of branches from the yard that I break into kindling in two garbage cans for the garage.

My wife worked at a company that had a newspaper delivered, and she would bring it home at the end of the day.  She's no longer there.  We or I go to the Outer Banks several times a year, and I go out and get a newspaper (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot) every morning.  I save them to bring home.


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## Woody5506 (Nov 21, 2018)

Bought super cedars this year for the first time and they start up well, probably the best fire starter I've used. Only downside is they are messy. I could be wrong here but the price I paid on Amazon w/ free 2 day was cheaper than the Super Cedar site price with the discount or if not the same. Do they ship for free from the site?


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## PaulOinMA (Nov 21, 2018)

I'm all set with kindling for a while.  Had a pile, and the late season, wet, heavy snow last winter dropped a LOT of branches (and a tree) in my yard.


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## PaulOinMA (Nov 21, 2018)

As I mentioned, it gets broken up into kindling-sized pieces for two garbage cans in the garage by the wood rack.


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## blades (Nov 21, 2018)

Jags said:


> Disappointed- I would expect you to have some concoction that would safely ignite the logs with a mere glance.


i did but got a divorce


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## SpaceBus (Nov 21, 2018)

Montanalocal said:


> Pine cones burn like they are soaked in gas.


Pine tar/oil/sap burns extremely well. Another trick I learned when I lived in the south was "lighter night" as they call it. You can find it when pine trees die and lay horizontally, or if they break and leave a tall stump. If they are horizontal, and not rotten, the oils slowly soak the bottom side of the log, or the base of the stump if they are still standing a bit. Break off bits of this soaked wood and it's great for lighting fires.

*edit* they actually called it "lighter knot", but I couldn't tell through their thick accents. To most people it's called fat wood, as I learned a minute ago making sure I wasn't posting misinformation.


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## SpaceBus (Nov 21, 2018)

Jay106n said:


> Find a cedar tree. C/s/s it separate from your regular stacks. In the fall turn it into kindle. Natural oils in cedar is fire starter.



This works with pretty much all soft woods that have sap or oils in them. Pine works very well too.


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## Sodbuster (Dec 11, 2018)

Kenster said:


> Every other year or so, I buy a corner cedar rail fence post.   I cut into 10 inch lengths.  Then I split each ten inch block into pencil size sticks.  They make excellent starter material.  Also, when I need to rekindle a fire in the morning, I throw a couple of cedar sticks on the coals.  They erupt quite quickly.  Then I add two or three splits and I'm all set.
> 
> A cedar rail fence post costs about eight dollars and will make a ton of starter sticks.



^^^ This, super cheap and effective.


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## Todd67 (Dec 11, 2018)

I use the Rutland fire starter blocks that were mentioned in post #2. Never need any kindling, and one block does the trick.

I'll look into the Super Cedars though.


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## Jazzberry (Dec 11, 2018)

Todd67 said:


> I use the Rutland fire starter blocks that were mentioned in post #2. Never need any kindling, and one block does the trick.
> 
> I'll look into the Super Cedars though.
> 
> View attachment 235500




I have never used Super Cedars before but I can't imagine anything works as good as Rutlands. I haven't used a single piece of kindling or paper since I started using these a couple seasons ago. Each one burns around 10 minutes or so. Amazing stuff.


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## Todd67 (Dec 11, 2018)

Jazzberry said:


> I have never used Super Cedars before but I can't imagine anything works as good as Rutlands. I haven't used a single piece of kindling or paper since I started using these a couple seasons ago. Each one burns around 10 minutes or so. Amazing stuff.



I agree. The Rutland blocks are awesome.


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## iLoveWood (Dec 11, 2018)

By the luck of the wood god I always have some cedar rounds stacked up. My wife splits them meticulously small. I save all the processing chunks in a dry bin. I use a self lighting torch that screws onto green propane bottles to get er going. Super easy and if I get a bad log that wont burn good I just hit it with the torch for a minute or so.


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## Adabiviak (Dec 11, 2018)

I have no qualms about buying and using the firestarters that I use... dicing up kindling is a drag. That said, for camping when I'm considering saving a little weight,  I have a bin of 'mechanically separated' wood. Specifically, when there's a fuel thinning project going, they'll drop the big trees to haul away and grind the leftover slash (and smaller trees) into pulverized bits that get left behind. After a year or two of seasoning, these little bits are like the equivalent of, I don't know, a cooked macaroni elbow that you squish between your fingers, but it's made of oak or whatever. The fibers are all frayed out away from a center piece. They light insanely easily, don't weight a thing, and are great for light camping.


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## Sawset (Nov 13, 2019)

blacktail said:


> I make starters with egg cartons, saw dust, and wax. They work great with no kindling required.


That time of year again.
Make sure the wax is hot, so it soaks in good. Or poke the sawdust with something to get it to go down.


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## Sodbuster (Nov 13, 2019)

You're melting Bambi!!


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## duramaxman05 (Nov 14, 2019)

I use dry bark and split small kindling. I stack it in the stove and use a butane torch (plumber's torch with propane). Works great


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## Woody5506 (Nov 15, 2019)

I've been doing the same egg carton/saw chips/wax method this year and they work great. I don't have any junk candles so I've been using paraffin wax which is cheap enough and lights up good. A box of that stuff will make me about 7 or 8 dozen fire starters.


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## Prof (Nov 15, 2019)

blacktail said:


> I make starters with egg cartons, saw dust, and wax. They work great with no kindling required.


I make these too and they work great. I've switched from lint to pine needles though. With 3 cats and 2 daughters, our lint mostly smells like burned hair. Not that I get much smoke in the house on light up, but the pine needles produce a nice aroma. Plus, the kids have fun helping to make the fire starters. I scored about 30 pounds of wax at a yard sale last summer for $5. BTW--make sure to use the cardboard cartons.


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## hh3f (Nov 21, 2019)

Don't waste your money on fire starters. Go to your local restaurant, school cafe, etc. and get the wax boxes that produce comes in. Cut it up in strips. One or two boxes will be enough for one season. That fire starter crap is a scam.


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## webfish (Nov 21, 2019)

Super cedars are not a scam. Easiest thing ever.


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## Sawset (Nov 21, 2019)

And are relatively cheap too.  That way there is a choice, mail order, play handy andy and make some, or scrounge around for stuff.  Just think of all the pennies we're saving.


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## Jazzberry (Nov 21, 2019)

$12.00 to $15.00 a year to not mess with a single piece of kindling is not a scam.  And firewood is my only heat source. Its a super deal. Cant say enough of how happy I am with Rutgers fire squares.


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## SpaceBus (Nov 21, 2019)

I bought these on Amazon after trying some from a local store. 

Amazon product

Seems like the same deal as the Super Cedars, but less expensive.


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## Woody5506 (Nov 21, 2019)

webfish said:


> Super cedars are not a scam. Easiest thing ever.



I used them last year, bought a box of 36 or so and quartered them up and they lasted most of the season. I wouldn't say they are the easiest thing ever, definitely messy and they don't just light right up. Once they do get going though they burn forever.  Overall I like them but for the price I paid I'd rather just make my own with egg cartons/wax/saw chips which burn a long time too and start easier than the super cedars.


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## webfish (Nov 21, 2019)

You can also get 40% off super cedars  if you use code "hearth19"
supercedar.com


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## Gearhead660 (Nov 21, 2019)

I use junk mail or old bank statements and such that you wouldn't just throw into the recycling.  Also, I am surrounded by pine trees so I collect a couple trash bins full of twigs for the season. Doing a bottom up fire with those items and a couple smaller splits, my blower is kicking on in less that 10 minutes.


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## Jazzberry (Nov 21, 2019)

I don't make anything, gather anything or store anything. I get a square out of my kitchen cabinet, light it on the stove, walk over to my stove and 10 minutes later I have a nice fire. Well worth $15 a year.


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## Grateful11 (Nov 22, 2019)

Our son farms for a living and gets stuff in the mail like The Farmer Connection(classifieds) and other various farming periodicals and papers that have good burning paper. There's always some scrap pine around a farm. I just put in 3 or 4 small pieces of pine kindling and last year I found out that Hickory bark burns nearly as wild as Fatwood. I just break up some Hickory bark lately and stack that on top of the paper and pine and away she goes. The Hickory bark will run out at some point unless wind takes down another big Hickory.


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## BigFir (Nov 29, 2019)

I just lay a round on its side and make noodles! Takes about a minute to fill a box.


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## Stelcom66 (Nov 30, 2019)

Montanalocal said:


> Pine cones burn like they are soaked in gas.


I've never thought of using those. They're common in my yard, will try some.


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## Stelcom66 (Nov 30, 2019)

I get a newspaper 6 days a week, but burn it more than I read it. The subscription isn't cheap and my eyes aren't getting any better so I tend to read a lot of news online. At some point I may need to consider using something other than newspaper to start the fire. Both Super Cedar and Rutland have good reviews on Amazon, for what they're worth.

I'd prefer to buy them locally if possible. Maybe TSC has them.


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## fire_man (Nov 30, 2019)

The Super Cedars have the highest star ratings on Amazon of all the fire starters and I can agree based on my experience.

For those saying they are messy, just ask for the HARD version in the comment field of the order and Thomas the Magical Super Cedar Elf will gladly oblige.

What makes them so great is they burn much hotter from the start and last a long time.


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## RandyBoBandy (Dec 5, 2019)

I keep about three weeks of firewood in my garage.   I split kindling as needed out of it. This produces a lot of chips and small shavings and such which I gather and use as my fire starter.  Obviously it is a little more work than fat wood or super cedars but I don’t mind. It’s free and I enjoy taking time out of my hectic day to build a fire. Noodling a log also creates a ton of fire starter like mentioned by Bigfir


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## jsab9191 (Dec 30, 2019)

Been using the Rutland Safelites for the last five years, they work great and are very economical . Tractor supply sells them for 15.99 and runs them on special for 12.99 a few times a year . 1 box gives you 144 fire starters.


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