Cheap Fire-Starting Kit To Make At Home

[leadin]For just a few bucks, you can make a fire-starting kit at home. A GearJunkie reader gave us this tip, and the resulting package looks to be an easy solution for emergency use or normal fire-making circumstances. [/leadin]

J.M. Saksa submitted this idea. It’s clever, inexpensive, and contains the essential elements of fire starting.

The kit begins with the plastic container in which 3M Scotch Super 33+ Vinyl Electrical Tape is sold.

Remove the tape (go wire a car stereo or something!) and use the plastic case as storage for your kit. You can use the electrical tape to seal it shut once filled with fire-starting goodies.

Inside, Saksa includes waterproof matches, a Bic lighter, cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly, two homemade candles (you could substitute small tea candles) and a few feet of long-burning hemp wick.

The end product weighs a couple ounces and can be created for under $8 if you shop wisely. Throw it in a pack for backup use; the supplies inside should quickly help you start a fire if there is some available wood, dry grass, or other matter.

“I have kept it with me for the last 10+ years. This kit has always served me good,” he wrote. “Maybe you could do an article on do-it-yourself kits and ideas from readers?”

Heck yes! If you have ideas for homemade gear or other tips you’d like to share with the GearJunkie family, please contact us — our info is listed right here, so to assure you’re a human and not a robot, please just click through and email Sean.

The closed kit, above, isn’t 100 percent waterproof (you could probably make it waterproof by taping the edges), but even just snapped and taped shut, Saksa said it only leaked a few drops when immersed completely. You could enclose it in a ziplock, plastic grocery, or dry bag for added water resistance, too.

We like the look of his fire kit, and are going to make a few for ourselves to stow in packs in case of emergency. For a few bucks, it will provide some solid peace of mind in the backcountry or be there to start a blazing fire someday.