Tinder: Cotton Ball suggestions

As most everyone knows cotton balls make for good tinder...Cotton balls covered in petroleum jelly makes excellent tinder and will burn for a good minute...Rolling Vaseline cotton balls in magnesium shavings even better!!


We were talking about this today and I just wanted to pass onto you guys...if you use a plastic waterproof match case DON'T  put a Vaseline soaked cotton ball inside your match case. This will destroy your matches, and they will be useless. I do suggest packing a dry cotton ball in your match case to keep your matches from rattling and as back up tinder.

These plastic match cases are good for storing matches. But not so good for storing Vaseline soaked cotton balls (as I've seen many do this). The seals are not perfect and your cotton balls will eventually dry out. Storing them in a zip lock bag is your best bet.  Just wanted to share with you guys because I see a lot of people doing this. 


*if your new to this. Cotton balls when wet does not light well. Vaseline or petroleum jelly acts as the fuel and the cotton as the wick. Works well even when wet.