An Easy and Unexpected Fire Starter

You never know what you’ll have on hand during an emergency. More often than not, you’ll have to get creative. This creative discovery – using dryer lint and petroleum jelly – will make starting your average campfire so much easier.

That jar of petroleum jelly sitting unused in the bathroom jar is about to become useful. Here’s what you do:

• Get the petroleum jelly
• Remove the useless lint from your dryer
• Form the lint into an egg-sized ball
• Mix 2 tbsp. petroleum jelly in with the lint and pack it together like a snowball

The result should look like this.

Keep a few of these little guys stored in a plastic bag next time you go camping and you’ll be surprised how much easier it is to start a fire!

The first time I tried it out I was surprised to find that the lint ball’s burn time outlasted the wood.

It’s a really handy tool – not just for camping – but as an addition to your bug out bag (just don’t burn down your neighborhood!).

Credit for this idea goes to celebrated survivalist Creek Stewart.