I have a little time on my hands so I decided to make some petroleum jelly covered cotton balls to use as emergency tinder for starting fires. Petroleum jelly aka Vaseline (I'm looking for sponsorship money) will increase the burn time of a cotton ball, just like a wax candle on a wick.
I first acquired the triple sized cotton balls and Vaseline freegan-style from my parents house. This jar of Vaseline is so old it may be the original jar used for my diaper rash 40 years ago. It's still good! All you have to do is take a cotton ball and saturate it in Vaseline. The inner core can be kept dry. When you are ready to light it, just expose the inner core and light the dry fibers. I tried burning both a plain cotton ball and Vaseline (how's the sponsorship money coming along?) coated ball. The cotton ball burned quickly and shrunk while the Vaseline-ball burned for a very long time. Today was especially windy but it did not go out until I blew it out myself with some force. This long burning, wind resistant tinder is an added edge when you absolutely need every advantage to get a fire started.
I stuffed four of these balls in a film canister. If you don't know what film or a film canister is, go find an old person and ask them and see if they have any. Now this canister sits next to my emergency Snickers, ready for action. This only takes a couple minutes to do and will be worth it if you need an emergency fire. Go do it!
And a major plus, no need to pack lip balm (Chapstick! $$$?) anymore! Just whip out one of these cotton balls if you're feeling a little chapped...
