Thats’s right. Fire Tubes. These little guys are a great backup to keep with you camping or on the run from zombies. Currently, I am making these with two matches, cottonball in petroleum jelly and a bit of sandpaper for striking.

How to make:

1. Gather all your materials

plastic straw

cotton ball

petroleum jelly

waterproof matches

sandpaper strips

pliers

lighter

small stick or rod that fits inside straw

2. Tear each cotton ball in half and coat each with petroleum jelly. It shouldn’t be gobbed on there, a little will do.

3. Seal one end of the straw by holding the end to be sealed with pliers, leaving little plastic to melt with the lighter. The pliers pinch the ends while you melt them together and it acts as a shield to the rest of the straw.

4. Using your rod or stick, push the petroleum cotton ball in the straw and pack near the sealed end. (Not too hard or you will break your seal).

5. Now drop in matches and sandpaper strip (cut to size). I like to keep the match heads away from petroleum cotton balls to prevent too much moisture absorption. This is also why you don’t want to soak the cotton balls in petroleum jelly.

6. Cut straw above the matches leaving enough space to grab with pliers and seal the end as before (Step 3).

If do it correctly, you have a little waterproof fire starter to take with you. A pretty handy little item for very cheap!

If you enjoyed this or have any suggestions, please let me know on Facebook or Twitter. We zombie preppers have to stay together.

Questions?