[bizy]

Only bic lighters are not enough.. I can do the steel wool and batteries and magnifing glass as plan "B" and "C".. And having water proof matches would be a great plan "B", "C", "D". I will be getting weather resistant matches.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by oneshot

I have hear you can find paraffin wax at Lowes or Home Depot but I have been unable to locate it. Do you know roughly were to look at?

Look in the canning supplies section of your local grocery store. Most of them sell Gulf Wax brand. Walmart.com says they stock it as well.

[bkt]

Originally Posted by jungleman

Cotton wool balls soaked in petroleum jelly is one of the best I have used

+1 You don't need or want a lot of Vaseline (petroleum jelly) - just a little is fine. It tends to catch with just a spark, too.

There are a ton of ways to make fire. Fire pistons are outstanding for bug-out bags, but you need some tinder. Potassium permanganate and glycerin is outstanding for getting an extremely hot flame in seconds with no effort.

But as for waterproof matches, they are the very best thing in the world to have if you have no other way of making fire.

I can see strike-anywhere waterproof matches, but waterproof matches stored in a cardboard box with the strike area seems a little goofy. If the matches get wet, they're OK. But if the box they're in gets wet, you can't light the matches....