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| mkt... |
 Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:20 am |
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On Oct 21, 11:08 am, "Lawrence Akutagawa" <lakuNOS... at (no spam) sbcglobal.net>
wrote:
Quote: "Ben Crowell" <crowel... at (no spam) lightSPAMandISmatterEVIL.com> wrote in message
[...]
Quote: Where do you buy paraffin these days? Is soaking matches in melted
paraffin as incredibly tedious as I'm imagining it to be?
.
Go to any place that sells canning supplies, online or offline.http://housewares.hardwarestore.com/38-199-misc-canning/gulf-paraffin...
Caution - to melt paraffin and similar items (candles), use the hot water
(aka double boiler) method. Do not melt the paraffin in a single container
over direct heat unless you really, really like taking risks.
Last night, while looking for "minute tapioca" (for a rather strange
beef burgundy recipe that also called for soy sauce), I saw boxes of
home-use paraffin in the supermarket, all this was in the baking good
section with the flour, sugar, etc. (Safeway, although in So Calif
they're called Vons).
Yeah, the melting paraffin technique sounds a lot more tedious and a
lot more work than say kneading a cotton ball with vaseline. OTOH,
this is something that we presumably only have to do once, to create
the emergency firestarter. Unless we end up getting lost a lot and
having to ignite emergency fires regularly.
I also saw cans of what appeared to be concentrated buttermilk, just
add water. The cans said that the buttermilk concentrate lasts a lot
longer if kept refrigerated (duh), but the implication is that it'll
last awhile without refrigeration. Only trouble is, I know of no
backpacking recipes that use buttermilk. I guess one could make
buttermilk pancakes with it, or if one uses an Outback Oven one could
make buttermilk biscuits, etc. I think this was the product:
http://www.sacofoods.com/culteredbuttermilkblend.html
--MKT |
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| Lawrence Akutagawa... |
| Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 12:08 pm |
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"Ben Crowell" <crowell09 at (no spam) lightSPAMandISmatterEVIL.com> wrote in message
news:005a7569$0$23481$c3e8da3 at (no spam) news.astraweb.com...
Quote: Clurrie wrote:
As for fire-starters, nothing I've used beats a package of paper matches
soaked in melted paraffin wax. Use a lighter or waterproof match to
light the first match head and there you are. Of course, you need to
know how to mount a fire under the prevailing conditions....
Where do you buy paraffin these days? Is soaking matches in melted
paraffin as incredibly tedious as I'm imagining it to be?
.
Go to any place that sells canning supplies, online or offline.
http://housewares.hardwarestore.com/38-199-misc-canning/gulf-paraffin-wax-179267.aspx
Caution - to melt paraffin and similar items (candles), use the hot water
(aka double boiler) method. Do not melt the paraffin in a single container
over direct heat unless you really, really like taking risks. |
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| Eugene Miya... |
| Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 5:30 pm |
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In article <4add16e0$0$23778$9a566e8b at (no spam) news.aliant.net>,
Clurrie <clurrie at (no spam) NOSPAMhotmail.com> wrote:
Good heaader editing, BTW.
Quote: If you know someone who's a diabetic, some glucometer strips come in a
tight-sealing plastic container almost exactly the same size as 35mm
film cans.
True.
Quote: As for fire-starters, nothing I've used beats a package of paper matches
soaked in melted paraffin wax. Use a lighter or waterproof match to
light the first match head and there you are. Of course, you need to
know how to mount a fire under the prevailing conditions....
This is a bit contradictory. And somewhat potentially self defeating.
The first match head may well be the Jack London To Build a Fire story.
As for prevailing conditions, I do recall when one of my climbing
partner friends didn't believe that I could start a fire on top of snow.
That was pretty easy. And that was the day of the McGee Creek
earthquake which made a Science cover.
--
Looking for an H-912 (container). |
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| Eugene Miya... |
| Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 5:42 pm |
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In article <hbn8pe$elg$1 at (no spam) news.eternal-september.org>,
Wayne <mygarbagecan at (no spam) verizon.net> wrote:
Quote: "Ben Crowell" <crowell09 at (no spam) lightSPAMandISmatterEVIL.com> wrote in message
news:005a7569$0$23481$c3e8da3 at (no spam) news.astraweb.com...
Clurrie wrote:
As for fire-starters, nothing I've used beats a package of paper matches
soaked in melted paraffin wax. Use a lighter or waterproof match to
light the first match head and there you are. Of course, you need to
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
know how to mount a fire under the prevailing conditions....
Where do you buy paraffin these days? Is soaking matches in melted
paraffin as incredibly tedious as I'm imagining it to be?
-
Not that bad unless you are doing a huge number. Just get a large diameter
candle, light it and let a fair sized area of melted wax well up near the
wick. Then stick the match heads into the wax, at least covering the head
but preferrably down about half way. Remove and let dry. After doing the
heads, I like to also do the bottom half.
Playdoe or tape or other thing can be a holder.
Melt some in a shallow tin.
Quote: Or...you can buy them already coated.....
This guy has the potential to be quite smart.
A match is merely an ignition source.
Sustaining the flame is a problem (tinder vs. kindling).
Spool b-day candles (the kind which don't blow out are fun).
But if you want to be quick, just small a small flare.
The great things, too about candles is that you can get them with salts
for various color flames.
--
Looking for an H-912 (container). |
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| Wayne... |
| Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:02 pm |
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Guest
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"Eugene Miya" <eugene at (no spam) cse.ucsc.edu> wrote in message
news:4ae0dd21$1 at (no spam) darkstar...
Quote: In article <4add16e0$0$23778$9a566e8b at (no spam) news.aliant.net>,
Clurrie <clurrie at (no spam) NOSPAMhotmail.com> wrote:
Good heaader editing, BTW.
If you know someone who's a diabetic, some glucometer strips come in a
tight-sealing plastic container almost exactly the same size as 35mm
film cans.
True.
As for fire-starters, nothing I've used beats a package of paper matches
soaked in melted paraffin wax. Use a lighter or waterproof match to
light the first match head and there you are. Of course, you need to
know how to mount a fire under the prevailing conditions....
This is a bit contradictory. And somewhat potentially self defeating.
The first match head may well be the Jack London To Build a Fire story.
LOL...yeah, I had my own version of that under benign conditions. At a High
Sierra Camp, I was given one small split log and no kindling/tinder
available. I managed to get a roaring fire out of the two with just one
match and a pocket knife. Can't imagine trying that under pressure.
--Wayne |
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