Being able to keep your fire making supplies and tools dry is very important for when SHTF. If you are carrying a ton of fire starting bricks but fall in the water, you're now carrying a bunch of dead weight. But what if you could make a simple, light tool that will keep your fire starting materials dry no matter what? Check out how below.

How to Make Your Own Fire Starter Straws
For this project, you’ll need:
Plastic Drinking Straws Cotton Balls Petroleum Jelly Needle Nosed Pliers Lighter Scissors Ruler
Putting it together:
Cut the drinking straws into lengths of about 2.5″ each. You can actually cut the straws into any length you want depending on where you’ll be storing them. Mine are going into pill bottle survival kits, so I’m cutting them to fit in there.
Using your pliers, pinch off one end of the straw and burn it closed with the lighter. Take 1 cotton ball and work a little petroleum jelly into it. When I say “a little petroleum jelly” I mean VERY little. You won’t need more than about 1/8 of a teaspoon (if you really want to measure). Stretch out the cotton ball and twist it up a bit. This will help work the petroleum jelly into it more, and it will make it easier to stuff into the straw. Slide the end of the cotton into the straw and continue to twist while you push it in. If you need some help with this part, use your pliers to help push the cotton into the straw (you could also use a chopstick, bamboo skewer or something of the sort here, too). Once you have the cotton ball completely shoved into the straw, wipe the open end clean, clamp it off with the pliers, and burn it shut with the lighter again.
Using Your Homemade Fire Starter Straws
To use your cool new fire starters, you can cut them from end to end and pull all of the cotton out, or cut off a tiny snip from the very end and pull out just a little of the cotton (so you can seal the end back again and save some of the fire starter straw for another usage). Fluff the cotton up a bit so it’s closer to the consistency of cotton candy than matted dog hair. All you need is a spark to set the cotton ablaze – a ferro rod works, but you can strike a match if you want. You may even be able to use your lighter to get a spark to it without using any of your fluid in the process.

The idea of using straws to make carrying supplies easier is not a new one. Backpackers often turn to this method to carry spices and toiletries like toothpaste. It reduces weight and space and keeps everything dry.

It makes sense, then, that this would be an excellent way to carry something like petroleum jelly and cotton balls. You could have about twenty of these on hand in your bug out bag and barely notice the weight.

Thanks for the awesome article and tip, Survival At Home!