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Teach Your Kids to Make a Pill Bottle Firestarter

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DIY Pill Bottle Firestarter
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24 Comments

24 Comments

  1. Brad

    September 10, 2014 at 3:54 PM

    Lighter fluid is a good label remover, as well as WD-40.

  2. Lon

    September 10, 2014 at 4:14 PM

    And the pill bottle itself can be burned to provide a long hot flame

  3. Mistele

    September 10, 2014 at 4:24 PM

    I’m very much behind being prepared for undesirable events (wtshtf). However this article frightens me because I know of many youth who have misused/abused fire. My best friend works with them, their parents/guardians, the courts, and the juvenile system because of fire activity they have caused. Often getting others burned, starting a small fire that end up burning down most of an apartment complex, and burning themselves. When I got your email suggesting you show your kids how to make them, I was frightened. Though knowing how to build these can be beneficial, please, please, please stress fire safety always Sadly, parents are often irresponsible with fire too. Just saying

  4. left coast chuck

    September 10, 2014 at 5:27 PM

    For adhesives that don’t dissolve readily in water, smear them with any cooking oil and let them sit for a while. It may take a couple of applications, but corn oil, cottonseed oil or plain ol’ hydrogenated all purpose kitchen oil will work and dissolve the adhesive so that it can be rubbed off with a newspaper or paper towel. The oil also will not hurt the plastic. Some solvents that dissolve adhesive will also dissolve the plastic they are on.

  5. left coast chuck

    September 10, 2014 at 5:28 PM

    Shavings from a pencil sharpener will also make excellent fire starter. Carry it in a ziplock bag or two.

  6. Connie

    September 10, 2014 at 5:36 PM

    Thank you for all you share with those interesting in preparedness. 🙂

    An easier way to remove adhesive labels from things, is use either a little WD40 or some sort of oil based product (cooking oil works too) just soak the label for about 5-10 minutes,,,then it comes right off, paper and adhesive.

  7. Sparky

    September 10, 2014 at 6:09 PM

    I found that peanut butter works really well and very fast to remove adhesive labels. Sounds crazy, I know, but works like a charm!

  8. Pingback: Make A Pill Bottle Firestarter | Survival Life | Blog – Survival Life | Preppers | Survival Gear | Blog | Wilderness and Survival

  9. Jack

    September 11, 2014 at 8:57 AM

    If you slowly peel the label off of the bottle it will come off without leaving any glue. I always remove my labels before throwing the bottle away.

  10. Terry

    September 11, 2014 at 9:43 AM

    I don’t get the over reaction to this technique and kids. According to the National Fire Protection Association most fires (43) start in cooking areas according to their 2007-2011 statistics. Only 8% were what they termed “intentional”. Maybe we should not teach our children to cook based on the actual facts?

    Seems to me that most preppers are by definition prudent and careful people otherwise they wouldn’t be concerned with disaster preparation before it happens. This is not a group that needs to be warned about dangers one would think. They are well aware of it and would be expected to be more responsible with what they teach their children not less. Seems a bit silly to post a warning.

    Anyway, to get adhesive labels off I just use a hair dryer and then clean up the residue with a cotton ball and alcohol. Works quite well on almost any surface without damaging the underlying surface. May not be a recommended SHTF method but as long as their electricity it is usually quick and painless.

  11. Boyd

    September 11, 2014 at 9:46 AM

    Wanna be a real Cheap-o !!! Use dryer lint from the clothes dryer. Works just as well as cotton balls,, and you can save the sterile cotton balls for a medical purpose.

  12. Bill

    September 11, 2014 at 11:54 AM

    In boy scouts 60 years ago we would take common kitchen matches and dip the head in wax (candle) for instant waterproof matches.

  13. Richard Hunter

    September 11, 2014 at 4:46 PM

    Take prepared cotton ball wrap in small amount of steel wool & touch square 9v battery to steel instant ignition regardless of wind

  14. Justin

    September 12, 2014 at 7:52 AM

    This would only be a quick temporary fire starter correct? I’m sure the heat would end up melting the plastic bottle right? Could you prep the inside of the pill bottle with a heat/fire resistant silicon to make it last longer or is this just overthinking it. Still a great idea either way.

    • Karl

      September 13, 2014 at 4:24 PM

      Justin,
      The idea of the pill bottle fire starter is to Hold the cotton balls until they are needed to start a fire. Not to use the pill bottle as a stove with the cotton ball burning inside it. But as we all know, or should plastic will burn. So if you only have a small piece of prepared cotton ball and want it to continue burning for quite a while while getting the fire started placing it in the bottle opening and setting fire to it will set fire to the plastic bottle too. But the plastic burns with some noxious fumes, etc so would not want to let it burn too long after the actual fire has started. I prepared a pill bottle when I went on vacation last month just in case before I saw this article.

    • Lloyd

      September 15, 2014 at 11:56 AM

      Justin you take a piece of the cotton out of the bottle and just use it,not the whole bottle.This way you will have several pieces to start fires later.

  15. Donna

    September 13, 2014 at 10:05 AM

    Love teaching the kids how to stuff. I find the more they know, well, the more they know.
    A lot less stupidity when they see the reality, tend to get some respect for dangerous things.
    Kinda like when we grew up without helmets and knee pads.

  16. Railey

    September 13, 2014 at 1:16 PM

    Two excellent substitute ingredients for the cotton balls are dryer lint and “pocket fuzz”. Our Cub Scouts especially enjoy collecting/comparing “pocket fuzz”.

  17. Roni

    September 14, 2014 at 12:43 AM

    I always carry a plastic grocery bag full of the cardboard bathroom rolls and paper towel rolls (cut in quarters), which I have stuffed withcut up newspaper, magazine pages or ant other paper scraps. They are excellent as tinder when there isn’t dry tinder available to start a fire.

  18. FrankD

    September 14, 2014 at 10:18 AM

    I use cardboard egg cartons. Fill the egg holders with saw dust then fill with paraffin wax. No fuse needed as the cardboard egg cartons light easily. Makes excellent firestarters.

  19. Dale

    September 14, 2014 at 9:01 PM

    Use the lint out of your dryer screen.

  20. bikermailman

    September 16, 2014 at 7:34 PM

    I didn’t use chopsticks, just a fork. Trial and error for getting the amount of vasiline right. Too much, and it’s a gloppy mess. But you want enough to burn for a good while. Tried this one out on my last camping trip (camping trips are great for trying your SHTF supplies and techniques). Worked very well, was surprised at how long it burned for, even with hard to start wood. I now have a pill bottle of these in the bugout bag, and also in an ammo can filled with medical supplies that stays in the car.

  21. Terry Roemer

    September 17, 2014 at 11:19 PM

    Use a hair dryer to heat the label on a pill bottle or most anything adhesive. The label should just lift off when hot. So simple!

  22. Pingback: I Never Knew You Could Make a Fire Starter Out of This! - Survival Life | Outdoor Survival Gear & Skills, SHTF Prepping - Survival Life | Outdoor Survival Gear & Skills, SHTF Prepping

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