Article: Magic biscuits

[Johnnyboy1971]

You can view the page at http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/content.php?r=534-Magic-biscuits

 

[Twodogs]

Heres whare I had it from ,

http://www.kuenzi.com/tips_e.htm

Twodogs

 

[woodspirits]

good stuff John, a handy backup will give that a go.

 

[MartinK9]

In use by Cliff Norway 2012:

 

[steve581]

Looks great, will give it a go.

 

[TurboGirl]

Excellent stuff, it's great seeing it in pictoral form without the 'thou shalt have 12.5g EXACTLY' kinda recipe! Nice one, John

 

[presterjohn]

I made a batch of make up pad and Vaseline firelighters impregnated with magnesium shavings a while back. My boys were so fascinated by them we burned the lot of them without even starting a fire!

 

[ips138]

Nice one, that's a professional item . Seen it made similar with a bottom part of egg box, pack with cotton balls or lint and fill it with the mixture you made (can also be heated liquid paraffin). Then just tear each of the 6 chunks as needed. When I've made similar to this, I simply smeared the face pad on vaseline, stacked them up in small ziplock bag, or just inside a small empty vaseline pot. Takes a spark from firesteel easy and burns for around 1.5 mins, plenty of time to get fire going.
Nice stove.

 

[Shovel]

Do these take a spark, or do you need an open flame?

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

If you bend them and tease it open a little yes they will, I have tried adding a little meths to the mix and this helps when using a ferro rod.

 

[roger-uk]

Whats the benefit of wax and vaseline - just curious - I use makeup wipes with vaseline but never thought to do that?

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

For me it's just that they are clean to handle without getting gummed up with Vaseline, also in some situations you can use the wax to lubricate. I have even rubbed one over my knife blade to give it a little protection after use.

 

[Big Stu 12]

Nice one, that's a professional item . Seen it made similar with a bottom part of egg box, pack with cotton balls or lint and fill it with the mixture you made (can also be heated liquid paraffin). Then just tear each of the 6 chunks as needed. When I've made similar to this, I simply smeared the face pad on vaseline, stacked them up in small ziplock bag, or just inside a small empty vaseline pot. Takes a spark from firesteel easy and burns for around 1.5 mins, plenty of time to get fire going.
Nice stove.

Some egg boxes will soak up melted wax, I have cut the flat parts from the tops, soaked it in hot wax, makes nice thin fire starting board... also wax is not as messy as vasiline..

 

[Chillistarr]

Good write up, thanks! If you're looking to do a large batch, rather than using direct heat it might be worth looking for a double boiler, keeps the heat longer and more evenly, reduces the risk of getting the wax dangerously hot! Worked well when I used to make candles

 

[Arfer Tanner]

Done something similar but I just dripped candle wax onto about 2/3 of a face pad this left the rest to take a spark from a firesteel easily but burning for a few minutes.
quite fancy the idea of adding some magnesium shavings though
Arf

 

[Aussiepom]

Thanks for taking the time to do the write up.

You can achieve a similar effect with less effort though: Simply light the candle and one pad at a time, drip a dozen or so drops of wax into the middle of each face pad. No need to mess around with vaseline, or create a dirty pan or cheese grater. The non-waxed part of the cotton wool catches a spark easily, and I've timed them before now - they burn for upto 2.5 mins.

 

[rulyg26]

I reckon this would work even better if some accelerant meths/ propane/butylpropanol/denaturedalcohol etc.
was dripped on to the cotton pads, I tried by soaking the pads but they didn't take any wax up after as they were saturated with meths:/
good post btw
Cheers,
George

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

The way these are done it completely saturates the pad but also makes it waterproof. If you just drip wax on the pads there is a chance they may become damp and then useless.

 

[Arfer Tanner]

The way these are done it completely saturates the pad but also makes it waterproof. If you just drip wax on the pads there is a chance they may become damp and then useless.

Good point Johnnyboy I tend to keep mine in a banking coin bag but Suppose they could still get wet
Gaz

 

[norfolknun]

Thank you for an instructive post