Making cotton tinder

**Rick** · 03-17-2013, 12:45 PM

I don't understand why anyone would use medicine as a firestarter. Talking about upping the cost of meds. That's some pretty expensive fire tinder too. I know it's multi-use but why not just make the cotton balls in Vaso and carry your meds with you? Put the cotton balls and PJ in a 35mm film case and there's no mess. Not at all certain what the smoke from a medicine soak cotton ball would do to you if you inhaled it. Don't want to find out either.

I own a messy backpack too. It doesn't start out that way but by day 2 I've been through it 27 times and it just doesn't look the same.

**hunter63** · 03-17-2013, 01:13 PM

Packs are alway nice and neat on the way out.......the thing you need now is ALWAYS on the bottom.....So...
Coming back it called a "snot ball".

**Rick** · 03-17-2013, 01:15 PM

I call it "hiking rotation". It seems like the further you hike the more times the stuff in your pack rotates. I've found light stuff on bottom and heavy stuff on top. How does that work? And toilet paper is NEVER where you need it when you need it if you know what I mean.

**hunter63** · 03-17-2013, 01:23 PM

You must be talking about the "pack"TP....not the "Pocket" TP....I hear ya.

Need to clean out my turkey vest here pretty soon....lots of pockets....and see what I left in it....year old sweet tarts, (loose), deer antler shed part, dried whatever's, (can't tell any more what it was I was picking up and saving)....turkey feathers, and the small weed seeds, leaves, sitcks, cool looking rocks and dirt that seem to drop into your pocket,.....leave it there long enough you have compost!

PS. Note Halls cough drops will always melt and because a permanent sticky place in pack or pocket....used to secure dirt and said compost, from slining around.:

**eou_edu** · 03-17-2013, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by Sarge47

Trying to patant and then market something of a combustible nature will more than likely involve the federal government...just sayin'............

I didn't think of that. Generally the ATF is more friendly than the FDA but that might cause some problems. I will look into that however, thanks.

Why Medicine as a fire starter? (couldn't put that into quotes for some reason)

Neosporin is almost as cheap as Vaseline. You have the added benefit of a fire starter as a topical antibiotic. So you are just adding a feature to your fire starter. Fumes aren't going to cause you any problems other than possibly curing an upper respiratory infection. I don't understand why anybody would want to use Vasoline over it? But that's the nature of the beast, I promise out of 1000 people no two people have packs configured the same way. Each person having their own ideas they like to use and each wondering, "why anybody would possibly want to do it differently." Personal preference is the simplified term for that I guess. But shipped has sail, neosporin cotton balls are in my pack and not going to change anytime soon. I'm now working on my backup fire starter which will be my patents now.

Not sure this forums policy on advertising things so I will approach with caution. If any of you are aspiring inventors out there I've found a very good approach for taking your idea to market with very very little risk. Basically it's a company that pays well for good ideas and without the need to patent them. It's very reputable, very safe, and very competitive (that's partly how you know it's not a fly by night, scam deal). If you would like to know more about either PM or I can describe it on here if it doesn't violate posting policies.

**Rick** · 03-17-2013, 02:48 PM

If you have a financial interest in a site you can not post a link to it in the body of a post. You can add it to your signature but then you can't direct someone to your signature by saying something like, "Check out my signature for a great deal on asbestos underwear" or whatever you sell. If you don't have a financial interest in a site then you can post the link with no problem.

**scumbucket** · 03-17-2013, 07:27 PM

For personal use, I use either dry lint, cotton, plain cotton balls, and rope twine made into a bird's nest looking thing. I don't understand the need for all the flammable stuff. In our forests, there are stumps that are a yellowish color, these are full of pitch, so I take my ax and cut out a few pieces of this stuff, then my knife to make small slivers of it. A single match will light it right up, in wind, rain or snow. If I'm using a magnesium firestarter I start up that, or cotton balls or lint and add the pitchey pieces and away I go. I carry a little tin box in my pocket with the magnesium firestarter, cigarette lighter, lint, cotton balls and twine. fits in my shirt pocket. Works for me.

**eou_edu** · 03-19-2013, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

If you have a financial interest in a site you can not post a link to it in the body of a post. You can add it to your signature but then you can't direct someone to your signature by saying something like, "Check out my signature for a great deal on asbestos underwear" or whatever you sell. If you don't have a financial interest in a site then you can post the link with no problem.

Ok thank. I definitely don't have any financial interest in the company, the sight is called Edison Nation. It's a very unique site where companies come to them looking for ideas. Patented or not you submit your idea, they go through a process of weeding out all the ideas and present the best ones to the company. If the company decides to use your idea, you split the commission with edision nation. Unlike most invention sites it is reputable and your idea is protected through NDA's. Which in some ways are better than a patent. Anyway if you are an ideas kind of person I suggest you check it out.

**eou_edu** · 06-18-2013, 02:15 PM

So just an update for anybody that followed this thread several months ago. To recap I was looking for a new method to treat cotton as a fire starter. Thanks to the help of this forum I found it, I paired it up with the rest of my invention, I got a provisional patent for it, and attempted a liscensing deal for it. I was then rejected several different times by a few different people. All stating the exact same thing as well as concerns people on this forum brought up; it would cause too many problems with TSA at airport security. Seeing how you can travel with a lighter (fair more BTU's than what I was proposing) and a small bottle of hairspray, aka a 3.4 oz flame thrower, I didn't see a problem with mine. The problem I did or did not see with mine is a moot point. As I'm finding out, inventions and products are more about perception than they are about real facts. Not to criticize that, that is just the reality of the consumer world. If people evaluating my product have a problem with that, then the people not buying it will also have a problem with it and educating on a consumer level is a very difficult task. That is the natural of the beast and I'm accepting that.

I still believe in what I'm trying to do here so I will continue to retool it until I have come up with something that doesn't have that problem. I'm not ready to share exactly what my product is just yet but I will keep this forum updated and eventually fill everyone in when I feel like it is protected enough (I don't see a provisional patent as protection enough). It is kind of odd because this is probably the 25th thing I've tried to invent. Most of my ideas have had more acceptance than this. I've even had a few things that make the finals for a licensing deal with edison nation (the website I mentioned before in this thread). In fact one of the evaluators made the comment "I have a problem with this on so many levels." However right or wrong I've never had anything I believed in more than this. So I will continue to pursue it. In the meantime thanks for the help this forum gave me in the early development stage and I hope some of you have checked out that edison nation site. If you are an aspiring inventor or just have a good idea to share it is a very useful thing.

**hunter63** · 06-18-2013, 02:20 PM

Thanks for the up date....and good luck with your product.

BTW Carmex lip balm rubbed into Kleenex the fluffed up catches a spark from a Ferro rod pretty well.

**finallyME** · 06-19-2013, 10:40 AM

If you use KYratshooters idea, good luck patenting something that has been common knowledge for hundreds of years.

Incidentally, here is a product that already does what you want. http://www.thepathfinderstore.com/mini-inferno/ But, it is already being sold, and therefore you can't patent it.

Have you tried tallow?

And, for a little patent advice, Patent applications are almost always rejected the first few times. Just part of the program.