Fire starting gear -or- What to do with a 1 gallon zip lock baggy full of dryer lint

Okay, time to laugh again. While attempting to make the ultimate tinder I started collecting dryer lint. I think it is the ultimate tinder base. Lots of loose highly refined, highly flammable pits in a nice light package.

So here is the problem, how can I make an easy to light in new extreme conditions, neat, and long shelf life tinder?

I first tried melting petroleum jelly and mixing in the lint. All that gave me was a shedding wax ball.

I was thinking about making a type of char cloth
Char cloth

But i figure from lint all i get is char dust!

So I was thinking that with that char dust I could try the melted petrol jelly again or maybe water and pressing into blocks.

Anyways that is as far as I have gotten.
My wife got upset when she saw the work I was doing (bright red lint stuck every where) so I need to have a better idea of the finished product before I test again.

so the conditions are.
1. be able to catch fire quickly (with out having to heat first)
2. stay lit in light rain or medium wind.
3. not be explosive or spew noxious fumes.

Any Ideas?

I am glad that you explained where the lint came from. I had a bizarre vision of you collecting 'belly button fluff' from people

One idea is dropping the lint and using a cotton ball soaked in melted petroleum jelly.

This lights easily, burns long, burns hot, is wind resistant (not windproof) and is also water resistant (again, not waterproof). Also a sandwich size ziplock bag will hold quite a few (50ish) firestarters. Downside is that they are a bit heavier then dryer lint.

Hope this helps!

Another option for your lint, is turning it into paper.

Edit: I skipped a few words

[edit on 25-6-2008 by DropInABucket]

This is my completely unscientific response:

Maybe coating it in pine sap would be useful.

I am not sure if you would need to 'refine' the lint into something else first, but pine sap would seem to meet your criteria...I think.

Maybe t wont work, but it will smell interesting.

if Your Preping why not gather a 10 pack of 9 volts an a box of steel wool?
put it in with yer pack of lint an You got a firekit. But Ive really come to love what they have out on the market the firestick an the bunsin burner starter...

By modifying the lint with petroleum jelly and or wax you are making it harder to light that fluffiness is one of the reasons it is so easy to light..compressing it down using petrochemicals isn't the way to go

I used to keep the dryer lint too but when you light it, it stinks exactly like what it is hair In my area it is just as easy to scrape back the outer layer of bark on a cedar tree and get some of the light fluffy under bark and use that..

I don't have an answer for you other than to keep it in the zip lock bag however I can just imagine the look on your wifes face when she caught you playing with lint...

Divide the lint up into small waxed paper bags, about the size for sandwiches. Allow air by keeping it fluffed up and not cramming it in. The wax helps fires to start; add small twigs/leaves once combustion starts (flint can be used).
Sorry, but I can't think of how to keep it going in light rain, unless it's lit covered over by a tin can roof.

The cotton balls and petrol jelly is where i started, then one day I was cleaning out the lint trap and noticed the similarities...

I was actually trying to put together a tinder kit to go along with a fire piston... so I was going to low tech, which is why I dont want the battery.
I dont want to rely on gathering bits and I dont know where a ceder tree is around me.

hmmm, So with the same criteria and throughing out the lint is there anything better than cotton balls soaked in petrol jelly... what about shoe polish?