Do you remember in high school science class when you had to burn common food items in order to determine the caloric content? No? Well maybe I am just a bit of a nerd…but we learned that many food items ( assuming they aren’t loaded with moisture) will burn quite easily on their own.

What are most commercially available fire starters made of? Some kind of organic substance that will burn mixed with wax or an oily substance that enhances burning.

Who said high fat is bad?

So you are on a campout and can’t find some paper or dry leaves or grass to use to start your fire. No problem. I bet you brought some chips or pork rinds or some other greasy junk food that you can use to start a fire instead.

Field and Stream (a great resource for the ordinary outdoorsman by the way) recently tested several common “junk foods” to see which would make the best fire starters. Here’s the video.

On your next camp out try throwing a stack of chips on the bottom of your fire…that’s what I plan on doing.

GET OUTDOORS!

How about you? What would you use in a pinch?

Categories: Camping