Gadling's resident pilot explains what life in the cockpit is like

Vaseline candles for the survivalist in us all

Should you ever catch yourself out in the wilderness with some aluminum foil and a little vaseline for those chapped lips, rest assured in the knowledge that you too could create a small fire for warmth or for creating a larger fire for cooking.

Lighters may fail, matches may become wet, but if you wrap up some cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly an wrap a few of those combos in some smaller pieces of aluminum foil, that may be the best thing you can do for the moment when you need to create a fire but don't have an easy combustion source.

As long as you have a waterproof flint (like the keychain kind you'll find in survival stores), you should be good to go after following the directions here. This is a must for any backpacker's survival mainstay or for those who like to camp way away from civilization -- or must travel through dangerous parts or roads of Mother Nature. John Rambo would be proud.

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