Tree Fungus or 'chaga' from the birch or beech trees can be used as fire starter (dried and even charred like charcloth), but I will be using it as a burnable punk , glowing like a head on a lit cigarette, to ignite my 1515 Tinder Snaplock, a precurser to the matchlock. First off, for the uninitiated, Snaplocks have a serpentine (later called the cock on flintlocks and hammers on ... well, you know ...) lever that is spring loaded, with the bottom leg of it catching on the nose of a sear projecting through the lock plate. Some don't have triggers, as the early ones had buttons on the lockplate that you would depress and that would move the sear nose away to let the serpentine fall and fire the fire lock.
You might not expect tree fungus to be particularly useful, but – surprise – it’s often very handy! If you have birch or black locust trees growing near you, then you probably have some highly flammable species of fungi also growing nearby.
A classic fire starting tinder of the northeast is the fungus that grows on birch trees. The species Fomes fomentarius is often called tinder fungus, false tinder fungus, horse hoof fungus, tinder conk, touchwood and tinder polypore. The species produces fist-sized polypore fruit bodies that are shaped like a horse’s hoof. They vary in color from a silvery gray to almost black, though you’ll usually find them gray or brown colored.
The dead, dry fruiting bodies of this fungus can be shaved into pieces or ground into dust to assist with friction fire spark longevity, or they can be cut into flat chips to be burned as a substitute for charcloth, like used in flint and steel fire making. Charcloth is cloth that has been made into charcoal, where it is heated at high temperature in the absence of oxygen to burn off the flammable solids in the form of gas, leaving behind a black cloth which readily catches and holds a spark, smoldering with a hot ember rather than flaming.
The Vikings would prepare their tinder fungus by cutting away the exterior pieces, with the interior pieces cut into thin slices. The fungus slices were beaten until they started to become soft, flexible, and resembled felt. The fungi ‘felt’ was then charred in the same way that charcloth is made – by charring it in an oxygen-less container. But the Vikings took it a step further ... they then boiled their fungus char in urine!
Why Urine? – Urine contains sodium nitrate, which has very similar chemical properties as potassium nitrate, i.e., the ‘saltpeter’ found in gunpowder. Because their char cloth was boiled in urine, the Vikings could light the charred fungus and it would hold a smolder for days on end. The fact that it smoldered without burning was key. This meant that they could carry the fire source with them wherever they went. When it was time to start a fire, they could blow on it to a flame to light their tinder. No longer did they require a primitive fire-making method to create a new spark each time they needed a fire.
The Vikings Weren’t the Only Ones to Use Tinder Fungus – While the Vikings are the only ones known to have soaked their Tinder Fungus in urine, many ancient people also used fungi as tinder. Even ‘Otzi the Iceman’, who lived over 5,000 years ago, was found to have 4 pieces of Tinder Fungus in with his gear for fire-starting. As one researcher noted, “The fungus must have been very important to the Iceman for him to carry it in a special pouch for such a long distance.”
How to Use Tinder Fungus to Start a Fire – If you don’t feel like using the gross Viking method to start a fire, you can still use Tinder Fungus. Fungus beats most other natural forms of tinder. Unlike other natural combustibles, such as sawdust, dried grass, or wood shavings, the dried Tinder Fungus can be ignited with a single spark. The smoldering fungus can then be used to start a fire.
Find Your Tinder Fungus – Tinder Fungus grows on trees. You can also use other fungi for fire starting. The species Inonotus obliquus is also great for tinder. It is found on birch trees and looks like a glob of black hardwood.
Prepping Your Tinder Fungus – This huge one was 9" across and it is still damp inside, feeling like all the world like stringy under-cooked chicken!
Right now it is drying out, but I intend to do some testing of 3 types or treatments:
I took a small piece and as it was still damp, it charred, but would not hold a smolder. So it needs to dry out ... maybe a lot!
Stay tuned for Part 2!
You might not expect tree fungus to be particularly useful, but – surprise – it’s often very handy! If you have birch or black locust trees growing near you, then you probably have some highly flammable species of fungi also growing nearby.
A classic fire starting tinder of the northeast is the fungus that grows on birch trees. The species Fomes fomentarius is often called tinder fungus, false tinder fungus, horse hoof fungus, tinder conk, touchwood and tinder polypore. The species produces fist-sized polypore fruit bodies that are shaped like a horse’s hoof. They vary in color from a silvery gray to almost black, though you’ll usually find them gray or brown colored.
The dead, dry fruiting bodies of this fungus can be shaved into pieces or ground into dust to assist with friction fire spark longevity, or they can be cut into flat chips to be burned as a substitute for charcloth, like used in flint and steel fire making. Charcloth is cloth that has been made into charcoal, where it is heated at high temperature in the absence of oxygen to burn off the flammable solids in the form of gas, leaving behind a black cloth which readily catches and holds a spark, smoldering with a hot ember rather than flaming.
The Vikings would prepare their tinder fungus by cutting away the exterior pieces, with the interior pieces cut into thin slices. The fungus slices were beaten until they started to become soft, flexible, and resembled felt. The fungi ‘felt’ was then charred in the same way that charcloth is made – by charring it in an oxygen-less container. But the Vikings took it a step further ... they then boiled their fungus char in urine!
Why Urine? – Urine contains sodium nitrate, which has very similar chemical properties as potassium nitrate, i.e., the ‘saltpeter’ found in gunpowder. Because their char cloth was boiled in urine, the Vikings could light the charred fungus and it would hold a smolder for days on end. The fact that it smoldered without burning was key. This meant that they could carry the fire source with them wherever they went. When it was time to start a fire, they could blow on it to a flame to light their tinder. No longer did they require a primitive fire-making method to create a new spark each time they needed a fire.
The Vikings Weren’t the Only Ones to Use Tinder Fungus – While the Vikings are the only ones known to have soaked their Tinder Fungus in urine, many ancient people also used fungi as tinder. Even ‘Otzi the Iceman’, who lived over 5,000 years ago, was found to have 4 pieces of Tinder Fungus in with his gear for fire-starting. As one researcher noted, “The fungus must have been very important to the Iceman for him to carry it in a special pouch for such a long distance.”
How to Use Tinder Fungus to Start a Fire – If you don’t feel like using the gross Viking method to start a fire, you can still use Tinder Fungus. Fungus beats most other natural forms of tinder. Unlike other natural combustibles, such as sawdust, dried grass, or wood shavings, the dried Tinder Fungus can be ignited with a single spark. The smoldering fungus can then be used to start a fire.
Find Your Tinder Fungus – Tinder Fungus grows on trees. You can also use other fungi for fire starting. The species Inonotus obliquus is also great for tinder. It is found on birch trees and looks like a glob of black hardwood.
Prepping Your Tinder Fungus – This huge one was 9" across and it is still damp inside, feeling like all the world like stringy under-cooked chicken!
Right now it is drying out, but I intend to do some testing of 3 types or treatments:
- Dried
- Dried and charred like charcloth
- Charred and boiled in urine
I took a small piece and as it was still damp, it charred, but would not hold a smolder. So it needs to dry out ... maybe a lot!
Stay tuned for Part 2!
