Baler twine tinder

[coloradoclyde]

I use baler twine to tie up my hop vines...
This spring when I replaced the old with the new I saved all the old twine for flint and steel tinder...
The twine was exposed to the elements for a year and makes great tinder....new twine works poorly as it is treated with anti-rot stuff and or flame retardant.
8 to 10 inches of twine is enough to get a fire going with ease...

 

[necchi]

..new twine works poorly as it is treated with anti-rot stuff and or flame retardant.

Yep, I hung some new twine on a fence line for a full year of Minn of weather,, works great.
But new stuff,, forget it!

 

[coloradoclyde]

And you can still use it for musket wadding :haha: just remember to grease it.

 

[Crewdawg445]

I use jute, IMO it takes a flame just like char cloth and I don't have to make it!

 

[omarick1948]

In a pinch, #0000 steel wool catches a spark well and burns very hot....Old Boy Scout trick!

Rick

 

[Crewdawg445]

Yes sir, I've done that a few times!

 

[Mad Irish Jack]

:metoo: I'm with crewdawg445. I also use Jute. I get it in Walmart or any hobby shop. For a nice char, try using a 100% cotton long, thermal underwear that has the little indented pockets to their pattern. When made the char catches sparks in those tiny pockets and works great. You can pick them up in Goodwill (etc.) shops for minimal costs. Mine cost $.50 top or bottom. $5 will set you up for a good while. They also make excellent cleaning and wiping patches. :v

 

[tozzybum]

+1 for jute ,also fine shavings ,just trim a small stick into feathers or use pine needles.absolutely dripping with resin ,spit a bit but burn when wet atb

 

[Sean Gadhar]

For a nice char, try using a 100% cotton long, thermal underwear that has the little indented pockets to their pattern. When made the char catches sparks in those tiny pockets and works great. You can pick them up in Goodwill (etc.) shops for minimal costs. Mine cost $.50 top or bottom. $5 will set you up for a good while. They also make excellent cleaning and wiping patches. :v

And now we know how and where Mad Jack got named;

Dotty & Ester at the Goodwill,

Dotty; OH Lord help us, he's back!

Ester: Who is?

Dotty: That strange fellow, says his name is Jack.

Ester; OH! And it is himself, sure, isn't he headed strait for the blanket rack. Looking for heavy wool again, and it being July! The man is touched!

Dotty; Aye, touched, or living in a cave, sure now he's buying up all the long underwear again. I asked him once "What size are ya looking for?"
He says to me, he says " Well it mostly gets cut up into two inch squares and burnt or used for cleaning."

Ester; OH! Saints protect you, what did ya say?

Dotty; What could I say? That Jack is as mad as a hatter sure, but God love him he's a nice Irish lad, So I told him " Well then, you'll be wanting the largest sizes, there all of ah same, so you'll get more of your wee little wash rags for your money.

Ester; Ah, quiet now, Mad Irish Jack is headed this way with an arm load oh long underwear & a woman's leather purse.... say a prayer Dotty dear say a prayer...

 

[Kansas Jake]

:rotf: Sean, that is too funny.

 

[coloradoclyde]

:rotf:

 

[Silky921]

Oh so true. Nicely done sir.

 

[nhmoose]

In a pinch, #0000 steel wool catches a spark well and burns very hot....Old Boy Scout trick!

Rick

any dry cell will work with it but is not PC we need a new acronym for Period correct because I HATE the new version. How about NO for not old?

 

[Sean Gadhar]

we need a new acronym for Period correct because I HATE the new version. How about NO for not old?

Nah........ Not Actually Historical :haha:

Do my ray bands look ok with my buckskins?? Nah :rotf: :blah:

 

[ohio ramrod]

Use new for tow and wadding, old and weathered for tinder.I have been doing this for over fifty years. As a young farm boy I could not afford anything else and we had a lot of baler twine. Back in the early sixties we even tried smoking old hemp rope. Not a good idea! :idunno: :idunno: :idunno:

 

[MSW]

well, my hay guy started using that newfangled poly stuff to tie up the bales, and that probably won't char at all well, even though the rats and mice hate the stuff and I will admit that it doesn't rot (but then again, if you got the bale so wet the string rots, the hay's no good anyway)...

guess i'll stick with tow ...

make good smoke!

 

[Twisted_1in66]

***SNIP***
Back in the early sixties we even tried smoking old hemp rope. Not a good idea! :idunno: :idunno: :idunno:

My grandfather was a cattle rancher and used to roll Bull Durham when he ran out of Camels between trips to town. When I was about 10 (1960) some of us grandkids asked him to show us how to do it. He did, but made us roll coffee instead of tobacco in it. Of course as kids often do, we kept a couple of them and tried to smoke them...seems like we threw up for hours!
:youcrazy: :youcrazy: :youcrazy:

Twisted_1in66:thumbsup:
Dan

 

[Kansas Jake]

My grandpa taught me to roll them too when I was a kid in the 50's. The skill came in handy in the late 60's.

 

[BrownBear]

...that newfangled poly stuff to tie up the bales, and that probably won't char at all well....

Yeah, that's where I'm at. Love the "new" poly twine, but it's more like burning tires when you torch off a big pile of it. Can't tell you how many years it's been since we switched to poly. I'd have a harder time finding traditional bailer twine than tow! :rotf:

 

[coloradoclyde]

A friend of mine butchered a cow, and when the butcher cut open the stomach inside was a big wad of bale wrap/ag bag plastic....enough to fill a 5 gallon bucket...

Also saw a guy feeding round bales to cows last winter without removing the plastic net wrap...a week later there was a dead cow next to the feeder... :youcrazy: