char cloth

[George]

Yes sir that was the idea ... would it work?

Sorry 'bout that. I misunderstood your question, thought you were asking about BBQ charcoal briquets as a heat source, not as THE charcoal. I haven't tried that, because using the charcoal I made from scratch is part of the project, for me.

Spence

 

[Sunkmanitu Tanka]

No problem Spence! You gave me an idea ... Next time I BBQ I will put a tin with char on it AND try to get a chip of charcoal goin' with my flint and steel ... With all them doin's I hope I do not forget to put some meat on the barby!

 

[VTdeerhunter]

Don't forget about char cloth replacements...

Hope I'm not jumping too far off topic, but I want to share something I learned last winter, maybe you all new this, but it was new to me.

I was out trekking in the snow and of course it started to rain, stopped to make a fire and cook lunch and realized that the new batch of char cloth never made it into my haversack.

Sitting there cold, wet and hungry I looked up at a big growth on the side of a birch tree and remembered reading about "Tinder Fungus". I smacked it off the tree with my belt axe and thought why not try...it was like a hard ugly bowl filled with an orange sponge...before it got too wet in the rain I hit the flint and steel a few times and actually got an ember to take...of course it went right out cuz I was not prepared to actually start a fire (no wood collected yet)...remember the be prepared part????

Anyway, long story short, I got prepared and managed to start the fire with my new "orange sponge" and finally got to eat my lunch.

I took what was left home and put it by the wood stove, it works even better dried in this manner.

 

[gearheart]

I tried it yesterday with some charred remains of last years BBQ. Lump charcoal not briquettes. No luck. Charring punkey wood might work better because the fibers are not so tight.

 

[Sunkmanitu Tanka]

thanks for sharing!

 

[bnail]

HEt VT. that stuff's amazing isn't it? :thumbsup:
I use it almost exclussively. up here they call it skatagan. I tell ya, I always feel at home when I stumble into a birch grove that is, safe and protected! :hatsoff:

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have found that, far and away, in my experience Monk's cloth makes the best char cloth. It is a very loose and open weave that catches sparks beautifully. It can be bought at most fabric stores, including Wal-Mart.

 

[fatboy]

I know we were working with the chared punk wood and once that catches seems to work well my buddy couldnt put it out just wanted to keep burning my trouble is getting sparks to land were I want cloth just works quicker for me.

 

[Black Hand]

Charring punkey wood might work better because the fibers are not so tight.

I use just that, shredded charred rotted/punky wood (last batch was from the heart of a rotten cedar stump). Make it like you would char-cloth. Throw your sparks into the tin and fish out the glowing ember with your knife to add to the birds-nest. I also have larger pieces of charred fungus to add for more heat. Charring the fibrous inner bark of cottonwood trees works too.

 

[gjr902]

Feeling kinda silly at the moment. I have a small cast irom smoker box that I put the wood chips in, then it sits on my flavorizer bars of my gas grill. It really does a nice job with the meat. Up to this moment, I've been tossing the charred chips away. I'm thinking that Ive been throwing away a great fire starter. Anyone have any thought on the mesquite chips taking a spark after an good charring?

 

[Reb_Cav2]

Not sure if it would work but I think you might be brilliant and I have to give it a try. I have a scout troop that wants to start all their fires with Flint and steel so I need a large supply of char so they can practice.
Thank you for you innovative thoughts and I will be giving it a try in the very near future.
Respectfully
Reb_Cav2

 

[gjr902]

Thank you Reb Cav2, brilliant isnt a term that is often thrown my way. LOL. I'm going to use my smoke box on the weekend and give the charred wood a whirrel.

 

[Reb_Cav2]

GJR902,Turns out I had some used chips in my smoker and gave them a try and was unsuccessful on trying to catch a spark. Seems I have trouble using anything other than char cloth, I want to use something like char punk but seems I can not catch that spark. Hope you have better luck than I and I will keep up the fight since I have to prove that I can starta fire without matches at least once a month since the scouts say we have to start our camp fires without matches.
Best of luck
Reb_Cav2

 

[gjr902]

Reb_Cav2,

I failed too. I made sparks untill I couldnt hold the steal any more, and I couldnt get the pieces to catch a spark. I'll keep trying. I may put the chips in my char container and cook them down some more. Maybe they aren't charred enough. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[Black Hand]

With all due respect, why waste all the time working with unsuitable materials when you can use the right stuff instead? Take some punky rotten wood or fibrous inner bark and char it in your tin. Done...

 

[gjr902]

BH,

Its a hobby, a challenge. Time messing around in the yard trying new things is more productive that sitting on the couch watching tv. The more I do, the more I learn. If I really need a fire today, I'll fire up my Xikar cigar torch, and wholla, fire.

 

[Black Hand]

Yes, I understand the need and desire to experiment. That said, one still needs to start with the proper materials then experiment from there. It isn't very efficient trying to light a log with a spark, which is essentially what you are trying to do.

Charcoal, while an efficient fuel is far too compact to use as material to catch a spark (that is why people use starter fluid or wood & newspaper to start it). You need something with a high surface to mass ratio for easy ignition. (http://www.fibersource.com/f-tutor/health.htm) This is why punky wood or fibrous inner bark is ideal when charred and charcoal is not.

Time spent perfecting your technique with the right materials is far more efficient than time spent getting frustrated by materials that don't work. One way you learn proficiency lighting fires, the other way you only learn how NOT to start a fire.

 

[simeon england]

Charcoal, while an efficient fuel is far too compact to use as material to catch a spark (that is why people use starter fluid or wood & newspaper to start it). You need something with a high surface to mass ratio for easy ignition. (http://www.fibersource.com/f-tutor/health.htm) This is why punky wood or fibrous inner bark is ideal when charred and charcoal is not.

Blackhand is correct. Charring any piece of wood will not work. If your trying punk wood and its not working, try some white oak. Make sure it is spongy, well airrated by worms and bugs. Put as large of piece in your tin as you can get, and char it like you do the cloth. It will catch and hold a spark.

Also for another idea, do not drill a hole in the top of your tin. Drill it on the side through both top and bottom edges, so you can turn the tin to match the hole up, and turn again to close off the hole. Makes the tin more weather proof.

 

[gjr902]

Nice idea on hole placement. I never thought of that. As far as the char wood, It just occured to me that I had some wood in my smoker that was charred. I thought it might be a good fire source. So far is has not been. LOl. But its fun messing with it. Who knows, I may make a great discovery? Probably not, but I'm having fun with it. I've got enough char cloth to last me for years, so starting a fire isnt a concern. I'll grab some punky wood next weekend while I'm turkey scouting and try my hand at punky char wood.

 

[Reb_Cav2]

I have tried with punky wood but have not had success as of now I will continue and see if it works. Blackhand, thank you for your input and I will try with the punky wood and see how it works. If you have any sugestions on how to make the punky wood to work since I do have good supply of that type of wood just need to cook it down. GJR902, Thank you for all your hard work sounds like you and I have had the same success rate with the chared wood from our smokers. Best of luck with your supply of char wood.
Respectfully
Reb_Cav2