did they use char cloth

[Wes/Tex]

Sort of the "smoke'em if you gott'em" approach and probably way closer to the truth! :thumbsup:

 

[TomWaits]

This is an interesting thread and like many others,thought provoking as well. Although I have read several journals and books about mountain men and their way of life, I cannot even touch the hem of the garment of most of the historians on this forum. With that said, much of my young adult life was spent working with older men who still lived much as thought the depression was still in full swing. If we tore an old building down, any lumber and nearly all nails was salvaged for future projects. No new nail was ever used untill all suitable bent nails were used up. Old men would look hard at anyone so wastefull as to light a pipe with a match while sitting near a fireplace if a twigg could be used instead. These oldtimers were not the skinflents that they sometimes appeared to be, rather a product of a time of make do or do without.
Having said all that, it is not much of reach to imagen that same way of thinking in the mountain man culture. I would suspect that even if one had a good supply of char cloth, it would not be used unless there was no suitable natural material at hand. It is not all that far fetched to think that patches could have been used to fire more then one ball or perhaps used for char cloth. Although I cannot quote the text, I have read of balls being dug from trees of game to be recast, why not pick up the patch laying in front of you and make further use of it as well. Writen documentation is often scarse due to the mundane details of everyday life that were common to both mountain men and their chroniclars. To asume to much is never good but to extrapilate a little may sometimes lead to a more accurate picture of the ways and times that we find so intresting. Thanks to all for considering these thought and forgiving the spelling.
Tom

 

[gland]

Maybe, They had some charcloth stored deep in their bag, only to be used when nothing else was available. Maybe?

 

[Black Hand]

..only to be used when nothing else was available.

If nothing else was available, they would not have had a fire either. The natural materials for making a fire were/are available almost anywhere, therefore, the materials for char were also available.

Let us not forget the common use of a burning glass, which makes its own char. Or the use of black powder and a gunlock to make a fire.

Charcloth, while convenient and helpful, when used all the time, can be a crutch (in my opinion). I have yet to encounter a situation where fire could not be made without it...and I've started fires in all sorts of adverse conditions.

 

[crockett]

Just talking here... I think there is a notion that mountain men were poor and just barely surviving. With that thought in mind, they barely had enough money for anything and had to make do with whatever was available. They used cheap trade rifles, friction folders, ate boiled corn, and used natural material for tinder rather than wasting money on cloth for char. They watched every penny.
That may be true but then again we ought to consider all possibilities. I think there might have been a pride in getting by with as little as possible. It has been said that's why mountain men didn't routinely carry canteens- you were supposed to be tough enough to make it to the next water hole without one. If the distance was extreme- then an animal bladder or horn might be used to carry a little water.
The greenhorn signed on and started out from St. Louis with a lot of stuff he didn't need and the old timers might have lauhed at that. Among at least a few mountain men- getting mistook for an Indian was a complement. It meant they had finally attained what they thought was the highest level of being a woodsman/mountain man. I think the lack of material might have been more related to running out. In other words the caravan would arrive for the annual Rondy and a mountain man would sell all his furs and have a lot of money and then live high, smoking tobacco, drinking liquor, buying fooforaw for the NDN women, etc. Then, all the available liquor was drunk, tobacco burnt up, and it was back to the trap line.
Claude's idea that char could have been used as long as it lasted and then whatever was available- sounds logical to me. Being generous and a spend thrift- that seemed to be part of a mountain man's character. They liked to live large. They would worry about tomorrow tomorrow.
And, there were different classes of mountain men- the guy that signed on with a company, the "free Trapper", etc. I think maybe the company man (usually a greenhorn) worked as a camp keeper and didn't have that much while the free trapper was the guy catching all the fur, selling it for the highest price, and living pretty well- given the location.

 

[Claude Mathis]

Claude's idea that char could have been used as long as it lasted and then whatever was available - sounds logical to me.

The point I was trying to illustrate was, sometimes we try to make things too black and white. Perhaps it's not a "char cloth or no char cloth" issue? Maybe some used it and perhaps some never used it. And, finding one documented case of something does not speak to it's general use.

I think sometimes we try to prove things "either - or", but perhaps it was "both"? IMHO

 

[crockett]

Agreed.

 

[Preacher Jeremy]

Agreed! :dead:

 

[gland]

..only to be used when nothing else was available.

If nothing else was available, they would not have had a fire either. The natural materials for making a fire were/are available almost anywhere, therefore, the materials for char were also available.

Let us not forget the common use of a burning glass, which makes its own char. Or the use of black powder and a gunlock to make a fire.

Charcloth, while convenient and helpful, when used all the time, can be a crutch (in my opinion). I have yet to encounter a situation where fire could not be made without it...and I've started fires in all sorts of adverse conditions.

I agree completely! My use of the word "available" was in error. :bow:
Maybe I should have used "handy" or "convenient".
But were it me, I would have had some charcloth stashed somewhere along with a burning glass, some pitch pine, Flint&steel, and even a Zippo, if I could afford it.
My point was redundant ways to make fire, even if I just pulled myself out of the river. :hatsoff:

sweed