Don't know how they did it!

[Old Creek]

thanks V-T for starting a really good thread and to all the responders for the good info and references. being a greenhorn and not being one to attend vouz as of yet i appreciate the old ways and have found that charred fungus does work great even in humid florida but is not found everywhere so i favor char cloth but as skill creeps in i may not need it as i do now but it is almost fool proof as long as it is dry and that is a great comfort. last weekend my wife and me camped (modern camp)and as usual i forgot one thing, matches or lighter,but as luck had it i had my flint and steel in a mint tin (i gifted my tinder box to a freind)with some char cloth and a jute birds nest in a leather bag. i found out real quick just how much moisture jute will absorb,i blew until i could have passed out but it would only glow like steel wool and refused to burst into flame so while it was still glowing i had my wife fetch some paper towel from where i had cleaned squirrels and fire was acheived. all this was in the dark and while it was not going to be the end of the world not to have fire that night i was worried, no fire meant cold chow. thanks again for all the posts, i am going to print this whole thread for reference.

as a side note my oldest grandson is turning 8 Sunday and for his birthday i bought him and his 5 year old brother a ted cash tobacco box, a flint and striker and stocked them with some char cloth and a birds nest of palm fiber.(my concience want let me buy for one and not the other yet) the 8 year old has already managed to get fire using my kit so he is well on his way instead of waiting until he is over 50 like i did.

creek

 

[Rick Son]

A little black powder sprinkled in the nest and a log stroke on the stiker instead of chipping at at it..Or magnezium :wink:

When i was gowing up Surplus City always had those little kits with wads of cotton dipped in a wax started,i always had one in my pack,i have one left and was lookin at Walmart the last time i was there and found zero!You can take fibers of the cotton and spread it or lay it on your nest and it pops pretty easy.

Hope i didn't get off track to much there..In case some one done mentioned it.

 

[Rick Son]

Like steel wool and a 9volt battery,keep seperated :grin:

 

[Billnpatti]

First, let me say thatI am no expert on firemaking. I have made a fire with flint and steel and actually managed one single time to make a fire with a bow drill and LOTS of elbow grease. I was shown how to make a fire with only natural materials and a flint and steel. The natural materials that I used were a nest made of dried grass. Inside the nest, I put scrapings from some dried wood that I picked up. I removed the bark and scraped some powder fine shavings off the wood with my knife. I placed the shavings into the nest and struck my sparks into the shavings. It worked for me each time I did it. The secret was dry shavings and fine dry grass for the nest. I have used an actual abandoned bird's nest for my nest into which I placed my shavings and it worked well, too. I got my best sparks by striking the flint against the steel but some people actually strike the steel against the flint. That doesn't work for me. I get fewer sparks and they are more dispersed that way. I hold the shavings in the nest with my steel and strike my flint against it. I get better results that way rather than holding the steel above the shavings. I get my steel right down into the nest so all of the sparks go into the shavings. Having said that, I still prefer to use charcloth, it is so much easier to start a fire with it.

I said that I made fire using a fire drill once. Actually, I did it twice but I can't count the second time because the second time, I used a piece of an old cedar arrow shaft chucked up in my drill press. I used a piece of an old cedar shake for my board. 'Bout a minute I had a smoking coal and in a few more seconds I had a flame. Yeah, I know the mountain men very seldom used a drill press so that's why I can't count it. :haha: