FIRE!.lets make some

gawd yes....i would love to say that I accomplished something, too, but.....

 

[jrdavis]

I'ed love to be able to say I could; but I'm not "That Handy" pardon the pun.
I keep reading Fire and Cortage by John McPherson, maybe one of these days I can say I can.

 

Anyone got recipes for charcloth and tinder

 

Anyone got recipes for charcloth and tinder

buy a tin of Altoids...dump said altoids into a ziplock bag, and punch a single hole in the top with a nail. Take some standard pillow ticking, nice and thick, 100% cotton. Cut it into 2" squares, put about 8-10 of them loosely in the tin. Set the tin on your grill or fire pit. You will soon see smoke barreling out of the hole. Once the smoke stops, take a pair of pliers or something of the like, remove the tin, and allow to cool. once cool, open the tin and voila! Char cloth!

tinder:
peel bark from dead tree, peel inside of bark to get the fibrous material. wad it up, crumble it, wad it, crumble it, strip it, crumble it, and work it until it's fine fibers. Make ye a little birdy nest out of it, set your char inside. Chip chip chip chip spark spark spark catch, pick up birdy nest, blow gently on the char until the nest catches.

you can use real nests, but birds get cranky about it. :results:

 

[djnye]

would like to make several additions to this discussion.

1) i never use charcloth-too insubstantial to be dragging around the woods for any length of time. i use skatagan(tinder fungus) exclusively. it is tough, almost waterproof, and is in my opinion the ultimate spark-catcher.

2) i try not to blow on the nest to get flame. either waving the nest, or fanning it provides more oxygen-rich air and is much more dignified. blowing coals can even be dangerous(people have been known to pass out blowing on a fire and falling into the bed of coals, like what happened on the survivor t.v. show). also, if a hand drill or bowdrill are used, the smoldering dust pile can easily be blown away by a winded would-be-firestarter. that same dust pile can be quite easily fanned into a beautiful coal.

3) i prefer spinning up a coal either with bowdrill, or in my younger days with a hand drill and large piece of skatagan. in the fall when those materials are available one could literally go naked into the woods around here and have a fire in short order.



to me racing to see how fast a fire can be gotten is like child pornography-of no redeeming value.

take care, daniel

 

[jrdavis]

i use skatagan(tinder fungus) exclusively. it is tough, almost waterproof, and is in my opinion the ultimate spark-catcher.

well tell me more about "Skatagan". when doing a search on google it brings me back to this link in Muzzleloading forum. I would like to try some or find some in the wood but what should I look for...what does it look like? Does it grow in Dixie?

 

[musketman]

There's a fungus, amung us... :haha:

How to process it:
Timber Fungus

You can buy it:
For Sell

 

[djnye]

musketman--that is not the stuff i was talking about in the hoow to process link. the names get used for different things. some refer to it as false tinder fungus also. this amadou stuff is junk compared to the real thing. a while back you had located some photos with that wonderful prowess you have to research the internet. if my memory serves me correctly the name is something like "innotus obliqus" by the way, the link you gave to where to buy does show the correct stuff.

jrdavis--i don't think you will find it in dixie. it is a parasite of the birches--mainly white and yellow birch. it is somewhat common in the u.p. where i live.

take care, daniel

 

[musketman]

a while back you had located some photos with that wonderful prowess you have to research the internet.

I'll go back through old post later today and find it then bring it here...

 

to me racing to see how fast a fire can be gotten is like child pornography-of no redeeming value.

take care, daniel

I suppose such a "comparison" should be brought to the attention of rendezvous booshways, and all fire-start'n "timed" events barred from family-oriented activities such as modern rendezvous. :curse: ::

rollingb

 

[jrdavis]

jrdavis--i don't think you will find it in dixie. it is a parasite of the birches--mainly white and yellow birch. it is somewhat common in the u.p. where i live.

take care, daniel [/quote]...we do have whats called River Birch down here...I guess I need to go check them out for fungus... :thumbsup: thanks

 

[Claude Mathis]

to me racing to see how fast a fire can be gotten is like child pornography-of no redeeming value.

I see your point, but some folks like to do things in an efficient timely manner. There is something to be said for being good at what you do.

If I need someone to start the fire in our camp, I won't ask the guy who takes all day. :winking: