Fire starting

[Tom A Hawk]

This is Milkweed ovum.



This is Maple punk.

 

[beardedhorse]

Charred pure cotton cloth - monk's cloth, flannel and Terry cloth all fast, good. Amadeus - Fomes fomentarius not as good as chaga - Inonotus obliquuous ( true tinder fungus). Thin slivers of mullein pith (mullein non-native plant). Charred punky woods, weeds including mullein. Jerusalem artichoke inner pith, sunflower, teasel, cattail stalk. Old man's beard- lichen. Milkweed hair, cattail puffs, cotton wood tree cotton in the spring, thistle down all burn up too soon in a flash. Milkweed pod ovum best used to ignite a coal extender. The oaken I used in giant tinder tubes also makes good tinder most as does teased cotton bolls freshly harvested.

 

[Snapper Petta]

Someone mentioned oakum earlier but with a different spelling. If it's the same thing as what I know of as oakum, it is typically made with tar and is used to fill in the cracks of log lean-tos and other cabin type structures to block the wind. If it's the same thing, I'm sure the tar will roar to life if it catches a spark.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[springfield art]

IF you can collect fallen pine needles that have been run over by vehicles until they are like fiber, they are great in a tinder bundle.

Interesting. One could simply collect some and "grind" 'em with a makeshift stone set-up. Muzzleloaders are always full of tips and ideas using common materials!

 

[springfield art]

TF is very good! I have used it in my firepistons. From what I have read, years ago primative tribes would also use similar material to carry fire to another camp. In case you don't know this stuff glows similar to a cigarette or a fireworks punk.
Larry


View attachment 357438

I gotta keep an eye out! Very interesting.

 

[beardedhorse]

The thick rope of pure cotton, sometimes netted with a braiding is used to stuff into cracks and the tar or other caulk pushed over to seal and waterproof. May have spellings of "ocum" and "oaken" mistaken. Usnea is the lichen like "old man's beard". Marcassite and flint works nest on Amadeou (not amadeous which spell check insists on wrongly inserting) or tinder fungus (Fomes fonentarius). The Ice man, Otzi had character. Used today and in demand for healing which drove up prices and hurt supply.

 

[beyu]

When I was a kid growing up in north Georgia, we had 75 pine trees in our large yard. My Pop, brother and me would spend two or more weeks raking pine needles and picking up cones every year. I always ended up with blisters on my hands.

We saved a lot of the cones. They make great fire starting tinder.

I do the same thing. I start fires in my woodstove with pine needles, pine cones and small branches from the pine trees in my back yard. No need for paper at all.

 

[Cruzatte]

Someone mentioned oakum earlier but with a different spelling. If it's the same thing as what I know of as oakum, it is typically made with tar and is used to fill in the cracks of log lean-tos and other cabin type structures to block the wind. If it's the same thing, I'm sure the tar will roar to life if it catches a spark.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

That was me, and yes, it's the same stuff.

 

[Jay Templin]

The thick rope of pure cotton, sometimes netted with a braiding is used to stuff into cracks and the tar or other caulk pushed over to seal and waterproof. May have spellings of "ocum" and "oaken" mistaken. Usnea is the lichen like "old man's beard". Marcassite and flint works nest on Amadeou (not amadeous which spell check insists on wrongly inserting) or tinder fungus (Fomes fonentarius). The Ice man, Otzi had character. Used today and in demand for healing which drove up prices and hurt supply.

Historic oakum was pine-tarred hemp fibre, stripped from the worn-out standing rigging of ships, used for caulking decks and hulls. Modern caulking cotton does the same job, but is not the same thing. I suspect it would work great in one of those tube things. Real oakum would go up like a torch.
Jay

 

[Mike in FL]

Someone mentioned oakum earlier but with a different spelling. If it's the same thing as what I know of as oakum, it is typically made with tar and is used to fill in the cracks of log lean-tos and other cabin type structures to block the wind. If it's the same thing, I'm sure the tar will roar to life if it catches a spark.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

Good post. Another thing: I think you must surely be a kind and thoughtful person.

 

[Buffalorunner]

Do you have milkweed in Indiana?

Yes

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Yes

See my video above. After the pods have opened and the fluff is gone you will find a long puffy structure inside that the seeds form on. Tear off an end, leaving a ragged edge and strike your sparks into that.