Flint and Steel Help Please

[Turtle2]

OK buckskinners, I'm in a slump and need your help please. For some reason this summer I am having a heck of a time getting my chared cloth to catch flame in my bird nest. I haven't had this problem in years past but I sure have it now. :surrender:
All I'm getting now is smolder and smoke but no flame. The harder I blow doesn't seem to affect it either.
I was wondering if my nest isn't built right or if I got a batch of cloth that doesn't act the same or????
It's affecting my mountain man walk scores and I can't seem to figure it out.
Any help and ideas is greatly appreciated.

I'd welcome you to my fire...but I ain't got one!!!

-turtle-

 

[boar]

Get some 100% cotton cheesecloth. I char mine in a bag balm can, with hole in lid and bottom. When its done smoking I pulg with tin foil or sticks. Next get some Mcrame twine or flax hem. You can use binder twine if you age it by hanging it out in weather to get the chemicals leached out they put in it to keep mice from eating strings. Have a big piece of char to hit(2x2).I watch a guy using cheesecloth and Mcrame do it in 3 seconds. He gave it to is buddy and he did it in 6 seconds,the first time he had ever tried it.My best time is 5 seconds. I have a striker I made out of a mans ice skate runner, cut in half, that is my best one. Have some made from rotortiller tines,pitchforks,files and tempered pole nails. Dilly

 

[ameling]

Kind of sounds like your Tinder isn't dry enough, or small/thin enough, or has some other chemicals still mixed into it.

When I use old hemp or sisal rope, it's been well aged - almost to the falling apart stage. This cleans out all those chemicals the rope manufacturers put into it. Baling/binder twine has the same problems, as does some of the jute twine and cottom rope/cords. Well worn/frazzled cotton does work well for a "bird's nest". A lot of people use tow/flax. Personally, I prefer using the inner bark from a Cedar tree.

But it all still needs to be VERY DRY. One of the biggest problems I've seen when people are having problems is that their tinder is dry on the outside, but still has moisture inside it - causing it to smolder slowly. Their tinder absorbed that moisture from the air - not getting dunked or rained on - just from the humidity in the air.

The heat from your char clothe needs to transfer to your tinder. And then your tinder needs to be packed tight enough together that any heat gets transferred to it and reflected back by it as it spreads throughout your tinder. This all builds up the heat to the point that it will burst into flame. But if it is packed too tight, it then insulates the tinder behind it from the heat. It's one of those balancing acts that you almost have to learn by trial-n-error.

Just a few humble thoughts to share.

Mikey - out in the HUMID and hot Hinterlands

 

[George Holton]

The bark from the river birch, the shaggy ones will do just fine after you get a light it burns like acetalyne.

 

[mike alexandre]

Sounds to me as if your char cloth is either damp or you havent cured it enough.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

***SNIP***
All I'm getting now is smolder and smoke but no flame. The harder I blow doesn't seem to affect it either.
***SNIP***
-turtle-

Hey Turtle2,

Your tinder isn't dry enough. If you're getting a fair amount of smoke, your charcloth is doing its job.

I've always used flax tow and it flames pretty quickly. I've always kept my tow sealed up in a round tin can. One time last year I had put an extra hank in a cotton drawstring bag. Worked fine one morning, but the next it was a bit foggy and all it did was smoke. About blew out my lungs out trying to get that stuff to flame. Finally opened up my tin, pulled some tow out of there to make a new nest, and it flamed right up. Couldn't really feel any difference between the two, but the difference was night and day.

If you're worried about your charcloth, just look at it. If it's black, it's good. If it has any brown in it, it needs to be charred some more.

Twisted_1in66 :hatsoff:

 

[mike alexandre]

***SNIP***
All I'm getting now is smolder and smoke but no flame. The harder I blow doesn't seem to affect it either.
***SNIP***
-turtle-

Hey Turtle2,

Your tinder isn't dry enough. If you're getting a fair amount of smoke, your charcloth is doing its job.

I've always used flax tow and it flames pretty quickly. I've always kept my tow sealed up in a round tin can. One time last year I had put an extra hank in a cotton drawstring bag. Worked fine one morning, but the next it was a bit foggy and all it did was smoke. About blew out my lungs out trying to get that stuff to flame. Finally opened up my tin, pulled some tow out of there to make a new nest, and it flamed right up. Couldn't really feel any difference between the two, but the difference was night and day.

If you're worried about your charcloth, just look at it. If it's black, it's good. If it has any brown in it, it needs to be charred some more.

Twisted_1in66 :hatsoff:

I've been told that if my char cloth hasnt come out properly cooked then throw it away and start again becuase it wont re cook and produce good cloth.?

 

[Turtle2]

I'm thinking maybe my birds nest isn't quite right. For what it's worth I usually just use really dry grass and I can get my cloth to catch the grass on fire. This years grass is now as dry as I've seen it in a long time so I wonder if maybe my nest isn't the best.
I usually just take a good size handful of grass and just try to make a little pocket for the cloth to go into once lit. I don't really think about it too much but this year I'm struggling with my methods.
How big of a nest do you guys typically make is there any reasoning around how you make your nest?

Thank you guys.

-turtle-