PC demos

My wife comes home last night and starts throwing primitive gear over her shoulders into assorted piles. She and one of her friends have loaded cast iron into a pickup until they have flattened the tires, along with half a load of PC childrens' toys.

She stoped when I walked in long enough to tell me I needed to get an outfit together for a demo...T0NIGHT!!!

"what kind of demo?"

"Anything you want to do, it's for the scouts!"

"How many?"

"50-75, I told them you would do musket firing and fire starting. I knew you wouldn't mind Sweetie!"

"So it's not quite anything I want to do and I have one day to prepare. I hope I have enough powder and charcloth and ...manure! I'm out of char!!"

OK, so this morning I'm brainstorming for tinder and char. No open burning in my town right now, what to do?

The propane grill!

I'm actually cooking charcloth over the propane grill in a cookie tin left over from Christmas!

Now for a massive amount of tinder. Not enough tow in creation for this many fire starts. Rope! I've used rope before and it worked fine. But the only piece of scrap rope is wet, what to do?

The microwave!!

Two minutes in the micro and the frayed rope is turning toasty brown and almost ready to ignite on its own!

Fortunately I have plenty of powder so I won't have to grind up road flares and match heads!

Got to go now! I have to check on the jerky I'm drying in the oven!

And to think, I'm on the jury committee at two diferent historic sites!!

I may lose my Button Nazi privilidges over this!!!!

:blah:

 

[ButlerFord]

Heh, heh, heh!! Wives and Scouts'll keep an old dog on his toes!!! :applause:


B. Ford

 

[musketman]

The microwave!!

Two minutes in the micro and the frayed rope is turning toasty brown and almost ready to ignite on its own!

Real men don't make char with magic, we use fire and lots of it...

No open burning in my town right now

So close the fire in with a few bricks, it's not open, technically...

 

[soquili]

"So it's not quite anything I want to do and I have one day to prepare. I hope I have enough powder and charcloth and ...manure! I'm out of char!!"

OK, so this morning I'm brainstorming for tinder and char. No open burning in my town right now, what to do?

The propane grill!

I'm actually cooking charcloth over the propane grill in a cookie tin left over from Christmas!

I've made char in an altoids tin in the chiminea before. For the uninitiated, chimineas are little fireplaces made out of pottery for use on the deck or patio. They sit on a stand or legs and mine is about 3-1/2 feet tall and about 15" across where the fire goes. Mine's shaped like a fish.

Works great for char!
Patsy

 

[Stumpkiller]

:crackup:

Now I don't feel so bad about using the Coleman Stove and Lee Electric Pot for casting my lead balls.

 

[Black Hand]

My first batch of char that lasted for years was made on my friends back deck on a small propane barbeque grill. Worked great and was easy.

Have fun with the Scouts, I have enjoyed my many demos I have done for them. This stuff is all new to them, in this world of TVs, video games and computers with internet. The best part is the hands-on for them. The look they get when they start that first flint-n-steel fire is priceless.......
Black Hand

 

[Holley]

Love the fire place Patsy...I use mine for smoking brain tan. Works great. But mine is not shaped like a fish...you got a neat one there!!!!!! :what: :RO:

 

[merdean]

Something fishy there. :crackup: :crackup: Most of the ones here are pretty plain but I saw a small fish like that in Wal-Mart! It was only 18" tall and designed with a flat bottom but I could see a way to char cloth in it. Never thought of that.

 

[Riley/MN]

This stuff is all new to them, in this world of TVs, video games and computers with internet. The best part is the hands-on for them. The look they get when they start that first flint-n-steel fire is priceless.......
Black Hand

I'll have to say Troop 57 is probably a little different than most. Two years ago at Polar Days each troop was timed for lighting a fire and boiling water in a paper cup. Each troop was given two matches and if they needed more, it added time to their score. After our guys got their cup boiling, the kid with the matches handed them back and asked if we could get time deducted.

On the other hand, we recently held an Eagle ceremony where the troop was involved with lighting candles. Several of them did not know how to use the lighter. :redface:

 

[The Kansan]

Dear Mr. Ghost,

It's nice to know that, occasionally, someone else has to go through this type of thing as well.

FWIW, I now make a point of keeping a minimum of 50 feet of Sisal rope on hand at all times, although I am getting low on char. :hmm: :hmm: Guess I'm gonna' have cook some steaks tonight so's I can make me some on the coals...

...The Kansan...

 

[TANSTAAFL]

When it comes to cub scouts I made a mental note to my self. Self, do not let the little buggers play with a flint and steel unobserved.

A couple of other Yellowstone Mountain Men club members and I once did a demo for a troop in Cody Wyoming one time. We were on the old shooting range down behind Old Trail Town. They really liked the front loaders and BP smoke, hawks, knives, skin clothing and such. But they were fascinated and fast learners (too bloody fast it turned out) on fire starting with flint and steel.

The first indication of trouble was the smell of burning grass, after they had set the hillside afire, and things only deteriorated from there. :shocking:

 

[Boonetract]

I just did a demo at Fort Dobbs last week, in the pouring rain for a cub scout day camp. I have started using monks cloth for char, and that stuff catches and keeps a spark. I got a fire started and managed to keep it going all morning. That would have never happened on a trek though, I'd have just stayed cold and wet :cry:

At one point it was just plain pouring buckets. What are you going to do though? The staff kept asking me to come out of the rain and get under one of the blue tarps. What kind of frontier man would I have looked like sitting out a little rain under a blue tarp? Good thing linen drys fast.

 

[soquili]

Love the fire place Patsy...I use mine for smoking brain tan. Works great. But mine is not shaped like a fish...you got a neat one there!!!!!! :what: :RO:

You too can have a fish chimenea, for a small fee...OK, for not so small a fee - I got a lot better deal on mine down here in TX. :: They're made in Oaxaca, Mexico.
http://www.prairietrader.biz/Chimenea/pages/FishChim.htm
Patsy

 

[Maynerd62411]

"Guess I'm gonna' have cook some steaks tonight so's I can make me some on the coals..."

Such a sacrifice....well, if you must ...don't burn the steaks. :crackup:

 

[The Kansan]

"Guess I'm gonna' have cook some steaks tonight so's I can make me some on the coals..."

"Such a sacrifice....well, if you must ...don't burn the steaks."

David,

Seems like I'm constantly making up a new batch of char cloth. For public demonstrations alone, I probably light somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 - 500 fires a year. Not to mention rondyvoo, treks and such. Plus, since I carry my flint and steel with me at all times, (and because I'm still a kid at heart!) I'm constantly looking for good sparking rocks. (As a truck driver I get to look all over the country!) As a result of that, I've demonstrated "flint 'n' steel" firemaking to truckers all over the U.S. and Canada.

I make my char from old bluejeans torn into strips about 2 inches wide then fold or roll up the strips so that they'll fit into an Altoids tin with a couple of holes poked into it. Then - if I'm at home - It's time to fire up the charcoal and grill stome steaks. When the steaks are done, the Altoids tin goes into the coals. When the coals burn down to ash, the char is done. Sisal rope is cheap, starts good and makes an easy nest. Plus you can never have too much cordage around, so it's easy to justify always having a supply on hand. At about 6 inches per "nest" a 100' roll makes an awful lot of cheap fires!

...The Kansan...

P.S. The steaks were excellent!

 

[Smokin6Gun]

Old white 100% cotton T-Shirts cut in squares inside a Musket Cap Tin with a vent hole in top works great. Toss it on some fire coals and you have a cooker and carrier in one.
:m2c:

 

[JeffS]

I have an electric portable cooktop I use for cooking charcloth in the garage. (garage door open...)

Works great.

Jeff

 

[oomcurt]

Man, I am glad you mentioned that..er..could you give a little more info..what do you set the temp at? Does it ruin the burner or the tin? See, I live in an apt..and to break out the bbq takes a bit of doing. Was wondering if one couldn't use the electric stove? If so..High, med, or low temp?

Thanking those who reply in advance,
Curt

 

See, I live in an apt..and to break out the bbq takes a bit of doing. Was wondering if one couldn't use the electric stove? If so..High, med, or low temp?
Curt

By all means DO NOT ATTEMPT TO COOK CHAR IN AN APARTMENT!!!

It is a really bad idea. The overhead vent for the stove will not keep pace with the smoke produced by the char tin. You will meet new people, most of them dressed in uniforms, due to the neighbors calling the fire dept.

I speak from experience!

:crackup: :crackup: :crackup:

It wasn't funny at the time!

Go outside, or to a public park where they have the grills you would not dare put your food on, they work really well!