What with all the talk about tinder for flint and steel I went down the shed and got sparks flying - flax, no good, hemp no good, cramp ball no good crumbled or whole. Let's face it this is damp old UK and not sunny California.
So, I dug out some rambling rose sticks I had put aside as possible hand drills and found some pine hearth boards. - Same damp shed as the failed f&s tinders. The first drill did not work but it felt mostly right. So I changed sticks (to a thicker one) and made a new notch. Got a coal neat as you please. And for good measure I got another of the sticks to produce a coal as well. Oh, it felt good!
Next week I have got some mullein drills to test.
So, I dug out some rambling rose sticks I had put aside as possible hand drills and found some pine hearth boards. - Same damp shed as the failed f&s tinders. The first drill did not work but it felt mostly right. So I changed sticks (to a thicker one) and made a new notch. Got a coal neat as you please. And for good measure I got another of the sticks to produce a coal as well. Oh, it felt good!
Next week I have got some mullein drills to test.
