vid of my attempt at firemaking

[oldsoldier]

Well, I finally got my vid posted. I had to break down the whole thing into little pieces, and here is my (weak) attempt at firemaking. Mind you in was COLD! and the wind was constant. Anyway, here it is: video

It may still be uploading, so, please be patient.

 

[BushTucker]

great, erm, whats it called there are loads on there

 

[Matt Weir]

Hi Oldsoldier,

Was there no cattail around? I don't know your level of experience so apologise if I am trying to teach granny to suck eggs but a wad of cattail seeds inside that nest of dried grass as a pre-tinder might have done the trick.

Matt.

 

[billycan]

Hi Old Soldier,
Well done for making the video.

When your using your firesteel if you sloooooowwww right down and take one good scrape with the back of your knife or the non serrated part on the scraper supplied, and do it right into the grass you will do it. Trying to do lots of little scrapes above the grass is very awkward and most importantly they dont stay very hot for long. Instead you need one or two good scrapes using the tip of your firesteel and this is sufficent as well as saving your steel. Make sure the grass is really buffed up to.

 

[Bunnerz]

Yeah as said below, longer slower strike would help (they need to be pretty firm strikes). Also if you have no pre-tinder, rub the dead grass against itself to make a fine dusty grass in the middle, always works a treat for me

thanks for the video

 

[oldsoldier]

Thanks all for the replies. I didnt see any cattail around, but there was alot of the marshgrass. In retrospect, I shouldve prepared the tiner better by breaking it up more. But, that was my first time using a rod, so, lessons learned!
I also learned that using the vteeth of the blade on the rod chews it up good. So, I am gonna file the back of it down, to get a good striking surface.