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As far as I know chaga grows exclusively on birch trees but it is worth investigating if you walk into that ash tree again. Cheers, Tom

I found some chaga (Inonotus obliquus, or true tinder fungus as the Americans call it) last week. I had found this fungus in the past before but that was after looking closely at thousands of birch trees for months in wooded areas. Now I just ran into it during a bicyle ride along a road in the...

Thanks for the kind words I just picked up a fragment of shell and 'saw' a fishhook in the shape, so I didn't choose a particular angle of the shell. I used a file to take away the curvature of the fragment and make the hook a flatter shape. The shell looks quite uniform, with some lighter...

Wow that´s stunning work! He´s a bit ahead of me I´m afraid... :notworthy Cheers, Tom

Probably stuff like buttons, pendants, small arrowheads (the curvature of the shell would limit the size of the latter)...I´m not done with experimenting yet, it´s interesting stuff this coconutshell! Cheers, Tom

As my 8 year old daughter had decided that she wanted "to taste a coconut" I bought one for her in the supermarket. There wasn't much fluid inside but the white flesh layer was quite thick. After one bite Jools decided that this wasn't her cup of tea so I munched half of the flesh away myself...

For me, flint and iron pyrite works very well with the untreated trama layer of horse hoof fungus. Just scrape it into a fine woolly mass and (try to...:rolleyes:) direct the sparks onto it. Cheers, Tom

Found a normal coloured one here in Holland last week, will check next week if the cap turns brown: Cheers, Tom

`so if people want to see more, I will upload them when I next get the chance` We want more! :) Cheers, Tom

Thanks Ged! There´s a slicht chance I can find some redundant pH-electrodes at the lab where I work so I can take them apart to find out if there´s some platinum in them (hopefully in the form of a wire...) Cheers, Tom

What exactly does an Electroplater do? And in what kind of products did the platinum wire end up? Cheers, Tom

A female kestrel, beautiful pic´s! Cheers, Tom

I found this large one a few weeks ago: Gymnopilus junonius Cheers, Tom

Hi Bucketosudz, a very interesting find! I´ve got a French book on firelighting techniques (from primitive to modern) that has your Airflam lighter and other similar brands in it. The book is called ´La grande aventure du feu´and is written by Bertrand Roussel and Paul Boutie. According to...

That one looks remarkably like this souffle...so it must be edible :rolleyes: http://www.worldonaplate.org/world_on_a_plate/2005/10/imbb_20_souffle.html Cheers, Tom

It must be an old anglosaxon word: the dutch verb `kleven` (or the german equivalent `kleben`) means the same. The plant is called ´kleefkruid´ here in Holland, `the herb that sticks` Cheers, Tom

Wow, what a stunning flightless cricket! What´s with the ´hair´? Is it an animal or some kind of vegetal matter? I love these picture threads from far away, keep them coming! Cheers, Tom PS The second brown fungus might be a poisonous rimroll (Paxillus???)

Tim N and Dwardo, thanks for your input. Making a fire piston is not just about the hardness of the wood. IMHO the only real factor of the material used that counts is the ability to withstand air pressure. I have tried oak, beech and a few unnamed much denser tropical hardwoods (from old...

Hmm I must try and find some piece of fatwood myself to try this out. Still curious what other types of wood will work. Cheers, Tom

Hi all, A question asked by a fellow Dutch bushcrafter (not a member here): is there anyone out there that has made an all wooden fire piston out of a North European species of wood? I know that most types of wood, even most hardwoods are too porous to make a fire piston and most...