Bushcraft noob needs tree knowledge

[wonderland]

So, little story and a question.

Tonight, me and my other half decided to bugger off into the woods to try out a new fire making technique. So far we've only EVER managed cotton wool + striker. This time we borrowed a folding knife (soon to realise it was blunt as a Bernard Manning punchline) and set out to try scraping wood into a powder and then striking that.

Firsly, the knife was blunt as mentioned and secondly, I didn't know anything about the surrounding sticks and their types pertaining to tree species - which are good for this sort of thing and which are not.

Having made the most feeble pile of dust + wood flakes from a few sticks, I attempted to strike at it. The wood dust just moved about until it wasn't even a pile any more. So out came the cotton wool.

So I guess I need a guidebook (or web site) which would talk about tree species AND their relevance to bushcraft i.e. which make good tinder, which are good for making bow drill lighters etc. etc.

Pointers?

 

[Shewie]

Depends which woods you selected really, a piece of birch bark scarped up takes a spark every time, a bundle of dry grass or roughed up bracken can work too. The trick to not knocking your tinder everywhere is to hold the striker steady and pull the rod towards you, brace your hand against the ground to get it nice and close.

 

[Pignut]

grab a guide book and learn 1 tree everytime you go out. as for thier uses in bushcraft, look them up on here.

as for tinder to take a spark, silver birch bark as mentioned, or if you snap a dead pine branch from a tree, the part of the branch closest to the tree can be scraped/shaved up and will take a spark (you really need a sharp knife for this one though)

 

[ged]

... Pointers?

Heck, that's covering a lot of ground in a first post.

Anyway, first things first: Welcome!

There's a whole section of the forum devoted to firecraft, and not a little of the discussion elsewhere touches on the topic. There's another section about flora and fauna, and there have been some good recommendations for field guides for things like for example identifying trees. There are whole Websites devoted to trees and you'll find some links to them if you do a bit of, er, digging. So read, read, read in the forum.

I'd recommend getting along to some of the meets. There will almost certainly be people there who are experienced in making fire in what you might call less conventional ways, and almost everyone will want to join in so on a good day it's a good bonding activity.

 

[Landy_Dom]

Where in North Wales? If you're ever in the North East I can point you towards a few useful starters?

 

[wonderland]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I shall do some digging then. But an article specifically on this would be grand because I might read several articles on trees that have nothing to do with fire-making properties. I guess first step is to at least identify the trees.

I live right in the middle of north wales, I sometimes go a bit east, sometimes a bit west.

Sharp knife is next on my list though!

 

[nuggets]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I shall do some digging then. But an article specifically on this would be grand because I might read several articles on trees that have nothing to do with fire-making properties. I guess first step is to at least identify the trees.

I live right in the middle of north wales,

I sometimes go a bit east, sometimes a bit west.

Sharp knife is next on my list though!

your name is not `alice `is it ??

 

[willpower]

Collins complete guide to trees is best book I've found, not much on the bushcraft side of things but excellent for IDs and well laid out in simple easy to read sections