Sounds like a good mix to me!
Be sure your pouch/tins close well and securely and are damp proof....
Be sure your pouch/tins close well and securely and are damp proof....
carrying tinder
- Thread starter Pignut
- Start date
In addition to any natural materials I pick up I have an old fish food tub filled with cotton balls, one of these will burn for up to a minute depending on weather/wind conditions and if you soak a little of your trangia meths onto it it burns for upto around 5 minutes like a kind of wick producing a good flame, handy if your low on tinder or matches etc.
Pignut,
I like your ideas of separating the normal from the emergency kits. Being able to produce fire from natural materials is all well and good but if you ever "need" to get a fire going, the emergency kit is the one to reach for.
I've followed various lines of advice and now have tinder as well as ignition sources dotted all around my kit, with spares in pockets, rucksack and resupplies in vehicles.
I enjoy doing the occasional fire demo too and thats the time to reach for the prawn crackers/doritos/brazil nuts etc.
ATB
Ogri the trog
I like your ideas of separating the normal from the emergency kits. Being able to produce fire from natural materials is all well and good but if you ever "need" to get a fire going, the emergency kit is the one to reach for.
I've followed various lines of advice and now have tinder as well as ignition sources dotted all around my kit, with spares in pockets, rucksack and resupplies in vehicles.
I enjoy doing the occasional fire demo too and thats the time to reach for the prawn crackers/doritos/brazil nuts etc.
ATB
Ogri the trog
Scots_Charles_River
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Birch bark (Does this have a shelf life?)
Don't think so. I used some today from a 50 yr old tree.
I collect any when I'm out, the winy thin stuff lit well today.
In a water proof box/bag
You can get a plastic snap shut container, bout the size of a pop can, from asda for 34p. Cross cut pine boards sawdust, I'm a tech teacher, takes a spark and smoulders away and 'bench planed' pine curls are great tinder. Could send you a tin if you wish, we bin bags of stuff from the extractor and benchs.
Pictures - yeah, I trawl thru the gallery on here, post them.
Kelly Kettle - I tried some shredded wood, from workmen who don't chop undergrowth and shrubs, they shred the tree eg roadsides etc. It was a bit green but it's a perfect size for the kelly as you can feed the kettle and they are small enuff to stay in when you lift off the kettle and fill it up again. Pine cones work well two.
I also carry the tinder and enuf wood for two charges of the kelly kettle inside it.
Nick
Don't think so. I used some today from a 50 yr old tree.
I collect any when I'm out, the winy thin stuff lit well today.
In a water proof box/bag
You can get a plastic snap shut container, bout the size of a pop can, from asda for 34p. Cross cut pine boards sawdust, I'm a tech teacher, takes a spark and smoulders away and 'bench planed' pine curls are great tinder. Could send you a tin if you wish, we bin bags of stuff from the extractor and benchs.
Pictures - yeah, I trawl thru the gallery on here, post them.
Kelly Kettle - I tried some shredded wood, from workmen who don't chop undergrowth and shrubs, they shred the tree eg roadsides etc. It was a bit green but it's a perfect size for the kelly as you can feed the kettle and they are small enuff to stay in when you lift off the kettle and fill it up again. Pine cones work well two.
I also carry the tinder and enuf wood for two charges of the kelly kettle inside it.
Nick
I pick up a piece of bark while I am traveling and then use it at the end of the day, always can find that where I live.
For backup I make my own fire sticks
For backup I make my own fire sticks
Scots_Charles_River
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I have used PJ soaked cotton wool, santoprene, and other stuff. What I found works best is a small tough waterproof bag for storing a little dry tinder and I may later bring a small tin for charcloth - but that would be an emergency measure. I normally pack in my own fuel and scavenge to supplement that. These days I carry either meths or hexi blocks, which are not as satisfying, but I can be sure of a warm meal.
Seems to me (And I dont want this to be condisending, each to there own) that unless you are using a traditional flint and steel (In which case you would need to carry charcloth) There is little on the lists above that can not be collected whilst out. if you can find wood for a fire you can always make feather sticks!
I may be tempted to carry only a lighter matches and rubber innertube (And probably a wax starter (as above) as a backup!
With my ferro rod and knife I should be able to light, silver birch, feathersticks dry grass, a number of fungi and a whole host of other natural tinders (I would also carry some crampball as it is good for insect repelent!)
Correct me if I am wrong!
I may be tempted to carry only a lighter matches and rubber innertube (And probably a wax starter (as above) as a backup!
With my ferro rod and knife I should be able to light, silver birch, feathersticks dry grass, a number of fungi and a whole host of other natural tinders (I would also carry some crampball as it is good for insect repelent!)
Correct me if I am wrong!
Birch bark (Does this have a shelf life?)
Don't think so. I used some today from a 50 yr old tree.
I collect any when I'm out, the winy thin stuff lit well today.
After it has left the tree!?!?!?!?!?
B
bushyboo
Guest
Hi just tryed some of those fire sticks and they work a treat. i used some natural string (borrowed from the cats scratch post
) and after teasing it out abit managed to get it going with my fire steel , So i will defo be putting a couple of those in my packthanks for the link :You_Rock_
Gordon
Scots_Charles_River
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sorry, just kidding but mine seems to dry out and light even better if it's been in the house for ages.
Yesterday all the stuff outside was damp and only birch bark, lots - maybe a mug full- got my kelly kettle going, although the twigs steamed and caught fine. Luckily lots of birch stands nearby. Didn't have a knife for feather sticks.
Nick
u could buy a tinder bag off bearclawbushcraft, i may not b on the site but u could email them and u may get hold of one, if not resealable freezer bags, i also found that if u put wood shaving in a cardboard egg box, just one or two put the shaving in the hole and pour wax inside them, u then let them dry peel the cardboard back and start melting them wax to catch the shaving it does work
lloyd
lloyd
As an emergency fire lighter I carry a version of the candle wax+cotton wool/dryer lint block.
The main difference is that I use one of the little waxed paper ketchup tubs that you can find at a well known fast food chain (It has a big M in it's name ), to fill with the fluff and then melt wax into it.
They make solid little fire-lighters that aren't effected by damp, burn for ages and because the tub is waxed paper it can be lit without a wick and burns away completely.
Kev.
The main difference is that I use one of the little waxed paper ketchup tubs that you can find at a well known fast food chain (It has a big M in it's name
), to fill with the fluff and then melt wax into it. They make solid little fire-lighters that aren't effected by damp, burn for ages and because the tub is waxed paper it can be lit without a wick and burns away completely.
Kev.
A slight variation on this that I've made is to light a tealight candle and wait for it to fully melt, blow it out then stuff the wax-filled metal holder with cotton wool. I can then use it as an uber-tealight or a fire-lighter. If you fluff a bit of the cotton out of the wax it will take a spark from a ferro-rod.
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