Char cloth on a rocket stove ?

[boney gumbo mcgee]

Hi, I wanted to have my first go at making char cloth this weekend. I was wondering if I could make this using a rocket stove so that I conserve my logged firewood and just use the branches that I collect when gardening. Would it be better to place the tin on a fire so that it burns slower rather than the rocket stove? Sorry if this is been covered before, I did a search but couldn't find any specific info on using a rocket stove. Your help and advice is appreciated. And apologies if it is a real dumb question.

Thanks

jay

 

[Bishop]

No such thing as a dumb question.

I don't know about your stove setup but the ones I've messed around with produce a fierce amount of heat so the roasting time will probably be very short. Remember the three P's of bushcraft .. Perspiration, Practice & Play with it. Then report back with plenty of photo's

 

[boney gumbo mcgee]

Thank you Bishop

I think you are right I will just give it a go and see what happens. I will definitely post photos of the results (tin welded to the top of the stove) maybe . I use a stovetec rocket stove.

Cheers

jay

 

[GordonM]

Jay, go for it as stated above. After I watched a few of these videos on Stovetec rocket stoves (http://www.youtube.com/user/stovetecstoves/videos) you should be just fine. Here is a few pictures of some char cloth I made when I was trying things outside the normal campfire 'box'. Though a different type of 'rocket stove', I experimented with 'full blast' flame adjustment when I made this char cloth and it worked just fine.

 

[tim_n]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-char-cloth-in-just-a-couple-of-minutes/

I used a pocket rocket.

 

[Balloonatic]

I've made char cloth in a whole range of (hot places) and don't think there is such a thing as 'too hot'. I've used the middle of a raging bonfire before, as long as you take the tin out and plug the hole before it is totally burnt you should be ok. My one top tip is try to make a batch of a single fabric and test it as soon as it has cooled to make sure it takes a spark, if it works, keep it, if not get rid of it. I say this having made a couple of batches using odds and ends of fabric which turned out to be pretty much fire proof, there are few things more frustrating (or embarrassing if others are present) than trying to start a fire with fire proof char cloth.

I can also highly recommend punk as an alternative.

 

[boney gumbo mcgee]

Thanks Gordy for your reply and taking the time to post the pics, now I have another idea for quick char cloth making cheers mate.

All the best

jay

 

[boney gumbo mcgee]

Thanks Balloonatic

I will definitely follow your advice and make a small batch and test it first. Thanks for the tip on punk wood, I have been a gardener for years and never knew I was chucking away a good resource! again its thanks to all the knowledge shared here that I found out about it.

Cheers mate

jay

 

[boney gumbo mcgee]

Well I finished work early today and the sun had made a rare appearance so I thought I would have a bash at making charcloth. It was quite windy and I thought the smoke had stopped billowing from the tin, so I grabbed the tin and plugged the hole with a stick. Went back to it 10 minutes later and it had only half burnt, I thought I had ruined it, but I popped it back on the stove cranked up the heat and this time I could see the smoke stop.

This time it had charred correctly, I tested some from the top and bottom of the tin and it took a spark really well. I used an old M59 Swedish army shirt that I (ahem) outgrew

Thanks for your tips and encouragement guys.