Charcloth Questions

[unused[nl]]

After seeing and reading about charcloth I decided to give it a go!

The Making
I made a small fire, took some old dish wash towel and a something that looked like a thin can. After a few seconds there was a heavy smoke coming out of the small hole in the lit so I was doing ok. 2 minutes later there was was really think smoke coming out really fast so still ok. Then suddenly the smoke was gone. I thought the charcloth was finished, when I looked closer the lit popped of after deformation of the bottom part. The charcloth in making was on fire. Very quick I took the thin can out of the fire and putted out all of the fire. After this I had some really badly done parts, almost completely intact, but there were also very few pieces perfectly done.

When the fire became a little bit smaller I but the parts back in the tin can and tried it again. The reprocess was the same but after a few minutes there was fire coming out of the small hole in the lit! I took the can out of the fire and sealed of the hole, after opening most of the cloth was nicely charted. Mission success!

But the thin can still wasn't very successful so what kind of thin can do you guys use? How long does it takes you normally? And how big is your fire?

The Package
After getting the charcloth I had the problem for package.. This time I put it in the rest of the cloth I didn't use. But this is only a temporally package in my eyes. Because the chatcloth is so fragile you need to be careful with it! How do you package your charcloth?

The Lighting
I don't have a flint and steel so I used a firesteel to make the sparks on the charcloth. I put the ember in a bush of dead grass and, like Mr. R. Mears always does, started blowing and blowing, after I while I got some small flames but at the moment almost the entire bush of grass was one big ember and I almost burned my hands on them! How do you do this? This is more a question about firelighting in general than about charcloth but it fits the thread I think.

 

[JonnyP]

Try Mavers tutorial... http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10049&highlight=charcloth+tutorial

 

[British Red]

unused

I like flat tins with a tight fitting lid (shoe polish tins are great). You do need a small hole though of course.

I sture charcloth in small ziplock bags - very cheap from e-bay and water tight

It sounds to me like your tinder bundle was not completely dry. Next time dry some straw of grass in the airing cupboard for a couple of days. Buff it up (rub between your hands) until its really thin fibres. Three of four long stady blows should do it.

Check out the "Science of Fire" Article under "Articles" for more info

Red

 

[Eric_Methven]

I find a normal baked bean tin works well. I roll up an old tea towel after folding it in three - it should just fit in the tin. Then I take some tinfoil, double the thickness and place it over the tin. Wrap the tinfoil down over the sides of the tin and secure it by wrapping a bit of wire round the sides. Take a small nail and pop a hole in the tinfoil.

Place the tin on a slow fire, one that has been burning for some time and has plenty of hot embers. A barbecue is ideal. Scrape the embers up round the sides of the tin and just wait.

The cloth will get hot and will get to the point where it starts burning. That's when you see the white smoke come out of the hole. Leave it until the smoke turn blue, but remember to keep the fire going all the time.

Once the blue smoke appears, all moisture has burned off and the cloth is charred completely. After that it starts combusting and making ash, so remove the tin from the fire.

At this stage the cloth is still well above ignition point and will burst into flames if you open the tin, so deprive it of air by placing a small lump of damp mud, clay or wet sand over the hole in the tinfoil. Leave it at least an hour to cool properly. When you remove the tinfoil you should find a much reduced roll of charcloth.

Place the roll of charcloth in a waterproof plastic bag and keep it whole. Just remove as much as you need each time you light a fire. The mass of the roll will help protect it from damage.

Eric

 

[oops56]

O K i will jump in i use kerosene wick 3/4 wide. I use a brasslite stove on just 1/2 oz. alcohol is just right burn time i let it do its thing when it stops smoking put one side cover nail hole with a penny. Now on the char cloth put in fire tin box cover with leather so it don't get mess up when you put flint & steel in also something on top so it don't move like oakum oakum makes a bird nest or cotton

 

[Toadflax]

As a novice to charcloth making, I followed Tadpole's tutorial http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20581&highlight=tadpole and have had great success - all three batches that I have made have been perfect (as much as I can tell).

I use a boot polish tin and an old pillowcase - on the first two occasions I used my baby milk tin hobo stove, and on the last one I used the embers from the barbecue. I have waited until smoke stops pouring from the hole in the tin lid before plugging it with a small stick. It is usually cool enough to open within about 5 or 10 minutes when using a boot polish tin.

I then keep the charcloth in the boot polish tin.


Geoff

 

[unused[nl]]

Thanks a lot for the great advice! will have an other try this week!

 

[bartjen 2]

hello i use a coffee tin , its 20cm high and a diameter off 15cm, works very well, after it is cold, i put it in a zipp lock bag. Works great

 

[Dave Budd]

when I make charcloth on a large scale I use a whiskey bottle tin (pin hole in the lid) and roll up a few feet of stockingette, then lay it on my forge when I stop for a break.

For smaller batches (and as a demonstration of how to do it) I use a mints tin (again pin hole). I keep a couple of rolls of fabric and a couple of char cloth in the tin along with a flint and steel. That way it's all in there together when I need it, nice and dry I find that if I roll the cloth up, it tends to be tough enough to stay together without much damage. This tin normally gets cooked on the camp fire or iron age forge, whichever is handy when I need to make a bit of charcloth

 

[rich59]

Hi Unused,

Sounds like you did OK on your first attempt. Well done. don't worry if you see flame coming from the hole in your tin. That is quite normal and the char is not burning away inside - just charring nicely while the unwanted gases burn off.

For mini experiments I now just wrap a small bit of cloth in a few layers of aluminium foil and cook over the kitchen gas stove with some barbecue tongs.

For bigger batches I use a golden shred tin.

It is quite possible to do it without a tin at all. Char it in the heart of a fire, then take it out and then cover it with something fairly airtight till all the glowing points have gone out.

I usually cut up my cloth into small squares before I start and fold them 2-3 x to make them into small neat bits. The come out the same way and then I tip them into something airtight (in theory) - like a 35mm film cartridge.

Boot polish tins don't seem to be airtight so your char can get damp in winter.

Watch out for batches that just won't take a spark. It is always a good idea to test a bit from any new batch.

 

[Gailainne]

On a recent trip I made some in the camp fire using a bit of tin foil some idiot had thrown away and a small section cut from my shemagh(100% cotton), just unfolded the foil, folded the cloth up tight, wrapped the foil around it and put it in the embers, 10 mins later I had enough charcloth to start a couple of fires.

Stephen

 

[spamel]

I use a six inch or so length of copper pipe, crimped at one end with a small nail sized hole to allow gases to be released. I roll up the cloth I want to char and put it into the pipe, then ram the open end into clayey earth and bung the whole lot on the fire. Once the gases stop coming out of the hole, I remove it from the fire and ket it cool. I then pack the tube away with the clay bung in place and break it open once I need it. The charcloth stays protected in the pipe until then.

 

[rabsyboy]

I make big batches - I use two big round biscuit tins - I've found that square ones deform and pop open.

One thing to watch out for is, if you introduce oxygen too quickly after you've taken it from the fire (either by opening the tin before its cooled off completely, or by walking about with it, which pushes air into the tin), then the charcloth can start to spontaneously combust - if you open the tin and its still suspiciously hot, I'd douse the entire lot in water.

Once its dried out, its perfectly fine to use.

 

[unused[nl]]

thanks a lot for all your great advice I am looking for a nice tin all the time around the house or when I am in town hope to find something good soon + better weather! And I give it another try!

 

[Goose]

I would be really careful with the tip about using the kitchen stove, the method works but the smoke and smell lingers for hours, and there is a lot of smoke!!!

 

[rich59]

I managed to allude the highly sensitive dectector! Also, I kept the quantity very micro and had the extractor full on - just enough for about 1-2 pieces of charcloth.

Doing it in a gas flame act is remarkably clean as all the gases are burnt up and there is virtually no smoke or smell at all.

 

[Goose]

I managed to allude the highly sensitive dectector! Also, I kept the quantity very micro and had the extractor full on - just enough for about 1-2 pieces of charcloth.

Doing it in a gas flame act is remarkably clean as all the gases are burnt up and there is virtually no smoke or smell at all.

Wasn't the smoke detector, it was the wife when she come home a couple of hours later!
Small amounts work well using a trangia burner, outside!

 

[rich59]

Wasn't the smoke detector, it was the wife when she come home a couple of hours later!
Small amounts work well using a trangia burner, outside!

Yes, I was talking about my wife too.

 

[Tourist]

I would be really careful with the tip about using the kitchen stove, the method works but the smoke and smell lingers for hours, and there is a lot of smoke!!!

Ha! Don't I know it..............the Memsahib was not happy, it was my first attempt too.

 

[andy_pevy]

Yes, I was talking about my wife too.

Q: What is the difference between the human smoke detector and the one on the wall ?.

A: You can silence the one on the wall by taking the batteries out of it.

Andy