Firesteel and natural tinder

[Mistwalker]

Yesterday I did a little firecraft practice and demo with the firesteel. It had rained for three straight days

the fire pit

and some of the materials I am working with

When starting a fire under wet conditions you want the driest materials you can find so gather things that are off the ground

for this I used fatwood as tinder and kindling as all was so damp

This is a sycamore leaf I used to catch the shavings and slivers on. I really love working with this little knife Rick made, it handles wonderfully and even after five or six fires started this way (among other things)...as hard as fatwood is this knife still shaves afterward.

Then collecting my tinder I seperate it into piles and have it on hand ready to use

and with everything ready to go, I ignite the shavings

In the video you will see the steam from how wet everything is. Sorry for the quality but the sun was at just the right angle to cause havoc

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oKnuLhgcYOc

 

[Fraxinus]

Nice post but it takes forever to download ( suspect my broadband is not up to par again!)
Can the pics be downsized a bit to help others?
Fatwood or any resinous wood will combust fairly easily. I have been experimenting with the drill swarth from live knots in pine used in the construction industry, with a couple of shavings from the firesteel to prolong the burst it catches quite readily. Good fun too!

 

[Mistwalker]

Nice post but it takes forever to download ( suspect my broadband is not up to par again!)
Can the pics be downsized a bit to help others?
Fatwood or any resinous wood will combust fairly easily. I have been experimenting with the drill swarth from live knots in pine used in the construction industry, with a couple of shavings from the firesteel to prolong the burst it catches quite readily. Good fun too!

Sorry about that, I didn't realize that I didn't downsize them when I uploaded to photobucket. I hope this is better.

 

[Fraxinus]

I do enjoy your posts Mistwalker, and yes this was much quicker. The pic's do save many words. I think my bb provider was at crisis point when I made previous post
Have you tried using shavings from pine Knots instead of "fatwood" I'm sure the outcome will be similar.
Regards Fraxinus

 

[Mistwalker]

I do enjoy your posts Mistwalker, and yes this was much quicker. The pic's do save many words. I think my bb provider was at crisis point when I made previous post
Have you tried using shavings from pine Knots instead of "fatwood" I'm sure the outcome will be similar.
Regards Fraxinus

Thank you, I'm really glad you enjoy my posts.

In my way of thinking...or as I was taught anyway... pine knots are fatwood. Am I mistaken in this tought? If so please clue me in as I am always looking for more options and better ideas.

Once again I'm sorry, I had my P.B. account set up do shrink automaticly...not sure how it got changed...I must have clicked when I shouldn't have or something. I'll keep an eye on that in the future

 

[irishlostboy]

never heard the term fatwood myself. learn a new thing every day. thank you very much for this post

 

[Mistwalker]

never heard the term fatwood myself. learn a new thing every day. thank you very much for this post

No problem, glad you enjoyed it. I did another post on it, this may help you find it.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34879

 

[Ogri the trog]

Got to add my appreciation for Mistwalkers posts too.
After reading the Fatwwod thread and this one, I did some investigating myself. I dug up the roots of a few conifers that I had cut down a few years ago. One yeilded a biscuit tin full of fat wood that works quite well as tinder. Now I'm wondering if the season in which the tree was felled, would have a bearing on the amount/quality of fatwood that would eventually be available in its roots.

Thanks for the encouragement Mistwalker.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Mistwalker]

Got to add my appreciation for Mistwalkers posts too.
After reading the Fatwwod thread and this one, I did some investigating myself. I dug up the roots of a few conifers that I had cut down a few years ago. One yeilded a biscuit tin full of fat wood that works quite well as tinder. Now I'm wondering if the season in which the tree was felled, would have a bearing on the amount/quality of fatwood that would eventually be available in its roots.

Thanks for the encouragement Mistwalker.

ATB

Ogri the trog

Glad I was of some help.

I would think it being felled in peak growing season would be best. However I think it is even better if the tree is still standing when it dies. That way there is more resin to settle and creates a more rich concentration.

However I know the Fatwood sold at Wal-Mart, and likely other places, comes from the stumps of long leaf yellow pine trees felled in the Honduran lumber industry, and it is pretty rich and I am sure in the quest for the profit it is felled year round.

 

[Hoodoo]

Functionally, fatwood and pine knots are the same. They both are sources of accumulated pine resins. Maya stick is the European term.

Mistwalker, instead of shaving slivers of fatwood, have you tried scraping it? It creates some highly volatile dust (Maya dust ) that will light instantly with a firesteel spark. However, evidently the commercial variety of Maya dust is not so good, probably because the volatiles have evaporated. I dunno. I haven't tried the commercial variety. It's ridiculously expensive, especially when a better variety is easily made on the spot.

 

[Mistwalker]

Functionally, fatwood and pine knots are the same. They both are sources of accumulated pine resins. Maya stick is the European term.

Mistwalker, instead of shaving slivers of fatwood, have you tried scraping it? It creates some highly volatile dust (Maya dust ) that will light instantly with a firesteel spark. However, evidently the commercial variety of Maya dust is not so good, probably because the volatiles have evaporated. I dunno. I haven't tried the commercial variety. It's ridiculously expensive, especially when a better variety is easily made on the spot.

I used to do a mix of dust, shavings, and larger slivers because the dust does light easier but it burns quickly. Lately I have gotten away from the dust in favor of smaller shavings because the bad thing about making the dust is that fatwood is so hard and dense that scraping on it dulls a knife blade quicker. Now I just keep a few sticks in my kit and usually just set it up like this.

 

[Hoodoo]

If you square the edges on the spine of your knife, you can use it to scrape all kinds of things, from cordage to fatwood and firesteels. I rarely scrape anything with the edge of my field knife. Some makers intentionally keep their spines nice and square so you can scrape with them. Also, to keep your pine dust from blowing away by the movement of your hands as you strike the firesteel, you might try holding the knife steady and pulling the firesteel towards you. This is especially true when you use magnesium scrapings.

 

[Mistwalker]

If you square the edges on the spine of your knife, you can use it to scrape all kinds of things, from cordage to fatwood and firesteels. I rarely scrape anything with the edge of my field knife. Some makers intentionally keep their spines nice and square so you can scrape with them. Also, to keep your pine dust from blowing away by the movement of your hands as you strike the firesteel, you might try holding the knife steady and pulling the firesteel towards you. This is especially true when you use magnesium scrapings.

Most of the spines of my knives have the edges "broken", though that SOG has a sharp "rasp" spine, I'll have to give it a go. Thanks for the tips, I've been working more with pulling the firesteel rather than pushing the knife...I'm getting better at it.

 

[Mistwalker]

If you square the edges on the spine of your knife, you can use it to scrape all kinds of things, from cordage to fatwood and firesteels. I rarely scrape anything with the edge of my field knife. Some makers intentionally keep their spines nice and square so you can scrape with them. Also, to keep your pine dust from blowing away by the movement of your hands as you strike the firesteel, you might try holding the knife steady and pulling the firesteel towards you. This is especially true when you use magnesium scrapings.

The BK13, the little knife that came with the BK7 works for scraping the fine dust with. It handled making fatwood shavings and shavings from a Sycamore limb very well and the spine is "square" and sharp enough to scrape fine fatwood powder with. So far this little knife handles well for it's size. I think it will be quite a handy little tool to have along.

 

[Mistwalker]

I decided to put my fuzzy making skills to the test and see if I could get fire with a spark without using fatwood. I usually use fatwood just because it is so easy and there is so much of it here. It worked out fine so on dry days if I don’t have any fatwood handy it doesn’t matter.


I made a few more fuzzy curls and started collecting them on a leaf…the wind was blowing a bit so I had to weight the leaf down.

Then I got what I made last night and my firesteel.

Gathered up some tinder and small ships for fuel. Then put the leaf on some drift wood to light it.

Then hit the tinder with a few sparks…did take a few times…and then the fire came to life.

Then starting adding the fuel

Soon had a good fire going, and had to put it out when it started catching the log on fire. Before anybody asks again this is one of my work areas, it was a temp deck on my brothers house I built and I brought it out here…thinking about turning it into a small building but for now…..

 

[traderran]

Another good one Bry

 

[Mistwalker]

Another good one Bry

Thanks Ran, actually Sarah was there for most of this one...I was showing her what her knife was capable of.