Getting better at Fire Starting

[chem_doc]

I'm *slowly* getting better at starting fires, much to the wife's dismay. She doesn't see much point in practicing at this "skill," but I push on.

I have managed, once, to get a fire going with my Fresnel lens. I attribute it to blind luck and stubbornness. I managed to get it going using leaves as tinder (which I've learned tend to smolder/smoke a lot more than generate flames). I was trying to get it going using found tinder and didn't really have much of a knife to prepare any great tinder source. Plus, I was limited in my scavaging area, so wandering off to find a birch or cedar or tinder fungus wasn't going to readily happen. With this technique, I've learned some things, but haven't played around with it as much as I would have liked.

Why? Because the good doctor has gotten a Fire Steel and a magnesium fire starter! Now *these* are fun to play with! I've gotten fires going using char cloth, vaseline impregnated cotton, and wax-impregnated cotton. With the two "cotton soaked in stuff" methods, I'm partial to the wax version, simply because under normal conditions (normal to me), they're less messy. Someday, I'll have to figure out which fuel source has a longer burn time: the same amount of vaseline on cotton or wax. I haven't really gotten very good at starting a fire without the use of these manmade tinders, but I'm sure it'll come.

I also got a carbon steel Mora now. The thing is that the back of the blade had almost a "U" shape to it (two high ridges on either edge) and that wasn't doing a lot for getting sparks. I filed down the ridges and got a pretty good right angle on the back of the blade. *Now* I can generate some sparks! I've also gotten better at the whole, "using the thumb and generating sparks just from the tip of the Fire Steel" method shown in a different post here.

The Magnesium fire starter...I've struggled with this one, to be honest. The magnesium doesn't burn long, and it has to be closely packed for all of it to completely burn. If it's buried under tinder, most of it won't ignite at all. But, I have started fires with it. And I've learned some tricks to making it work. Getting shavings off of it is much easier now that I've "sharpened" the back of my Mora. And larger "curls" rather than a fine powder seem to be better suited to starting a fire. Also, really thin/fine wood curls and a feather stick seem to work best for getting the fire going, at least in my hands...

The next thing I want/need to tackle is learning to use stones/sandpaper to sharpen my knife...

Doc

 

[Ogri the trog]

I'm *slowly* getting better at starting fires,
snip... find a birch or cedar or tinder fungus
snip I've learned some things,
Why? Because the good doctor has gotten a Fire Steel and a magnesium fire starter! I also got a carbon steel Mora (snip) *Now* I can generate some sparks!
Snip I've also gotten better at the whole, "using the thumb and generating sparks just from the tip of the Fire Steel" method shown in a different post here.
Also, really thin/fine wood curls and a feather stick seem to work best for getting the fire going, at least in my hands...

Doc

He he, you're nearly there Doc,
With a Mora and a Firesteel, you can get many a fire going.
Keep on searching for some Birch Bark and when you find a piece about the size of your hand, scrape the inner surface with the knife until you get a pile of light, dusty shavings - they'll light straight from the sparks.
I see you've already mastered the featherstick kindking trick.

Good luck Buddy

Ogri the trog

 

[Fin]

Nice one Doc - I'm the same as you - constantly experimenting with fire making to find out what works for me.

I can never get cramp balls to catch with anything other than a blow torch! Although others swear by 'em.

I'll ditto Ogri though - shaved inner Birch bark is probably the most reliable tinder I've yet found - goes straight to flame with the firesteel every time.

Tinder fungus is great in fire pistons - but again - little joy with the firesteel.

Man made? - got to be either charcloth (messy) or vaseline and cotton wool (slightly less messy) - although charcloth has the advantage of working in a firepiston, with the firesteel and with flint and steel (the only tinder I have produced fire with using this method).

 

[stephendedwards]

For fungus try cramp balls - they will take a spark from a flint and steel and certainly from any of the mag jobbies.

Steve

 

[Ogri the trog]

I can never get cramp balls to catch with anything other than a blow torch! Although others swear by 'em.

Thats curious Fin,
Are they dry enough or straight from the tree? Even very fresh I've had reasonable success with them - break them open to reveal the "concentrica" rings and aim your spark in there - should be no trouble.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Fin]

Thats curious Fin,
Are they dry enough or straight from the tree? Even very fresh I've had reasonable success with them - break them open to reveal the "concentrica" rings and aim your spark in there - should be no trouble.

ATB

Ogri the trog

May have been the batch - I was out walking down in Devon and found a dead ash tree that was covered in them. So I took a bagfull home to experiment with. Can't get the things to light at all! I've tried everything - split them, shaved them, ground them to powder - no joy with a steel and they take their time to catch a naked flame as well - which makes me think it could just these crampballs - if you know what I mean, although they don't look any different - concentricas - the lot.

I shall persevere though - although I've yet to see them in my usual haunts in N Yorkshire you can never have too many methods up your sleeve for starting a fire

 

[mazeman]

Just been out in the garden playing with a mora, a firesteel and some crampballs.... I agree with Ogri, dry is good. It seems that a little scrape around in the centre to create a little cup is a plus. Fire a spark in there and Bob's you Auntie.

 

[Zammo]

I've never been able to get birch bark to light from a firesteel despite trying various types, I just stick to having a bit of cotton wool to start my fires.

 

[chem_doc]

I was going to start a new thread, but I figured this would be as good a place as any...

I found some tinder fungus, but... I'm not sure how good it is.

I say this because... well, it's hard. Like wood. I was expecting it to be softer. The other thing is that it doesn't seem to take a spark that well. After reading up on it online, I was expecting it to take a spark along the lines of charcloth, which in my hands, is easy to set aglow.

From what I've read online, I was under the impression that if you looked at it crosseyed, it would start to smolder. I was playing with a smallish hunk (fingernail sized) last night. As a solid hunk, it would not take the spark from my Firesteel. And I was abusing it. I had hit the chunk with so many sparks that the outside of the fungus was grey. But no ember.

I then chopped up the fungus into a smaller "sawdust" like pile. That I could set smoldering, but not simply, and only smaller pieces would catch after much effort.

Does this stuff need to be dried out? Or is dried out not a good thing? Any prep required to this stuff?

Doc

 

[Tourist]

I've never been able to get birch bark to light from a firesteel despite trying various types, I just stick to having a bit of cotton wool to start my fires.

I found some nice birch bark [Surrey University, Guildford] but my sparks just seem to bounce off it most of the time.........but when it does go.

 

[Ogri the trog]

I found some tinder fungus, but... I'm not sure how good it is.

I say this because... well, it's hard. Like wood. I was expecting it to be softer. The other thing is that it doesn't seem to take a spark that well. After reading up on it online, I was expecting it to take a spark along the lines of charcloth, which in my hands, is easy to set aglow.
Does this stuff need to be dried out? Or is dried out not a good thing? Any prep required to this stuff?

Doc

Chem-doc,
What type of tinder fungus have you got - theres True Tinder Fungus, Innonotus Obliquus or Chagga (IIRC) and False Tinder Fungus, Fommes Fomentaria (IIRC) or Horses Hoof Fungus. True T F will just need to be chipped into manageable lumps and dried Though if you really have found this I want you to send it all to me, as I've only heard of it in the United States.
False T F, or Horses Hoof is a sod to prepare IMHO, I'm just doing some myself. You're after the trama layer that sits between the layers of spore tubes and the hard outer shell. I soaked it for a few days to get the outer horn-like layer soft enough to peel away, and then you have to peel the inner spore-tubes away as well (these gripped my knife blade and made things real difficult). Then comes the boiling/soaking in wood-ash, anything from an hour to a few days is recommended - experiment to see whats best. Then after that you have to beat it down until it resembles chamios leather and dry it out. To get it to take a spark, you scrape the surface to get a fluffy mass and strike your spark into that. Quite an involved process but supposedly one of the best natural tinders in Europe. Patrick wrote a tutorial in the articles section I think, and it wasn't until I'd had several attempts that I realised I was trying to process the wrong bit!

I found some nice birch bark [Surrey University, Guildford] but my sparks just seem to bounce off it most of the time.........but when it does go.

Tourist,
Do you scrape the inner surface of the bark or shred the papery outer layers? Birch bark is one of my stalwart tinders - it has rarely failed me, which means I have to make a concious effort to get used to using others that I'm not as comfortable with.

Good luck guys, I hope you get your things sorted out.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[rich59]

Pyromaniacs rule!!

<<<I have managed, once, to get a fire going with my Fresnel lens. I attribute it to blind luck and stubbornness. I managed to get it going using leaves as tinder (which I've learned tend to smolder/smoke a lot more than generate flames). I was trying to get it going using found tinder and didn't really have much of a knife to prepare any great tinder source. Plus, I was limited in my scavaging area, so wandering off to find a birch or cedar or tinder fungus wasn't going to readily happen. With this technique, I've learned some things, but haven't played around with it as much as I would have liked.>>>

Dead leaves are my favourite tinder. Rub them between the hands to crumble them. When you have a pile, lift off the loose stuff and you will have a pile of dust at the bottom. This pile can be lit by many techniques including lens. I find it takes 2-3 minutes of lens heat to get a sustainable enlarging coal with continued blowing.


As to the cramp ball problem - What colour were they when picked? If brown then they may have been too young. Once black they usually work.

The match test is a good one. If something won't go from a match then no hope with a spark of any sort.