Going from ember to flame.

[Asa Samuel]

Hi, I just wanted to ask a quick question.

Once you have an ember on char cloth, crampball, tinder fungus or whatever it is you are using what is the best way to get that ember into a flame? The only thing I can think of is putting it in dry dead grass but that isn't always available so what else can I use? Anything I can bring from home in case the weather is wet?

Thanks,
Asa.

 

[Mesquite]

Hi, I just wanted to ask a quick question.

Once you have an ember on char cloth, crampball, tinder fungus or whatever it is you are using what is the best way to get that ember into a flame? The only thing I can think of is putting it in dry dead grass but that isn't always available so what else can I use? Anything I can bring from home in case the weather is wet?

Thanks,
Asa.

Dry grass is good as you already know but you can use a number of different things so long as it's dry.

Dead bracken (make sure you strip the thick stalks out), honeysuckle bark, clematis bark, birch bark, dead leafs shredded up fine to take the ember and larger to carry the flame are just a few things you can use. Basically go out and practise with whatever you can find and dry.

Just make sure when you harvest things like honeysuckle or birch bark you strip only the outer layers that are already naturally shedding so you don't harm the plant/tree

 

[Asa Samuel]

There is quite a lot of bracken about so that might be good, thanks

 

[VtBlackdog]

loosely roll the charcloth in a roll of birchbark; you can often slice tight rolls off the tree that work good......for practice paper towel also works ok.

 

[VtBlackdog]

...or get a roll of jute. Cut off about ten inches and pull apart the strands and fluff them up into a nest.

 

[Toddy]

and keep your eyes open soon, thistledown gathered by the full heads burns fast and quick but it can carry the flame into fine bark or feather sticks, or to fire crackle.....dried out, broken outm stems of plants like willowherb or angelica.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Stanleythecat]

Sorry to jump in but will the fine whispy paper frills peeled from a birch tree propagate an ember in to a flame or does it need an intermediate tinder to catch?

We have loads of birch and I have just today got a fantastic ember off a piece of sycamore on sycamore... didn't think I would feel so emotional but it brought a warmth inside. I was actually in the car park at work so couldn't take it any furher than a lovely glowing mass.

Leo

 

[Daegurth]

it can, but make sure you have the really fine stuff, well shredded. generally seeds and grass are your best bet.

 

[SimonM]

Sweet chestnut inner bark, well roughed up works well. Take it from fallen, partially rotted logs, not living trees though.

Simon

 

[relfy]

The fluffy seeds from rosebay willow herb (the tall pink stuff that grows in profusion in Cornwall) are good and its the right time of year now too.

 

[Asa Samuel]

I managed to find some thistle heads that has fluffy white seedy bits that looked perfect but they ended up burning really quickly before I could put my firesteel down and pick up the bundle of grass, then blowing on the embers that were left just made them burn out.

 

[BushcraftBaird112]

Dead pine needles, cattails, old mans beard and birch bark all work well. You can also mix them together to get better results.

 

[VirusKiller]

Dried bracken works for me.

 

[rich59]

Hi, I just wanted to ask a quick question.

Once you have an ember on char cloth, crampball, tinder fungus or whatever it is you are using what is the best way to get that ember into a flame? The only thing I can think of is putting it in dry dead grass but that isn't always available so what else can I use? Anything I can bring from home in case the weather is wet?

Thanks,
Asa.

It's great fun trying lots of different materials. I would suggest that possibly anything that is dry enough to crumble a bit when rubbed between the hands can be used. Probably mixtures of different materials work better than some pure materials.

The way I set it up is the get a couple of hatfuls of whatever I can find. Set aside about a third as the coarsest material. Then rub the rest between the hands, and also tearing anything fibrous, enough to get a separate jumbled heap of crumbled stuff. Lift out the bigger stuff from this pile as your medium grade. Left behind is a pile of almost dusty stuff. You need about a hen's egg size heap of the dusty stuff This is your fine grade. Then put your 3 grades of tinder together on a flat surface - sheet of bark, tree-stump or somesuch- coarse at bottom/ back, then medium, and finally make a depression in this and put your egg of dust. Then lid it with another flat of material and finally make a dimple in the egg of dust. Then you are ready to put your glowing coal into the dimple and gently and slowly blow it into flame.

If you are careful and slow you can get damp stuff to work - allowing the heat of the coal to dry the next layer before spreading the coal.

Some pure materials seem impossible with this technique - birch bark just won't do it for me - smoke ++ but no flame . I also got failure with dry grass stems as I could not get any dust.

 

[Mistwalker]

Not sure how I ended up here...sorry....had to remove the post as I have no experience with char cloth yet.

 

[Chinkapin]

Like VTBlackdog, I have used jute twine that I bought at Wal-Mart for next to nothing and I pulled it all apart as he describes. When you are finished it looks almost like a handful of hair. I did not know whether it would work or not the first time I tried it.

I used my Swedish firesteel and as soon as the sparks hit it, it commenced to burn like it had gasoline on it.

I use many things, particularly birch bark and the fluff of thistles, etc. but if these things are not in your area, or you are stuck at home and want to make up some tinder in advance, you could do a lot worse than jute.

 

[Neumo]

The way I set it up is the get a couple of hatfuls of whatever I can find. Set aside about a third as the coarsest material. Then rub the rest between the hands, and also tearing anything fibrous, enough to get a separate jumbled heap of crumbled stuff. Lift out the bigger stuff from this pile as your medium grade. Left behind is a pile of almost dusty stuff. You need about a hen's egg size heap of the dusty stuff This is your fine grade. Then put your 3 grades of tinder together on a flat surface - sheet of bark, tree-stump or somesuch- coarse at bottom/ back, then medium, and finally make a depression in this and put your egg of dust. Then lid it with another flat of material and finally make a dimple in the egg of dust. Then you are ready to put your glowing coal into the dimple and gently and slowly blow it into flame.

If you are careful and slow you can get damp stuff to work - allowing the heat of the coal to dry the next layer before spreading the coal.

I like the idea of using the same principle as the 'upside down' fire' to make a nest which is garded from the bottem to the top. I always seem to end up using a birdsnet of grass if it's dry or small biles of birch bark if it's wet, with very mixed results.

 

[rich59]

I like the idea of using the same principle as the 'upside down' fire' to make a nest which is garded from the bottem to the top. I always seem to end up using a birdsnet of grass if it's dry or small biles of birch bark if it's wet, with very mixed results.

I have heard tell that this method is so robust that it will survive cups of water being poured over it during demonstration (Stuart? :You_Rock_ ).

I was asked about how to connect this tinder to the next woody stage of fire lighting. Well, I have been experimenting and I have concluded that a good option is to make a bundle of twigs (tied together with a single tie towards one end so that the other end splays out) and place this in your "sandwich" behind the coarsest material before inserting your glowing coal. Then the growing coal/ fire can spread directly into the twig bundle at the loose end.

 

[gerryg]

I see lot's of good suggestions using dry fluffy plant material which will work very well. Blackdog's suggestion for jute is a good one too...

...or get a roll of jute. Cut off about ten inches and pull apart the strands and fluff them up into a nest.

In the event that you haven't saved any tinder or it is too wet, the jute is a nice solution. Here's a video on how to use jute with flint and steel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEl2ObWIHvU

I have the kit in the video and it is very cool how easy it is...i also like the "old school" approach whenever practical, gerry

 

[Matthew.Passmore]

If you were going to use dead Bracken you would need to mix it with something else like dry grass, honey suckle bark or similar as Bracken it difficult to get to flame and sustain a flame; it likes to smoulder.

Also Just Birch bark on it's own wouldn't be very good as it curls up with heat and smothers the ember.

Old bird's nests can be good but they usually contain lot's of bracken and Sheep's wool with is fire retardant and just singes.

If I was going to take something from home I would take Hay in a small zip-lock bag.