Mini feather sticks

[falling rain]

Long time no post!.......... How is everyone? :sadwavey:
I'm not a big fan of non-natural tinders. You know..... the belly button fluff, and tumble dryer lint etc, etc. I much prefer finding natural tinders when out and about. The usual suspects like scraped cedar inner bark, birch bark, cramp ball fungus, wild clematis, honey suckle et all.
...........but I discovered that the wooden fish & chip fork thingy's you get from the local chippy make excellent mini feather sticks. Worth grabbing a handful and keeping them in your tinder pouch next time you're in the chip'ole.

 

[northumbrian]

nice tip !
and you could also use em to eat with too ! lol a very green lightweight spork ? lol

 

[Shewie]

Those wooden coffee stirrers usually find their way into my pocket too when I stop at the services. If they're going to charge me £4 for a brew then I'm getting my moneys worth

 

[Celt_Ginger]

Those wooden coffee stirrers usually find their way into my pocket too when I stop at the services. If they're going to charge me £4 for a brew then I'm getting my moneys worth

Excellent idea!

 

[Shambling Shaman]

Top tips all round

 

[ged]

Those wooden coffee stirrers usually find their way into my pocket too when I stop at the services. If they're going to charge me £4 for a brew then I'm getting my moneys worth

While you're at it, pick up a few bags of sugar. My grandma used to use it all the time to light her fire.

 

[falling rain]

While you're at it, pick up a few bags of sugar. My grandma used to use it all the time to light her fire.

Not heard of that one ged, pray do ellaborate

 

[MSkiba]

Blacksheep put me onto a winner. Fat Wood sold in packets at a garden centre!

If your going to carry anything into the woods to help you, this should be it. In my opinion off course

 

[MartiniDave]

If you get enough of those sugars you can do toffee crab apples - but do roast the crab apples first!

Dave

 

[treadlightly]

Yes, sugar is good. My parents used it to coax a reluctant fire many a time.

 

[ged]

While you're at it, pick up a few bags of sugar. My grandma used to use it all the time to light her fire.

Not heard of that one ged, pray do ellaborate

Well, wood is mostly cellulose. Cellulose is strings of glucose molecules. And glucose is a sugar. So when you burn wood, you're basically burning sugar. Sucrose (the sugar that you buy in the supermarket) is glucose and fructose but they're both basically the same thing. You get around 4kWh/kg from burning sugar. It burns readily and controllably unless you mix it with something like a nitrate in which case it can get quite exciting.

You get a bit more energy per kilo from dry wood than you do from sugar because 25-30% of wood is lignin which has a bit less oxygen (and so more carbon and hydrogen) per molecule than the sugars. You get even more from pure hydrocarbons because there's no oxygen in them at all, they're just carbon and hydrogen.

Is that the sort of thing you meant?

 

[Toddy]

Nah, it just goes up fast and burns hot

cheers,
M

 

[falling rain]

Well, wood is mostly cellulose. Cellulose is strings of glucose molecules. And glucose is a sugar. So when you burn wood, you're basically burning sugar. Sucrose (the sugar that you buy in the supermarket) is glucose and fructose but they're both basically the same thing. You get around 4kWh/kg from burning sugar. It burns readily and controllably unless you mix it with something like a nitrate in which case it can get quite exciting.

You get a bit more energy per kilo from dry wood than you do from sugar because 25-30% of wood is lignin which has a bit less oxygen (and so more carbon and hydrogen) per molecule than the sugars. You get even more from pure hydrocarbons because there's no oxygen in them at all, they're just carbon and hydrogen.

Is that the sort of thing you meant?

Yes ged..............that's exactly how I had it down

 

[tuxdad]

So are you using your firesteel, to light the sugar or what ?? I'm pretty curious on this one..

Thanks,

Tux

 

[ged]

So are you using your firesteel, to light the sugar or what ?? I'm pretty curious on this one..

I've never tried to light sugar with a firesteel. Something to try when I'm out in the sticks sometime.

TBH I don't use firesteels much, just play with them now and again to remind myself really, although I have several stashed about in different packs and places Just In Case.

Sugar is just a convenient solid fuel. It's a lot harder to light than things like firelighters. When it gets hot it melts, then starts to char, and burns with an almost alcohol-like flame which leaves a deposit of practically pure carbon. The carbon will burn but not unless it's in a hot fire, which hopefully you've just got going.

Get one of those little sachets of sugar and put a match to it, see what happens?

 

[sxmolloy]

This is my idea from 4 years ago (only seems like yesterday!): http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15139&highlight=