It's a damp thing too. Even in the damp, the vaselined cottonwool catches and burns, and it's a sustained burn. It's not just a flash and gone burn.
Punkwood tinder bundle
- Thread starter Poacherman
- Start date
Hierarchy or flash and gone (fastest to slowest)
Cattail down
Thistle down
Cotton wool
Cotton wool with Vaseline
I don't rate clematis down at all, not fluffy enough for reliability in my experience. Willow herb is fast, but around me it is hard to collect, available in only small quantities and seems to hold moisture more than the others.
If I take prepared tinder with me, I want it to work well where ever I am. I have been too many places where there are no birch, no dry spruce twigs, and sometimes even finding dry standing that can be feathered and the feathers are a little damp. A smear of Vaseline means I can get away with using smaller pieces of wool in dry, ideal conditions, and give greater ability to dry out poor kindling in damper conditions.
So, you say, why not just take a Bic and some innertube. Well, I tend to do that too, but I have had piezo lighters fail to light in wet conditions and was darned glad to have a ferro to fall back on.
Cattail down
Thistle down
Cotton wool
Cotton wool with Vaseline
I don't rate clematis down at all, not fluffy enough for reliability in my experience. Willow herb is fast, but around me it is hard to collect, available in only small quantities and seems to hold moisture more than the others.
If I take prepared tinder with me, I want it to work well where ever I am. I have been too many places where there are no birch, no dry spruce twigs, and sometimes even finding dry standing that can be feathered and the feathers are a little damp. A smear of Vaseline means I can get away with using smaller pieces of wool in dry, ideal conditions, and give greater ability to dry out poor kindling in damper conditions.
So, you say, why not just take a Bic and some innertube. Well, I tend to do that too, but I have had piezo lighters fail to light in wet conditions and was darned glad to have a ferro to fall back on.
Similar threads
