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Tinder lists

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Celtic Dragon

Nomad
Aug 4, 2003
365
0
48
Hatfield, Herts
Having done some reading of past threads on here, and listening to a few conversations at Ashdown. I thought I would start a thread (maybe sticky) of all the materials you use for tinder and where you find it, I suppose this relates to the more unusual materials the the common ones. As we all experiment (ok we are a bunch of pyro's!!!!! Sorry Espy :o): )

Anyway here are my suggestions and what I've used to ignite them

Shredded Motorway service station servettes (only works when the weathers dry) lit by accident form a firesteel

Tesco's baby cotton buds are 100% cotton (very small amounts from this) again by a firesteel

I have yet to try out their baby line cotton wool.

Look forward to seeing your materials
Simon
 
I have a list on my computer at work, but you can add fine grade wire wool (0 or 00 grade works with a battery and firesteel) and the lint from a tumble dryer to the list on the man made side of life shredded bark (inner bark of cedar works with ember from firebow and birch bark are common ones). I have a plant in my garden that gives a clock like a dandelion but slightly more fibrous, this seems to work well enough with a firesteel.
 
If it must be bushcrafty tinders I use: charcloth, birch bark, dry grass and very fine small spruce twigs. :-) If at home an old newspaper is the preffered.
 
Fire crackle once you've got a coal or to encourage enough flame to start small timbers. That is, the dried hollow stems of common mallow or of old fireweed or nettle broken up into short lengths. They work well in a domestic fire too.
Toddy
 
How about old fire dogs. I tried it once and it worked but I tried it another morning and the wood was a bit too damp.

Edit: This is used to take the spark and then be blown into an ember and spread to two or three other logs which will produce a flame.
 
Celtic Dragon said:
Having done some reading of past threads on here, and listening to a few conversations at Ashdown. I thought I would start a thread (maybe sticky) of all the materials you use for tinder and where you find it, I suppose this relates to the more unusual materials the the common ones. As we all experiment (ok we are a bunch of pyro's!!!!! Sorry Espy :o): )

Anyway here are my suggestions and what I've used to ignite them

Shredded Motorway service station servettes (only works when the weathers dry) lit by accident form a firesteel

Tesco's baby cotton buds are 100% cotton (very small amounts from this) again by a firesteel

I have yet to try out their baby line cotton wool.

Look forward to seeing your materials
Simon
Click to expand...

Hi
I collect the fibres caught in the tumble dryer filter then I collect the stumps of candles, which I melt and fill in the discharged egg-packets, mixing them I get 12 small tinder bombs :wink:

cheers
Abbe
 
arctic hobo said:
Who carries cotton buds?? A good cheap bog standard cotton sock catches like anything I've seen, and I've always a pair handy
Click to expand...

I don't, I just happened to have some handy whilst sitting here bored silly :wink:

Working on going larger and finding out what else I could use.
 
jute string, the cheap stuff that you get in garden centres, it's great stuff you can reverse twist it to make stronger cordage, it's biodegradable and if you unravel it and fray it it makes great tinder.
Birds nests.
 
I'm never too sure what people mean by tinder. Is it the materials that you use to turn an ember into a flame or the material you use to turn a flame into a fire. Or is it the materials to catch a spark from a firesteel or flint/ steel or pyrites/flint. I have heard the term "tinder" used for all these areas of fire lighting and although some tinders are perhaps goods in all these circumstances you cant assume that they are all good for all of the purposes.
The term "Tinder box" refered to a flint and steel in a box along with charred cloth or tinder fungus to catch the spark. There may also have been sulphur mathes to turn the ember into a flame without all that huffing and puffing. In this case tinder has a very definite use.
Perhaps anyone listing here could advise for what purpose the tinder was used.
I have had a lot of trouble trying to catch a pyrites/flint spark it seems very low temperature and seems to need a very specially prepared and dried "tinder" to catch.
Slightly off topic but I particularly like using finely separated tissue or fluff from jeans in an old lighter to make fire. Or using the spark from earthing my finger across the flow of gas from an old lighter after having walked on a synthetic carpet. A friend once lit a cigarette from the sparks of a cars distributor.
 
The one I like the most as it is very available here is cat-tail fuzz, very explosive in ignition :shock: , along with fine birch bark, dryer lint, pocket lint, woodshop shavings etc...
just a thought
 
The pappus (fuzz) from Thistle (Cirsium spp.) and Common Milkweed (Asclepia syriaca) and probably other Milkweeds as well, will ignite from the sparks from a fuel depleted lighter.

:smile: Doc :smile:
 
KIMBOKO said:
I'm never too sure what people mean by tinder. Is it the materials that you use to turn an ember into a flame or the material you use to turn a flame into a fire. Or is it the materials to catch a spark from a firesteel or flint/ steel or pyrites/flint. I have heard the term "tinder" used for all these areas of fire lighting and although some tinders are perhaps goods in all these circumstances you cant assume that they are all good for all of the purposes.
The term "Tinder box" refered to a flint and steel in a box along with charred cloth or tinder fungus to catch the spark. There may also have been sulphur mathes to turn the ember into a flame without all that huffing and puffing. In this case tinder has a very definite use.
Perhaps anyone listing here could advise for what purpose the tinder was used.
I have had a lot of trouble trying to catch a pyrites/flint spark it seems very low temperature and seems to need a very specially prepared and dried "tinder" to catch.
Slightly off topic but I particularly like using finely separated tissue or fluff from jeans in an old lighter to make fire. Or using the spark from earthing my finger across the flow of gas from an old lighter after having walked on a synthetic carpet. A friend once lit a cigarette from the sparks of a cars distributor.
Click to expand...

Tinder is any material which will ignite from a spark or ember.

Kindling is any material which will easily catch alight from a small flame, such as dry matchstick thick twigs. Bundles of kindling are added to the flame produced by your tinder until the fire is hot enough to deal with less easily combustible materials.

Natural tinders include but are not restricted to:

The seeds of:

Cotton grass
Thistle
Clematis
Willow herb
Black popular

The outer bark of:

Red cedar
Honey suckle
Clematis
Birch

The inner barks of:

Oak
Willow
Sweet chestnut
Elm

Herbs such as:

Dry grasses
Bracken
Gorse

And animal products such as:

Some animal hairs
Very dry dung

(this list was from my woodsmoke course notes)
 
The important thing to remember is that tinder can b divided into two categories - igniters and extenders.

Extenders are those tinders that, when heated, begin to glow and make the coal 'grow' - but don't usually come to flame by themselves. Fluffy seed heads, tinder fungus, charcloth etc are all good examples of extenders.

Igniters are tinders that, when heated, burst into flame - tinders such as pine needles, bich bark, grasses etc.

Extenders will usually begin to glow with minimal heat, but will not ever come to flame. Igniters will begin to burn and are enough to start small kindling burning, but usually require more heat to 'get going'.

Thus, the best approach for a tinder bundle is to make the outer layers from igniters and the inner core (where you place your coal) from extenders which will begin to glow and provide enough heat for ignition.
 
I've been spinning flax this afternoon, and husband and son no1 were playing around with sparks and the fungi I've got drying out at the kitchen radiator. I gave them some of the scrap tow threads and it starts easily and flames well enough to start bark shaving burning. :-) Good stuff especially when you realise that flax is spun damp, not dry.....must try this out doors sometime. It took a spark better than *any* of the fungi I had sitting dry :cry:
I've got spare flax (I teach spinning, beginners inevitably make a mess of flax at first) if you want some for try outs.

Toddy
 
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