Tumble dryer fluff
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Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
Sounds like a challenge to me - duly accepted. Are ferro rods allowed or just flint and steel?
As a backwoodsman, I find I gather any tinder as I go, and replace it before it dwindles. There's nowt wrong in my opinion in gathering tumbler fluff as its an adaptation of the hunter / gatherer in us all. Pure cotton wool, is natural, just not to our location.
Imo bushcraft is using all that is available in our habitat. This includes litter etc.
Imo bushcraft is using all that is available in our habitat. This includes litter etc.
I can understand your reasoning behind your post as Richard has been a little antagonistic recently.
To be fair though he has provided a VAST amount of help and experience on this forum to many many members.
Although we have bumped heads several times, over some discussions with very strong opinions, i still strongly value both his opinion and experience in many many matters and i do honestly believe he is a valuable assets to this forum.
No idea if this is the case, but we all are only human and we all go through tough times and although we try and keep outside influences and emotions out of our posts there is no doubt that they do creep in sometimes.
So i do agree that some of his recent posts have been antagonistic, but i do honestly believe if you write off his opinions, experience and knowledge then you are missing out.
Plus we are all grown bottom adults here, putting people in a ignore list is pretty sad childish IMO.
With regards to the thread, i do have a interest in alternative fire starting methods (hence opening and reading through the thread) but in all honesty 99.9% of the time i use a lighter, paper or fire starting blocks.
To be fair though he has provided a VAST amount of help and experience on this forum to many many members.
Although we have bumped heads several times, over some discussions with very strong opinions, i still strongly value both his opinion and experience in many many matters and i do honestly believe he is a valuable assets to this forum.
No idea if this is the case, but we all are only human and we all go through tough times and although we try and keep outside influences and emotions out of our posts there is no doubt that they do creep in sometimes.
So i do agree that some of his recent posts have been antagonistic, but i do honestly believe if you write off his opinions, experience and knowledge then you are missing out.
Plus we are all grown bottom adults here, putting people in a ignore list is pretty sad childish IMO.
With regards to the thread, i do have a interest in alternative fire starting methods (hence opening and reading through the thread) but in all honesty 99.9% of the time i use a lighter, paper or fire starting blocks.
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i said that before you post pincher you
( just joking honest ) i also carry a secret reserve in the top bit of my bum
There's some good thoughts and ideas on here, although any post starting along the lines of "you're not a true bushcrafter unless..." is a bit harsh. Different people, different ways. There are no categories and there isn't an entrance exam. We're just enjoying ourselves, and all of us choose which skills we want to learn.
The other angle that i think people overlook sometimes is preparedness. There is nothing wrong with carrying your own tinder, prepared in advance, from whatever source. Dryer fluff isn't bulky, so enough can be carried for multiple fires, without any hassle at all.
No-one says you're not a real bushcrafter unless you can staunch the bleeding knife wound in your hand where you slipped when carving with just the materials you find around you. We carry a first aid kit.
The other angle that i think people overlook sometimes is preparedness. There is nothing wrong with carrying your own tinder, prepared in advance, from whatever source. Dryer fluff isn't bulky, so enough can be carried for multiple fires, without any hassle at all.
No-one says you're not a real bushcrafter unless you can staunch the bleeding knife wound in your hand where you slipped when carving with just the materials you find around you. We carry a first aid kit.
Anyway. Ignoring Statler and Waldorf for a minute (no offence chaps) - I think winter is a particularly hard time to find natural tinder, birch bark would be the obvious one, dried in a pocket. Any others?
Under side of fallen trees for punk wood, pine needles , birds nests , badgers bedding, mice nests etc
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clematis will be around for another few weeks, inner barks like sweet chestnut and lime de barked and rubbed\buffed and dried in a leg pocket, dead grasses will be in good supply in a non browsed field, thistle tufts again dried in a pocket, gin soaked relatives,
Hey, this reminds me. I have a pocketful of birch bark I collected a day or two back during a lunchbreak at work. Must get it out of my work coat...
There's some good thoughts and ideas on here, although any post starting along the lines of "you're not a true bushcrafter unless..." is a bit harsh. Different people, different ways. There are no categories and there isn't an entrance exam. We're just enjoying ourselves, and all of us choose which skills we want to learn.
The other angle that i think people overlook sometimes is preparedness. There is nothing wrong with carrying your own tinder, prepared in advance, from whatever source. Dryer fluff isn't bulky, so enough can be carried for multiple fires, without any hassle at all.
No-one says you're not a real bushcrafter unless you can staunch the bleeding knife wound in your hand where you slipped when carving with just the materials you find around you. We carry a first aid kit.
Just to be clear I'm not saying that the OP is not a real bushcrafter, I would never say such a thing. Only today after trying and failing several times to get a fire going using a match AND fat wood I resorted to pouring some meths on the fuel! That got it going! The spot I'd picked for my lunch was not as sheltered from the wind and rain as I thought. I got flames a couple of times but the damn thing wouldn't stay lit. So I'm no one to judge a persons skills.
I would however stick my neck out to say that using dryer fluff (or meths!) is not bushcraft, it's just a fire in the woods.
My fire today was not lit using a bushcraft technique, it was lit with modern man made fuel. However I kept it going with dry pine that was hanging up in a tree, the knowledge to do THAT was bushcraft.
In short there's nothing wrong with using man made stuff to light fires but lets not kid ourselves that it's bushcraft. It's just a campfire in the woods.
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This talk about is it bushcraft or not, dryer felt or birds nest. Using the same argument, surely everyone of us is guilty of not being 'bushcrafters' because we use a knife manufactured using modern techniques and not a piece of flint. Is that bergen bushcrafty? Or those vibram soles?
For me its a passion for being outdoors, learning the traditional skills infused with modern equipment and tools. If that tool happens to be part birchbark and part dryer felt, then so be it. Surely sitting beside a campfire outdoors is better than a gas heater.
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For me its a passion for being outdoors, learning the traditional skills infused with modern equipment and tools. If that tool happens to be part birchbark and part dryer felt, then so be it. Surely sitting beside a campfire outdoors is better than a gas heater.
sent from my brain using my fingers.
There's a quote on the front page of this website that says "Bushcraft is about being confident and comfortable in the natural environment". Written buy some guy called Tony
It doesn't specify criteria.
Besides, a while ago I started a thread asking why so many people felt the need to light fires when outdoors when they were not needed for cooking or warmth. The overwhelming response to my question was that people felt 'more comfortable and natural' if there was a fire. It didn't come up anywhere that it made a difference how the fire was made.
I'm not directing this at anyone in particular, though obviously Prawnster has made comments that I'm not wholly in agreement with, but I think it all comes down to opinions. Prawnster, you have yours, and I have mine. There's no right or wrong, so long as we both, and the OP, feel comfortable in what we do. Peace, and let's enjoy our shared passion for being outdoors, and not quibble over techniques.
It doesn't specify criteria.
Besides, a while ago I started a thread asking why so many people felt the need to light fires when outdoors when they were not needed for cooking or warmth. The overwhelming response to my question was that people felt 'more comfortable and natural' if there was a fire. It didn't come up anywhere that it made a difference how the fire was made.
I'm not directing this at anyone in particular, though obviously Prawnster has made comments that I'm not wholly in agreement with, but I think it all comes down to opinions. Prawnster, you have yours, and I have mine. There's no right or wrong, so long as we both, and the OP, feel comfortable in what we do. Peace, and let's enjoy our shared passion for being outdoors, and not quibble over techniques.
