What bombproof tinder?

TLM

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 16, 2019
3,227
1,701
Vantaa, Finland
Again, not man made!
Originally no but in the form I am using it, kind of. Sticky Napalm is actually quite good. Some of the proposed tinders tend to drip after lighting which is not desirable. Most vaxes and paraffins suffer from the same problem. A cup of gelled spirits is good in plus temps but difficult to ignite at -40C.
 

Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,774
Berlin
What's about lamp oil and such liquid barbecue starters in plastic bottles?

I did ignite relatively dry logs with that in my wood oven, that never would have caught fire with a Bic lighter, but I never tried it on really damp wood.
 

C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,623
2,684
Bedfordshire
Bicycle inner tube. Needs a flame to ignite, but 100% waterproof, burns hot and long, and can have other uses.
cross cut tube rings keep hanks of cord or tree strap webbing rolls tidy.
wider cross cut rings can be used to prevent spare loose batteries shorting.
Long strips can be used as stretch lashings for frames and structures.

You can make all sorts of tinder with melted paraffin wax (old candles, also sold in blocks to woodturners to seal wood ends while seasoning).

Can make composite fire starters, cotton wool, wax, cardboard, string, cardboard tubes from paper towel. Bet old roofing felt could find a role.
 
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Hammock_man

Full Member
May 15, 2008
1,488
568
kent
Of course one can have one's man servant trot alongside carrying a lit faggot or torch. Plus I have heard some of the lower classes carry a tallow stick of some kind, mounted in a Glass fronted box, which while combusting, provides light as well as a source of ignition. Hence one may roast their venison.
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,847
3,257
W.Sussex
I keep a few of these in the fire kit tin. Easy to carry, light, and bombproof.

 

Jared

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 8, 2005
3,565
745
51
Wales
Duct tape. Roll a strip of that and light it if have match/lighter.
Do also have the little 50ml jar of vaseline and some cotton in the pack.

Have noticed BCB make Mini Firedragon Fuel Pods, that are 7g and could be a clean fire starter, but not tried them.
 
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As you show us spruce and pine forest:

The little twigs of these trees should be fine. I have found dry ones in all weather conditions.

Once in Berlin I have even seen that a Sylvester rocket did ignite a living spruce tree. The tree nearly exploded.
a friend of mine did that with a "bad bitch" (=name of the firework rocket before anyone asks ) and a palm in her garden in the Top End of Oz...
over here the locals sometimes carry inner tube when heading in the jungle (i harvested dried sap from rubber trees but fortunately never was in a situation where it would be necessary :) )

did i miss something or has nobody mentioned magnesium yet?!
 
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Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,669
McBride, BC
Dead twigs in or near the core trunk of spruce and pine trees here are the driest and have lots of flammable resin ducts. You have to smash them into fluffy fiber with a rock or knife handle. That catches spark better and burns hotter and longer than most things.

Birch bark is OK but in the cold, trying to get flake and sheets is hard wearing mittens. Spruce twigs rule. Birch bark is better as a plate to work on to get sparks into spruce flames.

I have a solid magnesium bar with a rod of striking spark metal down one side. I used to practice on my hearth with birch bark. Fiddle and fiddle and fire in less than 45 seconds.

But what's the rush? By the time you feel you should make a stop, maybe strike an overnight camp, an extra 5 minutes messing with fire can't hurt the enterprise.

The snow isn't knee deep in my yard yet this winter. Maybe 2 feet by Monday. 8AM today was -26C. You need to get that fire up pretty darn quick. Lots of wood here for your experiments. To be honest, it is terrible cold out tonight.

Go outside my back door into the back yard for as long as you can stand it. Mess with fire. Come back in to think it over if fire doesn't come fast.
 

Herman30

Native
Aug 30, 2015
1,535
1,207
58
Finland
I have a couple of "paper logs" that are not finished yet (due to lazyness).
They are made of the inner cardboard tubes from toiletpaper roll.

Take one empty roll and keep it intact. Then when next roll is empty; take the cardboard inner tube and flatten it and the fold it in half and stuff it inside the first roll that is kept intact. Keep on doing this everytime a toiletpaper roll is used up.

You will end up with a square cardboard tube stuffed full with cardboard. It will take months or weeks depending on how many live in your household.

Now dip this cardboard log in melted candle all over so it its totally covered and waterproof. Now make a hole in it with an awl and stick a stormmatch into the hole so that only some 5mm is sticking out. To light the stormmatch use another match or lighter or a striker plane from a matchbox.

Like I said, I have not finished it (lacking is the melted candle covering and the stormmarch) so I do not know if it will function as I have imagined it.
 

Kadushu

If Carlsberg made grumpy people...
Jul 29, 2014
944
1,024
Kent
After messing about with various things over the years, now I just carry some of those wood fibre firelighters in a tin. You could get a bag of wood pellets and soak them in parrafin for a homebrew version.
 

BigMonster

Full Member
Sep 6, 2011
1,343
222
Manchester
I keep a few of these in the fire kit tin. Easy to carry, light, and bombproof.

They look great and would fit in my kit as they are soft. Any chance to get few in the post to test? Don't need a box of 100 :)
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,847
3,257
W.Sussex
They look great and would fit in my kit as they are soft. Any chance to get few in the post to test? Don't need a box of 100 :)
A definite maybe. We’re in the midst of a hurried move and it’s chaos here at the moment. I saw a few in the camping gear box yesterday, I’ll have a look.
 

BigMonster

Full Member
Sep 6, 2011
1,343
222
Manchester
After trying few options I ended up with scraps of inner tube. Free, light, durable and waterproof, burns hot and hard. And the biggest thing is I can shape it to my container so I have few circles at top and bottom of my exotac matchcap cushioning the matches, and on the outside ranger band style.
This way I have pretty solid fire kit (mini bic, UCO matches, rubber tinder inside the Matchcap XL) for fire in hard conditions. And a fire rod with tinder on my knife for redundancy and when I have time for proper firelighting.
If I don't have to be weight conscious and I know conditions will be crap without many natural tinder options I might take my trusty bottle of dragonfuel.

For anyone who have not tried it yet, light a strip of rubber in your garden. It's forgotten but great emergency tinder.
 
Inner tube, whilst not great for the environment does, very much, work. So useful when in a bind, and as others have said, multi purpose.

I make my own long-burning, easy-light starters:
Fill the cups of an old cardboard egg box with sawdust (I use chainsaw chips). Pour over enough molten wax to saturate the wood and the cardboard.
Bingo.
I keep them in my tinder bag, and squirrelled into places. Pretty much waterproof too.
They're quite bulky compared to some, but a half, even a quarter, goes a long way.
You can fluff up the cardboard to take a spark and they cost almost my favourite price (free)
Waxed cotton pads work well too. But you have to buy them, and you don't get breakfast ;)
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
8,457
8,324
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
Inner tube, whilst not great for the environment does, very much, work. So useful when in a bind, and as others have said, multi purpose.

I make my own long-burning, easy-light starters:
Fill the cups of an old cardboard egg box with sawdust (I use chainsaw chips). Pour over enough molten wax to saturate the wood and the cardboard.
Bingo.
I keep them in my tinder bag, and squirrelled into places. Pretty much waterproof too.
They're quite bulky compared to some, but a half, even a quarter, goes a long way.
You can fluff up the cardboard to take a spark and they cost almost my favourite price (free)
Waxed cotton pads work well too. But you have to buy them, and you don't get breakfast ;)

LOL, mine are in eggboxes as well but it's chainsaw sawdust mixed in DIY Napalm :)

Works really well but making it is more trouble than it's worth when you can buy stuff like those BBQ starter sachets discussed above.

eggbox naparm.jpg
 

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
612
423
Derby
Looking for ideas and experience with various man made tinders. For a roaring welcoming fire you need:
A. Source of ignition.
B. Enough tinder to get the big stuff going.

I'm all sorted on the first front with good supply of ferro rods, BIC lighters, peanut lighters, waterproof matches and occasional go at friction fire. I'm all for gathering birch bark and fat wood, splitting wood and feather stick making. But sometimes after many miles in crappy conditions you want fire right here and right now. What can I carry to "cheat" and have a fire as quick and easy as possible in this kind of conditions:




Most times that's when you need it the most. I've had good experience with Wettinder by UST but it's stupid expensive. Recently been carrying a small squirty bottle of Dragonfuel gel which is great as you can start cooking on the fire asap, there is no petrol stink to it. So something that can be chucked between half dry sticks in less than perfect conditions to help kick start the fire. I guess more of a survival question
I for one always carry cotton wool buds rolled in Vaseline in my tinder pouch.. even when everything seems soaked, it’s never failed as a back up.
 

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