Will a cattail take a spark immediately then? I opened one up once and they feel too silky like dandelion seeds. Do you just open it up and strike to it or fluff it all out?
I'd read that they are better soaked in water first and then dried and fluffed up as they make a better mass than lots of little silky seedlings that don't really want to bind together but rather just blow away.
I've had two attempts to get spark to birch bark so far and have failed twice. The first piece was from a fallen log and came off in a big sheet. It was obviously damp though and even after being left to dry in my coat for a couple of hours, scraping at the surface caused more of a dust than nice dry and curly shavings so wouldn't catch. It didn't go to waste as such as it made an excellent shelter from rain to an early flame and once it took a hold of flame it really helped to get wet kindling going.
The second time I tried was to get the real thin and papery bark that was shedding from a very young tree. It felt very dry and I even attempted to get spark to it indoors to improve my chances but no such luck. All I did was sort of rub sections of it between my hands to produce some shavings and to fluff up areas of the bark but it wouldn't take.
The shavings were still larger than the ones in the video but being so thin I found I couldn't use the technique in the videos above with the really thin stuff.
So somehow I think I need to find a birch bark in between the two extremes. Easier said than done on a wet and rainy day in the woodlands I've been in recently. Perhaps it doesn't help that in a substantial woodland that's been around for some time, most of the birch will have naturally died off from the bigger more shady trees taking over.
Any advice on how you collect the right kind of bark would be helpful, like what you know will work and what won't in typical British weather rather than on a dry summers day!
Cheers, Dave
I'd read that they are better soaked in water first and then dried and fluffed up as they make a better mass than lots of little silky seedlings that don't really want to bind together but rather just blow away.
I've had two attempts to get spark to birch bark so far and have failed twice. The first piece was from a fallen log and came off in a big sheet. It was obviously damp though and even after being left to dry in my coat for a couple of hours, scraping at the surface caused more of a dust than nice dry and curly shavings so wouldn't catch. It didn't go to waste as such as it made an excellent shelter from rain to an early flame and once it took a hold of flame it really helped to get wet kindling going.
The second time I tried was to get the real thin and papery bark that was shedding from a very young tree. It felt very dry and I even attempted to get spark to it indoors to improve my chances but no such luck. All I did was sort of rub sections of it between my hands to produce some shavings and to fluff up areas of the bark but it wouldn't take.
The shavings were still larger than the ones in the video but being so thin I found I couldn't use the technique in the videos above with the really thin stuff.
So somehow I think I need to find a birch bark in between the two extremes. Easier said than done on a wet and rainy day in the woodlands I've been in recently. Perhaps it doesn't help that in a substantial woodland that's been around for some time, most of the birch will have naturally died off from the bigger more shady trees taking over.
Any advice on how you collect the right kind of bark would be helpful, like what you know will work and what won't in typical British weather rather than on a dry summers day!
Cheers, Dave
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