Yes! Char cloth at my first attempt!

[Amon81]

Hello all,

Well I've been meaning to try this for ages.

I gave it a go in my garden and I can see why people make it.

A few photo's I took while doing it.

I used and old cotton shirt.



I used an awl to make the hole (its the one off Ray Mears site and it a cracking bit of kit), I maked a sheath for it with a little bit of Moose leather I had left over.



I heated it up on a low heat, I did turn it up a bit as it was very windy, I used myself as a windbrake.





Cooled down and opened the tin, looked good.



One spark and up it went.

Time to chop the rest of the shirt up and make a load of it.

 

[SimonM]

Excellent!

When you say it took a spark, what were you using?

 

[Amon81]

I used a Swedish army fire steel. It did that from the first strike.

 

[g4ghb]

nice and clearly done - it feels good doesn't it when it catches that first spark and you know your effort was not in vain

 

[SimonM]

I used a Swedish army fire steel. It did that from the first strike.

In that case...your next challenge is to make fire using flint & a steel striker, coupled with your new char cloth

Simon

 

[Amon81]

Very true!

Not only that it's the thought of making something so useful too.

Its pretty easy to see how people mess up doing it by letting in too much air or not letting it burn for long enough.

 

[Amon81]

In that case...your next challenge is to make fire using flint & a steel striker, coupled with your new char cloth

Simon

I know, I've been wanting to make char cloth before I got a steel striker.

I'm going to get one next payday. Speaking of which anyone recomend a link to a good value nice looking one.

 

[naefearjustbeer]

I tried making char cloth tonight now I have never seen any char cloth in the flesh before so not sure what it should feel like. However mine ended up only partially blackened and very brittle and fell to pieces as soon as I tried to take it out of the tin. I used an old sweety tin with a small hole punched in the top and set it on top of some charcoal for a while. It made some gos awfull smelling smoke for about 5 minutes then the smoke slowed down so took this as a signal to be ready!

 

[chris_r]

When I make it it comes out jet black. In the past I've resealed the tin and put it back in the fire to achieve the desired result, which worked fine. I've always found it best to wait until there is no smoke and leave if for a while longer. I don't think you can over cook it.

 

[caliban]

Great work, well done! It's fantastic stuff too. you should have a go at igniting it with the reflector from an old torch ar a glass lens, you'll be surprised. The last pic is too cool BTW.

 

[Survival Sense]

Charcloth is a standard item in any survival kit I carry (and I have several). In addition to working with a flint and steel, charcloth is also great for catching any spark you might make, from any source, be it from a broken lighter, jumper cables from a car battery, etc.

Here's the directions for making charcloth I use with my scout troop. We have been using this method for going on 10 years, and it is tried and tested: http://survivalcommonsense.com/2010/03/27/make-charclothfeed/. We generally use larger cans, since we make and use lots of charcloth. But I have found nothing better than an Altoids can for cooking the material.
Here's another link on the uses of charcloth in every kit:
http://survivalcommonsense.com/2010/01/13/include-charcloth-in-every-survival-kits/feed

Obviously, I'm sold on the material!
Leon