Hunter I use the fine wisps of bark. They catch a spark and start burning, they don't smolder.Originally Posted by hunter63
When I'm preparing to build a fire I'll gather a large handful of the birch bark. It catches fast and burns very hot.
Hunter I use the fine wisps of bark. They catch a spark and start burning, they don't smolder.
When I'm preparing to build a fire I'll gather a large handful of the birch bark. It catches fast and burns very hot.
1. If it's in your kit and you don't know how to use it....It's useless.
2. If you can't reach your kit when you need it....Its useless.
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Got ya, I have bark in my tinder kit, I guess I never though about just sparking the bark wisps.........Hummmmm,
Thanks.
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First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
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No problem Hunter, thats what brothers are for.
1. If it's in your kit and you don't know how to use it....It's useless.
2. If you can't reach your kit when you need it....Its useless.
Alaska Backcountry Adventure Tours
www.youralaskavacation.com
Tell them Kevin sent you!!
AS, it's not the same at all. The sparks are gone pretty fast from a firesteel or ferro rod (I will use the term interchangably sometimes), so you need something to catch one and smolder into tinder.
MY definition of tinder is something used to catch fire. Bowdrill tinder and firesteel tinder aren't the same, although I use some of the same ingredients. You can light fatlighterd with a match, but without something to produce a flame first, you won't light fatlighterd with the bowdrill ember nor firesteel spark. Fatlighterd by my definition is "kindling" and not "tinder". Does that make sense?
tinder can catch a spark or ember and propagate it further into a "tindle" which is a bundle of something flammable, like dry grass or bark. once you have established a flame in your tindle (tinder-bundle), you use kindling (like fatlighterd) to establish fire by adding more twigs (also called kindling down here) of increasing size.
hopefully I haven't completely confused anyone, but that's my redneck dictionary for ya
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You can't even catch lighter knot shavings with a spark.
I gave a buddy a ferro rod as I do most people that camp with us. He was beside his self with the ability to make fire by spark. His Gerber Gator folder would not make sparks and so he got a strip of hack saw blade.
Did you mean to say can't? I've not had a problem with fat lighter shavings catching a spark.
More to add to the list.
We have a eucalyptus tree in my grandma's yard. The squirrels have been climbing up it and have knocked off a few nice chunks. (I really gotta get some pics uploaded!). Crumble up, and fray one end and it catches flame real easy. Transfer the flame to a piece of fatlighterd, and put the piece of bark out. save it for another fire. I'm gonna stick a few pieces in my bag.
I think the "mystery pine cone thing" was a female cone in it's growing stage. I found a few more that the wind knocked out. They all worked really well.
I crushed and frayed a regular cone by stomping and rolling it. It worked very well also.
admittedly, everyone might not be able to find a eucalyptus tree, but odds are you can find some bark with similar properties.
Might be time for hunter to update that list. It's getting to be a pretty good one!
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller
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YCC dod make some additions to the list, might have missed some, been packing up for a trip to " The Place"
I check it tomorrow to see if I missed any.
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Evoking the 50 year old rule...
First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27
Found some sycamore "puffballs" today and fluffed one up. tucked it in some dry grass and had fire in seconds. A few were still hanging on the trees so you can find that stuff in the woods this time of year, both on and off the trees.
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller
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Bonus points for Klkak. Check this out!
Wen fishing yesterday for white bass. We caught a good mess.
We pulled up on a sandbar, and I got out to cool off in the water, and I noticed behind me this tree:
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so I pulled a little of the loose bark off and pulled out my EDC ferro rod.
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I might mention I sharpened one side of the striker to be somewhat more knifelike. gave it a quick shave and voila. No powdering or anything. this was straight off the tree.
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Excellent! Thanks Klkak!
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller
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I grabbed a couple handfulls of what was on the ground and some that was really loose on the tree and stuck in a waterproof bag in my tacklebox. If I ever get caught in the rain, I'll have some dry tinder to start a fire and dry off with while fishing!
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller
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The only tinder that you can find in my woods during the winter is old mans beard. In the summer i just use the dry dead grass.
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I try to supplement that with douglas fir resin when i need that extra room to get damp wood going.
If its raining out and i have nothing in my pack, i always have to use dry wood scrapings which can be a real pain in the ***. Nearly impossible when your shivering from the cold. Occasionally ill find redwood trees, if i cut into the inner bark i can get to the dry stuff. It works ok but tends to burn itself out at times.
I should have said I can't. I find with lighter knot you have to heat the resin to burn. Then once it goes it goes good and hot.
I shaved as fine as I could down some shavings and tried to spark them with a fero rod. I got nodda.
Maybe you could post how you got it to work? It is all over in the places I camp so it would be nice to add it to something that will flame from a spark.
Actually, I should I haven't yet. But, just might with a little help from my friends!
Well, i have gotten non fatwood wood shavings going with a ferro rod, mabeye your not shaving a big enough pile or concentrating your sparks enough. Or mabeye you have one of those POS light my fire firesteels, the harder to strike "misch metal" ones make much hotter sparks.I should have said I can't. I find with lighter knot you have to heat the resin to burn. Then once it goes it goes good and hot.
I shaved as fine as I could down some shavings and tried to spark them with a fero rod. I got nodda.
Maybe you could post how you got it to work? It is all over in the places I camp so it would be nice to add it to something that will flame from a spark.
Actually, I should I haven't yet. But, just might with a little help from my friends!
This guy does a good demo on using heartwood shavings to start a fire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I_WSt4tJu0
I thought I shaved off enough. My POS fire steels are from firesteel.com. I think the 5/16" or 3/8" is the biggest one I have tried. They light all of my fires. But, if there is something that is that much better please let me know.
I'll have to try again.
I scrape a pile much like I do with a magnesium block, add a few shavings to the "powder" scrapings so there is something to burn for a bit.
I have a good bit of it on hand and will be experimenting this week as time permits. I will be happy as a PIS if I can get this to burn.
But, in all honesty, I can just use readily hand tinder and I usually don't have a problem getting the lighter knot lit that way.
Here some picks of lighter knot. I cut a sliver and it takes a couple of seconds to light with a lighter. Then it really doesn't like to go out.
Lighter knot on the ground. Drift wood style.
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Whats inside.
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This whole tree is lighter knot.
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Don't ask me why it didn't all burn up in the fire. But, we have standing dead trees all over.
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I used a lighter to light this. But, I use fire steel with tinder to light all my fires.
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The place we are at in these photos taken last weekend and where I went this weekend do not have a lot of hardwood. So our fires are pine and we usually put charcoal on the ground and cook on a metal grate or pans. I use match light and then add kingsford. I can not get match light lit with firesteel either. A tleast, not quickly enough to justify not just walking a few feet and grabbing tinder from a palm and putting that on the side of the charcoal and hitting the tinder with sparks.
So, if you can light match light with fire steel also then it must be my technique or the fire steel I am using.
you mention palm.
My BIL gave me a piece of palm bark to try as a hearthboard. I wonder if I could shave some of it off and catch a spark. I haven't walked up on one in the woods, but would still be interesting to know.
I found some tall unknown grass today that had wispy blades on the upper part.. reminded me of the birch bark wisps. took a few of those and tucked under the bulk of the grass and after just a few strikes, fire. It was cool because I ran off and left my Bic at home. surprising how much stuff will propagate a spark into flame when you actually go trying random stuff
Crash, don't you have a palm tree in your yard? You might try it too, I don't know right off where I tucked the piece I was given.. probably buried in one of my cabinets lol. If you take a notion, let us know how it goes.
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller
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Eye Candy
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@Batch - I've read that the most resinous woods are found when a tree suffers sudden damage (lightning or fire) which causes it to start producing massive amounts of sap to try and protect the tree.
@YCC - The palms in my yard have the spiked (really sharp) stalks. They would probably make a better field expedient weapon. I'll give em a try at some point.
Crash, I have heard the same thing.
YCC, Palm is very prominent down here. The place I hunt lists slash pine and sabal palms as the two most common trees. Do you known what type of palm tree the bark is from?
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