Prepering tinder fungus

[MountanWolf]

Hey!

I've been trying to prepare tinder fungus for some time without luck. First of all I've cut off the pores and very hard grey outer crust and boiled soft brown layer in ashes and then while drying I've hammered it.

When dry I've tried to get a spark with flint and steel and its not working as with the fungus I got with Swedish Natural Flint & Steel Firelighting Kit.

What am I doing wrong?

[hunter63]

Have you contacted the company you bought it from?
I have picked up many pieces of "fire fungus" even bought some from a guy (like $.50 cents for a couple of big ones...) that was supposed to be fire fungus, I don't think he knew what it was, as his big thing was selling all sorts or herb tea, and mushrooms at a farmers market.

I'm thinking that this were false fungus, as I haven't had much luck, as well.
I have broken it into pieces, ground it up, and haven't caught a spark yet either.
It will burn, or I should say "glow" when lit with a lighter.....
I will continue my search for the real stuff when ever I'm in a woods with birches in it.

Did the conversion, looks like about $46 bucks US......WOW.

[Jimmyq]

I've got a fungus that I collected to try to get a spark on, it was from a dead birch stump and looks promising. I also collect the bark whenever I can, one of my jobsites has half a dozen 10 year old trees, I visit that site weekly and try to come away with a small pocket full

[tjwilhelm]

I don't believe tinder fungus needs any special prep, other than drying. When it catches a spark, it does not burst into flame. It smolders and "burns" kind of like carbon...it has a red, growing and glowing ember. It's also tough to smother it out.

The reason you find it among the herb teas and such is because it is also used to brew a tea alleged to fight cancer.

[Graf]

Sounds like False Fungus I have alot around here I have tried even pulverizing in a blender, no go. If you can get some Chaga fungus that would be a score even as a medcinal tea, but accepts a spark well. Heres a helpful link http://www.primalconnection.com/Arti...tAndSteel.html

[crashdive123]

As TJ said - tinder fungus does not need to be prepared....just used.

[hunter63]

The stuff i got from the framers market guy, as well as some it picked up my self, appears to be "shelf fungus" accoring to the site tyat graf posted.....Thaks for that.
Guess i gonna have to give it a another go.

[RandyRhoads]

Hmm fire fungus... Can anyone give the real name of this? CANID perhaps? Is it a lichen?

[crashdive123]

Hmm fire fungus... Can anyone give the real name of this? CANID perhaps? Is it a lichen?

True tinder fungus, usually referred to as tinder fungus grows on birch trees.

Inonotus obliquus, commonly known as chaga mushroom (a Latinisation of the Russian term 'чага'), is a fungus in Hymenochaetaceae family. It is parasitic on birch and other trees. The sterile conk is irregularly formed and has the appearance of burnt charcoal. It is not the fruiting body of the fungus, but a mass of mycelium, mostly black due to the presence of massive amounts of melanin. The fertile fruiting body can be found very rarely as a resupinate (crustose) fungus on or near the clinker, usually appearing after the host tree is dead. I. obliquus grows in birch forests of Russia, Korea, Eastern and Northern Europe, northern areas of the United States, in the North Carolina mountains and in Canada. The chaga mushroom is considered a medicinal mushroom that has a place in Russian and Eastern European folk medicine.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inonotus_obliquus

There are many other types of fungus that can be used in a similar manner. Around here there is a shelf (or hoof) fungus that grows on dead oaks and it makes an excellent tinder. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomes_fomentarius

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[Rick]

I've posted this before be a lot of the new folks haven't seen it. Here's an excellent write up with pics on tinder fungus. You can see how it "burns" and how to use it as a bush stove.

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/surv...ove/index.html

[hunter63]

So far all the stuff I collected must be "duds"....LOL.

[Rick]

Maybe you need some tinder..izer......I slay myself.

[hunter63]

Maybe best that mine haven't started a fire ...yet....you know, fire department and all......

[crashdive123]

Yep, given your history - fire retardant fire starters are probably best.

[Rick]

Yeah but....If it's.....wouldn't that.....never mind.

[Pale E O]

Mountainwolf,
New to this format, tried to post a reply but it didn't show, so hope this repeat isn't a double.
You are getting lots of good advice. Here is another resource.

First, don't get discouraged, you are on the right track. Before you toss your fungus, be sure it is completely dry, rough up the edge held near the edge of the flint so it becomes fuzzy, and be sure your flint is good and sharp so it will peel off a bit of steel big enough to stay hot long enough to ignite the fungus.

Tinder fungus apparently isn't growing in your back yard, so check out this article on Primitiveways.com. Look under the what's new section for "Alternatives to Amadou". It lists several other fungi that can be used and something about how to process them.

Advice on tinder fungus is confusing and divergent because there is more than one way to do it, more than one fungus that can be used, and the same common name is used for several different species.
If you know the scientific names, then you can google a description and some good photos from the mycological society, and figure out what you've got.

Innanotus obliquus is what most people call chaga or true tinder fungus. It has a long history of use as a tinder in Canada, the USA, and Europe. It doesn't make amadou (a fungal felt). It catches a spark without processing. It is fairly rigid and light, yellow-rusty colored inside. It looks like a burt up cancer on the tree, and grows most frequently on birch.
Fomes fomentarius is what they make amadou from. Amadou is either a felt or a mass of scraped up fiber from the corky layer under the surface of this conk. It is an exellent flint and steel tinder. This fungus is also called tinder fungus, tinder conk, false tinder fungus, horse hoof fungus, etc. It grows mostly on birch and it looks like a horse's hoof.
Fomes has two look alikes that also like birch. Fomitopsis pinicola (red-belted conk) which doesn't make a very good tinder and has more of a shelf shape. Another is Phellinus igniarius (also called false tinder conk and also with a horse hoof shape but with a grey, often cracked top surface). This one apparently has been used for tinder, but I haven't tried it.

Have fun exploring the tinder options.

And Crashdive, if you read this, can you post a photo of the fungus you found as it appears on oaks... the one that works well for you... is that it in the photo?... hmm seems I've seen that photo or one like it before... posted elsewhere?

Thanks,

Pale E O

[hunter63]

Thanks for the advice and Welcome to the forum.

There is an introduction section should you care to "Say Hey" to the whole group.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions

[crashdive123]

And Crashdive, if you read this, can you post a photo of the fungus you found as it appears on oaks... the one that works well for you... is that it in the photo?... hmm seems I've seen that photo or one like it before... posted elsewhere?

Thanks,

Pale E O

I have posted those pics in a couple of places. Here are a few pics.

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[Pale E O]

Thank you Crashdive. Those are nice photos. I'm not sure of the species but might be able to find out... it would help to have a view of the underside too for color/pore size/pore shape.... and know the general region where it was found. Hope asking isn't presuming too much.