Five-cent tinder

[kyratshooter]

Strange, the difference between city boys and country boys!

City boys; wax paper, cotton balls, toiliet tissue, canning wax, twist ties, "twig stoves"

Country boys; birch bark, cat tail fluff, cedar bark, fatwood, and a half dozen rocks in a circle.

[canid]

Scrap plastic:
burn time: as long as you want,
price: free, throughout most of the world,
bonus: you can see some pretty cool colors if used in confined spaces, or too close to your face.
downside: Colors likely to be followed by a pretty bad headache and possible long-term harm.

[Rick]

Exactly how bad is the harm 'cause I do like pretty colors.

[canid]

I'm not sure. There seem to be plenty of oldtimers still around and kicking who still burn all their household trash. Some of them don't seem to care much about what's hazardous and what's not. I still try to keep it to a minimum though, I get enough pollution in my lungs making my piles steel and wood dust.

[Stiffy]

My preferred tinder is fine birch bark, fine like cigarette paper.

Is Aspen bark the same? We've got a lot of Aspen around here.

[Stiffy]

Strange, the difference between city boys and country boys!

City boys; wax paper, cotton balls, toiliet tissue, canning wax, twist ties, "twig stoves"

Country boys; birch bark, cat tail fluff, cedar bark, fatwood, and a half dozen rocks in a circle.

My #3 suggestion was wax paper and dried grass (which I harvest along the county roads), so there's a little city and a little country in that one.

[nell67]

cork.jpgHere ya go,soaking corks in rubbing alcohol

[nobody]

I have sawdust mixed with diesel fuel in gallon cans all sealed up. I keep these at stash or cache spots, and at my hide out place. Never have failed me yet. Price, who knows or cares, it works.

[ElevenBravo]

Once on the AT, while not planning for an overnight but it turned into one, I had my fire kit, but not my tinder kit. That sucked. It had just rained hard the day before and any decent tinder was too wet.

We live, we learn...

[deafdave3]

Why do folks cover their cotton balls in vaseline? Will dryer lint work as well?

[Thomas Johnson]

Birch bark beats the lot.. always around when you need it, and lights like there is no tomorrow ;-)

[crashdive123]

Why do folks cover their cotton balls in vaseline? Will dryer lint work as well?

To extend the burn time.

[crashdive123]

Birch bark beats the lot.. always around when you need it, and lights like there is no tomorrow ;-)

Not necessarily true. If you are going to rely on birch bark where I live, you will be without tinder.

[Delta 5168]

Once on the AT, while not planning for an overnight but it turned into one, I had my fire kit, but not my tinder kit. That sucked. It had just rained hard the day before and any decent tinder was too wet.

We live, we learn...

11B, have you tried breaking off a dead limb and using the inner core scrapings for tender?

[Wildthang]

I was just reading this and trying to think of other natural tenders. What about all those little fuzzies on dandelions? I would think that they would dry out fast because they are off the ground, and it looks like a little ball of those would light with a ferro rod or a flint stricker.
Has anybody tried this?

[intothenew]

They are flash tender, just like pampas grass heads or cattail fluff. You best have some secondary tinder, or really dry kindling shaved, if you plan on using them.

[hunter63]

All my dryer lint smells like dog hair when burning.......I don't use it.....
It wise to do a walk-a bout in your area, as notice any possible natural tinder sources...then try them out.

If you have to drag some thing out in the bush with you, might just as well be a road flare.....

[intothenew]

....................Will dryer lint work as well?

As long as it is cotton.

[Highhawk1948]

a fuzz stick, pine sap, pine light'er.

[finallyME]

Why do folks cover their cotton balls in vaseline? Will dryer lint work as well?

vaseline makes it burn longer, so you have more time to get wet kindling lit. Covering cotton balls with dryer lint works, but it is the same as covering cotton balls with cotton balls. (I crack myself up).