Getting enough natural tinder for fire starting.. in winter.

[intothenew]

Stick bundles:

Standing Autumn Olive, not dead. It feels dry, but it ain't.

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Put a flame to it, it starts then goes out.

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Put flame to it again, it lights up,

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Then goes out again.

Now, back to the good stuff. Standing dead Poplar.

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Light,

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And it went pretty quick, so quick that I had to pitch it. My fault for not making the bundle long enough. Sorry about the photo, but I was in kind of a hurry at that particular moment.

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Standing dead Pine, and I didn't even break it. I think I was still licking my fingers is the reason this one is fuzzy.

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[crashdive123]

In other news.....Fire crews that are battling the West Virginia wild fires of 2013 are saying "it looks as thought somebody went willy nilly into the wilds setting demonstration fires."

[intothenew]

LOL

I'm good, but I ain't that good. We lost a 4-6 inch snow pack in the last 72 hours, an inch of rain on top of that. I don't think I could start a forest fire with one of those road flares that Hunter talks about, maybe singe a pine tree or two. But, I can win a few small battles. Now we have this next fire suppression system coming in and it has bad breath. Things could get sporty this evening/tonight. For those that prefer truck camping, I want you to know that I have some rolled up newspaper, split kiln dried kindling, and split Oak ready to go in the fire box at Martha's nest. So, I'm practicing for that day too.


But, we are not entirely out of danger. The varmints are coming this weekend, so the exothermic reaction powers will increase four fold.

[crashdive123]

The Fire Ninjas.

[Mozartghost1791]

Hmmm... no fear of starting a forest fire after saying that two things "went up like a match". I don't know about you, but I think that lighting parts of the surrounding foliage and then just leaving them is a recipe for disaster, 70 percent humidity or not!

[intothenew]

I'll take my come upins. Crash tried to tell me and I wouldn't listen. Stupid. I could go through a dissertation of why it couldn't but the facts are that it somehow can. I'm sure the Fire Marshall has heard it a thousand times, "I can't believe it got away from me".

[hunter63]

What I want to know, did ya ever get that BIG tree to catch?.....That was quite a jump from tinder to fuel.......LOL

[intothenew]

What I want to know, did ya ever get that BIG tree to catch?..

No, it was not a pine. I don't think. (serious LOL)

...That was quite a jump from tinder to fuel.......LOL

And a bit self conscious;

Convention would be to place the tinder on a "base", then lay the "fuel"(twig bundle) across a brace adjoining the base. Throw a spark at the tinder and............

The point I was trying to make, with a terrible delivery, was that you can always find tinder. And second, given the knowledge of fuel and pocket tinder (PJ cotton balls, match, Bic), you can light wet/damp fuel given the proper technique.

[Mozartghost1791]

Now all we need to do is find the right kind of tinder to start a fire with the bow/drill in the middle of winter. A bit more difficult cause it has to catch this tiny little spark and somehow not blow away when you blow it into flame.

[crashdive123]

Sorry about that ITN - seems that my humor was lost on some.

[intothenew]

Sorry about that ITN - seems that my humor was lost on some.

Well taken, by all.

[Wise Old Owl]

I'm not sure that I'm following you, but I'll try.


A fuzz stick from standing dead will light with a match or lighter, even in wet conditions. You just have to split, or whittle your way to the dry wood. Some will take a spark, I know Poplar will. So, a fuzz stick lit and dropped into the stove, followed by dry shavings, and then the sticks (pencil lead and pencil size to start). Or, drop the fuzz stick and shaving in then light it with a match or lighter from underneath.



Second would be a twig bundle. Again, I prefer standing dead Poplar. Pencil lead size bundle half the size of your grip, double the entire bundle breaking the twigs and exposing the center. Tie that together with a piece of inner bark or grass. Light the broken end, and drop that in the stove. Mors Kochanski has a few videos on twig bundles, as well as BushcraftUSA.

found a few video's it was interesting - yea I can start a small bundle and transfer.

Roger on the backyard practice, KY. Also a good time to do mods if you have a good idea. Practice under the worst conditions - at night, cold, wet, wind, wife telling you how you should be doing it, 883 WS friends telling you how to do it and of course, the right way!

Yes I have and it looks funny from the road, a few have stopped or slowed down. The Bird Bath froze and I am using it as a table. ( My bird bath is on fire! )

I thought about ya on the walk and took a few pics. Snow melt just left Monday from rain, it had only drizzled and sprinkled since sun up. This is from roughly 4-5 p.m. yesterday (8 hours after solid rain had stopped). Humidity was right around 70 percent. I had no fear of starting a forest fire.

Flash tinder:

Weed seed heads went up like a match.

Grass seed heads went up like a match.

Beech leaf went up like a match.

excellent pictures, yea if that's wet and works that's what I am looking for.

[Wise Old Owl]

i want to refresh this thread as it interests me - thoughts on Pine nodules?

[kyratshooter]

I didn't know you could make noodles out of pine, much less make them burn.

[Wise Old Owl]

OK I got this I was using stick and twigs that were too large - I re-learned to go smaller and the stove cranks out 2 cups in 4.5 minutes to rolling boils... I can start it with a magnfying glass or a micro bic and got the hang of it... thanks for the help ... these stoves fold flat and will be 3-6 ounces depending on size... excellent.

[randyt]

Beings the birch bark is a no go, scrapings of fatwood make a good tinder. The stuff takes off with a spark rod really well. So does a smear of balsam pitch. The balsam pitch is found in the blisters located on the bark of the balsam.

[jon12712]

if there's birch around look for Tinder Fungus