Fresnel lens, tinder, and good intentions

[chem_doc]

Hey all... New here and new to bushcraft. I'm fascinated by the idea of just being able to live off the land, should I need to.

Since I'm new to this, I've decided that the first area of bushcraft that I should tackle would be building a fire without matches. The wife thinks I'm insane or have suddenly become a pyromaniac, but I digress...

I've made charcloth (great stuff!) and will probably tomorrow give cotton balls/vaseline or wax a try, but, when you get down to it, I'd like to know that I could, under the right conditions, light a fire with just what I have available. Plus, if I can light a fire without the manmade tinder, then if I do have that stuff, it should be a snap.

I arrived at thisgreat plan, because I figured with fire, I could stay warm. I could make safe(r) drinking water. I could cook game/plants. I guess, thinking back to the stone age, with fire, I can get by.

My great plan was, I thought, to start with relatively easy methods and work my way up to harder ones for starting a fire. I figured I'd start with a credit card-sized fresnel lens, then the magnesium/flint starter, then a Fire Steel, and finally a bow drill.

I'm failing miserably with the first method, which isn't doing a lot for my confidence!

For now, I'm mucking around with the tinder I can find in our back yard, mostly long pine needles (dry!) and some punky oak and maple from dead branches. The pine needles go up within seconds using char cloth, but I'll be dipped if I can get it to ignite with the fresnel lens.

Oh, sure, I can get the stuff smoldering/smoking. In one spot. And then it goes out. The wood burns like a fury. As long as the lens is focused on it. I've tried gently blowing on the tinder while trying to keep the lens focused on the tinder. Nada.

Any tips on how best to arrange the tinder? Is there some trick to getting the punky wood smoldering, then maybe putting it in the pine needles? Is there some method I'm not aware of for preparing the pine needles?

I tell ya, for what I thought was the easiest method to learn... I'm hoping the magnesium works better....

 

[Ogri the trog]

Hey CD,
Don't worry about it, if making fire without any technology was easy, this planet would be a lot hotter than it is now! You're doing the right thing in moving on in stages, but it'll take a lot of practice and a little priveledged information to get it right. Have a read of British Red's article about fire, it might offer some insight into what you think you are lacking - but remember it's not easy.
You'll soon see that there are two distinct skills in fire making, first is creating the ember and second is to coax that ember into a flame. I'd recommend that you try finding some Cramp Ball fungus or Horses Hoof fungus or any of the others that have been discussed on here - they will allow you to extend the life of an ember so that you get a better chance of blowing it into a flame.
Next would be a bit of research into natural tinders and how to prepare them, cedar bark, hemp rope etc. Before you know it you'll be onto flint & striker and be passing from bow-drill to hand-drill!

Good luck

Ogri the trog

 

[chem_doc]

With it being the weekend and all, I fiddled a bit more with things today. But, to be honest, American Football is on today (my sport of choice) and I have fantasy teams to worry about.

OK, that's excuse #1. Excuse #2 is that it's overcast today, so I can't fiddle with the lens today.

That said, I took a step back and rethought things. The tinder I'm trying to use (A) doesn't seem to really want to "catch a spark," and (B) is tough to get the lens to focus on in one area. By that, I mean, because I'm trying to light pine needles, the light will be focused on a few of them, but that doesn't seem to be enough to get the pine needles to catch.

I moved on to rethinking and redoing more tinder today.

I made some cotton pads soaked with candle wax this AM. These are handy! It's windy here, and they were tough to put out by blowing on them once lit. OK, OK... I did cheat a little and tested them out with a match, but still, it's another weapon.

I found a pretty good ancient (and very dry) maple branch that was caught in another branch in the tree and held off of the ground. Beside possibly providing a good spindle for the bow drill, I think I've found better tinder.

I broke off a handful of twigs for use later as kindling and stored most of those away for another time.

I took a slightly larger piece of the wood and shaved curls off of it. To this, I added some curls of dry punk that I also found. (I cut away the wet-ish outer layer to get to the dry stuff).

Again, since it's overcast, I "cheated" and tried holding a match to it. This stuff, when "lit" smoldered like a fury. I was able to get a small fire going (I wasn't going for a big roaring fire. I figure if I can get the kindling going, it counts.)

To do this, once the curls were smoldering, I put the pine needles on top and blew that into a flame. Once that was going, the kindling was added and it took off fairly well.

So I *think* I'm in a better spot to try the lens again once the sun decides to come out...

 

[bikething]

i've only had a little play with firestarting using a credit card sized magnifier....

I think in the UK a bigger lens is needed !!!!!

I also found that darker tinder tended to start smoking quicker as it absorbs more light energy. For a demonstration of this, try lighting a bit of white newspaper... then move the spot onto the black print and see how much quicker it smokes?

the only other thing i would say is don't look at the spot of light too long!!! even dark glasses weren't enough to prevent me seeing spots for quite a while after - i'm carrying a small piece of dark acrylic with my lens now... and use it like a welders shield.

 

[Porcupine]

it also might be worth to rub the needles to smaller bits between your hands before you start.

 

[rich59]

I have used a small lens to get a tinder going.

Certainly any extender can help tremendously:- a big clump of charcloth, cramp ball fungus, birch polypore fungus, punky wood.

I also had success with my crumbled leaf sandwich tinder. Get a few handfuls of dry leaves. Rub them a bit at a time between your hands. Lift off the fibrous stuff and pile it on a bit of wood at least 6" square. Left behind is some crumbly, powdery stuff. Scrape this together and carefully poke it into one side of the pile of fibrous stuff. Then put another, smaller piece of wood on top.

Then focus your sunlight on the powdery stuff. Keep going, and burn into the lump, gently start blowing till you get more and more red glow. Take the lens away and keep blowing to spread the glow.

 

[TheGreenMan]

...Oh, sure, I can get the stuff smoldering/smoking. In one spot. And then it goes out.

Try fanning it with something. Introducing more oxygen is usually successful with something that is smouldering. After a few seconds of vigorous fanning, it usually bursts into flame.

Cheers,
Paul.