Anybody else use this method ? I usually place a bowdrill ember into middle off a small pile off punkwood punkwood catches n glows very easily I just build my fire on top off the punkwood bowl using birch bark as a catlylist .
Punkwood tinder bundle
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Have done. Also used charred punk wood for catching sparks from flint and steel, but usually find that punk wood holds moisture for longer than the barks and grasses used for tinder. Very much depends on location, season, weather.
Have you looked into Rich59's damp tinder method?
Have you looked into Rich59's damp tinder method?
I make tinder bundles. They're a mix, but there's always something that I can work on, something that will hold the heat, something that will feed that and something that will let me hold it to blow and carry it into flame.
It's a tidy wee packet and easy to keep in a pocket. It's just dry stuff put together when it's at hand.
Where I live it's not just damp, it's often sodden, so dry stuff is at a premium.
Original old thread.
bushcraftuk.com
It's a tidy wee packet and easy to keep in a pocket. It's just dry stuff put together when it's at hand.
Where I live it's not just damp, it's often sodden, so dry stuff is at a premium.
Original old thread.
Tinder bundles
We've had a few threads recently on tinder, and I mentioned in one that I make tinder bundles from the assortment of 'stuff' that I find, forage or have lying around. I've worked the past two weekends demonstrating both natural dyes and firelighting, with a bronze and iron age basis. I cleared...
bushcraftuk.com
Another great tinder bundle is moss even damp it's absorbent properties means it dries very fast like a sponge it's naturally fluffy needs no buffing up ,and catches the ember very well. It burns out quickly though ,so needs fast catching things like silver birch added on top to get fire going fully dried moss flames up n blackens very fast indeed.
Nice cordage what plant u using?I make tinder bundles. They're a mix, but there's always something that I can work on, something that will hold the heat, something that will feed that and something that will let me hold it to blow and carry it into flame.
It's a tidy wee packet and easy to keep in a pocket. It's just dry stuff put together when it's at hand.
Where I live it's not just damp, it's often sodden, so dry stuff is at a premium.
Original old thread.
Tinder bundles
We've had a few threads recently on tinder, and I mentioned in one that I make tinder bundles from the assortment of 'stuff' that I find, forage or have lying around. I've worked the past two weekends demonstrating both natural dyes and firelighting, with a bronze and iron age basis. I cleared...
View attachment 83255
Literally using damp leaves. I watched him do it years ago, and was frankly astonished that it worked. It worked well too.
This is the link to his original thread on the forum. It's a long read, but it's interesting.
bushcraftuk.com
This is the link to his original thread on the forum. It's a long read, but it's interesting.
Damp tinder for fire - YES!
There was it seems a bit of a stir at the bushmoot when, during a hand drill tutorial I used a tinder design apparently not familiar to many (or any?) that got fire easily from damp materials, starting only with a small coal. I must say that it was a surprise to me that it was a surprise to...
bushcraftuk.com
Thanks Mary!
Obviously, one does not actually have to use damp leaves! It is more about proving that there is a technique that will give success even with decidedly sub-optimal materials.
Obviously, one does not actually have to use damp leaves! It is more about proving that there is a technique that will give success even with decidedly sub-optimal materials.
Moss....depends on the kind, but yeah, found out how well it can burn the hard (stupid) way. Spring lawn moss raking, got great piles of the stuff all over the lawn, it had been dry a while, but it was still pale green. It felt fluffy and dry to touch and wondered if it would burn much. I put a light to a big handful and it was a bit like the fools that experiment with gasoline, in very short order I had several clumps on fire. Not big flames, but persistent and easily spread. Took weeks for the grass to recover from getting singed!
He picked up a handful of leaves, and they were damp, and he crumbled them. He said that was the ...forgotten the word he used...but basically it need to crumble, it didn't work with them whole or not crumble-able, and he used it as tinder and he made fire just as quickly as we did using dry carefully picked over stuff.
It was impressive
It was impressive
……… again I am writing from a very broad and long standing lack of bushcraft experience. My apologies for any heresy.
I use a ferrocerium rod and my usual tinder is cotton wool balls or tumble dryer fluff (cotton). At one time I would collect ragwort seeds.
However:
I have noticed that some leaves - oak and beech particularly, become partially skeletal as they rot. Even if they are damp it takes very little heat from the spark to dry a filament of the vein and set fire to it - ok - so maybe a few attempts.
Once fired and if you are lucky the flame progressively dries and burns the rest of the damp (but not wet!) leaf and you are away. It’s an interesting exercise but I’ll stick with my cotton wool balls.
Edited to add. Cotton wool is compact and very portable but this thread has triggered a thought. Has anyone fired a teased out cotton rope end? That would be a totally portable and forgettable tinder bundle. I’ll try that.
I use a ferrocerium rod and my usual tinder is cotton wool balls or tumble dryer fluff (cotton). At one time I would collect ragwort seeds.
However:
I have noticed that some leaves - oak and beech particularly, become partially skeletal as they rot. Even if they are damp it takes very little heat from the spark to dry a filament of the vein and set fire to it - ok - so maybe a few attempts.
Once fired and if you are lucky the flame progressively dries and burns the rest of the damp (but not wet!) leaf and you are away. It’s an interesting exercise but I’ll stick with my cotton wool balls.
Edited to add. Cotton wool is compact and very portable but this thread has triggered a thought. Has anyone fired a teased out cotton rope end? That would be a totally portable and forgettable tinder bundle. I’ll try that.
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Yes. Charred cotton rope in a brass tube, catch light from cooler spark from flint and steel, can be transfered to coal extender tinder. Rope can be extinguished by pulling it back into the tube.
Whatever comes to hand. Off the top of my head that lot had lime bast (the white-ish stuff), and iris leaves. It was iris leaves left over from making a basket, iirc.
It grows in my garden and it's a decent source of at hand material to play around with.
M
@C_Claycomb
Thank you. That is going into the bottom section of my rucksack.
(Could we do with a “thank you” emoji alongside “like” and ‘laugh”.)
Thank you. That is going into the bottom section of my rucksack.
(Could we do with a “thank you” emoji alongside “like” and ‘laugh”.)
Internet search look up images of "Vintage Rope Lighter" to see the sort of thing I was talking about for charred cotton rope.
I like the Spark-lite with it's cotton wadding fuel, all in one neat wee box.
Like this,
Easy enough to make a version from an old lighter though. Just stuff the inner with cotton wool impregnated with vaseline, pull off a bit and spark onto it.
M
Like this,
Easy enough to make a version from an old lighter though. Just stuff the inner with cotton wool impregnated with vaseline, pull off a bit and spark onto it.
M
@Toddy
Serious question: What does the Vaseline do above the plain cotton wool?
I just fire up cotton wool or a paper hanky and sprinkle flakes of wood over it together with a bit of birch bark if I’ve got any. I’m a coffee drinker using a Kelly Kettle so starting a fire is serious.
I can see the tradition in making the punkwood packets.
Serious question: What does the Vaseline do above the plain cotton wool?
I just fire up cotton wool or a paper hanky and sprinkle flakes of wood over it together with a bit of birch bark if I’ve got any. I’m a coffee drinker using a Kelly Kettle so starting a fire is serious.
I can see the tradition in making the punkwood packets.
The vaseline burns, and since it's runny it binds onto whatever tinder you're using.
It's not a flash and gone like plain paper or cotton can be. It helps sustain the flame....think candle wick pulling wax rather than just the wick burning and disappearing into ash.
It's not a flash and gone like plain paper or cotton can be. It helps sustain the flame....think candle wick pulling wax rather than just the wick burning and disappearing into ash.
