Yeay! Charcloth

[Dartmoor navigator]

OK, I made my first charcloth today and it lights in a flash with my Whittler Kev steel ...


I have a little tin with a hole in it and I stuck it on the gas ring with some cloth in it until I thought it was cooked - I then covered the hole up with a 5p piece. To be honest I don't know what the hell I am doing, so I would be grateful if someone could explain the principles

 

[Bucephalas]

lol.
Sounds like you did ok anyway.

I did my first recently at the moot. I had a metal tin of "TexMex" seasoning I found in Lidl for a quid or so which I bought.....for the seasoning.
I then realised that the tin would be perfect for doing some charcloth esecially as my wife was making me throw out three perfectly good pairs of jeans that day.

I punched a hole in the top with a nail and crammed in cut squares of my jeans. Popped it into the coals of the camp fire and let it smoke away for a while. The gases escaping from the hole evetually lit and burned and when the flames died to nothing I turned the tin over for another 10 mins and then took it out.
When it cooled, Viola! Perfect charcloth!

 

[Dartmoor navigator]

Ahhh, thanks for that. I had flames spouting from the hole so i blew them out - I assumed it was a bad thing as I didn't want the cloth to burn???

 

[Whittler Kev]

I use two Tesco cans. I fill a baked bean tin with my old jeans material and then slide a larger Sweetcorn tin over the top as a loose "lid".
The fumes, what have you, lift the lid up so they can escape and when they stop the lid settles again so oxygen can't get back in.
Nicked the idea from Dave Canterbury from the Dual Survival show and the YouTube Wilderness Outfitters (Blast thats made you lose two days watching all his vid's - most worth watching...all if you like gun reviews/mods) http://www.youtube.com/user/wildernessoutfitters/videos

 

[lannyman8]

the principle of the char cloth is to turn it into charcoal of sorts....

wood is what turns into charcoal for your bbq, but its the method of how it is heated that make the difference, it needs to be heated with out oxygen (or air) to fore the more pure carbon fuel.

char cloth is the same thing but with cloth instead of wood, the burning, or rather heating process, removes all the moisture rubbish and crud in the cloth/wood, leaving the pure carbonised product you want for your flint and steal....

the gas is the rubbish being removed, this gas when hot enough and with a form of ignition will light which is no problem, and on a massive scale can be used as a fuel to self burn/heat the wood for charcoal making....

hope this helps you understand what your doing a little better....

regards.

chris.

 

[lannyman8]

like this big machine, the pipe flows the smoke under the barrel, this is then lit to self fuel the cooking process....

http://www.flymaker.com/bbGallery/S&G&B4.jpg

 

[Dartmoor navigator]

An afterburner!

Thanks for the explaination - clear as crystal now.

 

[lannyman8]

nay probs dude, keep up the good work with the fire craft, it takes ages at times to learn new thing but its worth it in the end....

regards.

chris.

 

[Dartmoor navigator]

That's what I like about this forum; People enjoy sharing information.

 

[lannyman8]

i was a beginner once and people helping made all the difference, so i help when i can....

i just mastered the hand drill which has taken months, lots of time pain from blisters and frustration, but worth every little bit now i can do the hand drill...