View Full Version : Wetfire tinder
falling rain
09-09-2004, 15:58
I was out with Buckshot last night and he gave me some wetfire tinder, so we tried it out. Verdict - The best man made tinder I've come across, and it would be my first choice for lighting a fire in foul weather. Thanks Buckshot for introducing it to me. :You_Rock_ It scrapes to shavings very easily and burns a long time Excellent stuff and definately good to have with you in the wetter and colder months when you just want to get your fire going with no faffing about.
I learnt a new plant today while I was out walking my dogs. Meadowsweet.
I saw this plant and I don't know why but something told me Meadowsweet. I picked a piece and checked in my book when I got home and sure enough it was what i thought it was. This has happened a few times now with different plants, which I'm always keen to learn new ones. It happened the other day too with water mint. I saw the plant and straight away thought mint. I smelt the crushed leaf and it smelt of mint and checking in my book It was indeed Water Mint. Has this happened to anyone else where some how you know what the name of a plant is even though you've not seen it before ? Also a few weeks ago the same thing happened with Eyebright. Maybe it's from looking through books and subconciously your brain takes in information without you realising it. A strange thing the human brain
Cheers now
Hi Falling rain,
Great thread, but i think you've possibly put it in the wrong sub-forum! Possibly Kit chatter?
Anyways, i know what you mean about certain things "ringing bells" as it where. But for me its different, i never seem to remember anything when it comes to trees/plants. I read a book on trees and i can identify...oak, beech, birch (silver and the papery one!), scotts pine, the common pine (its very common, you know the one), monkey puzzle although that wasnt in the book but outside a pub in brecon.
I may know a few more!
Jake
TheViking
09-09-2004, 16:16
Hi...
I have never tried Wetfire tinder, but charcloth is my first preference. It burns in a long time and is fun and easy to make. Takes up very little space and weighs nothing. There's nothing as the feeling of new, crispy charcloth... mmm... :wink: :lol:
Does the wetfire cubes burn with a flame??
My problem is I used to know loads of them but I'm having to relearn a lot of them...
Just proves the old adage - Use it or lose it!
Paganwolf
09-09-2004, 16:30
charcloth is great but naff when wet, wet fire cubes are great lights in all conditions and non toxic, and yes burns with a flame, a good technique to remember plants and such is to mentally rehearse a plant over in your head look say a tree up in your book then go and find it, look at and pick a leaf (or pick a fallen one up) look at the bark and the location, is it near water, in a ditch chalky/sandy soil ect then walk off going over your data in your head and look for another one of the same species and do the same the next time you go out it would have (hopefully) imprinted into your grey stuff and you will instantly recognisee it, try it it works ....... :shock:
falling rain
09-09-2004, 16:36
The thread started off as wetfire tinder which i suppose comes under kit. then I digressed to my plant experience of today so I suppose I should have done them separately.
I make and use charcloth regularly too viking but what if it gets wet ?
Maybe I wasn't clear but I meant to emphasise that the wetfire would be my first choice in nasty weather above charcloth. But probably charcloth if it was dry weather. If your're cold, wet, and it's raining and windy and want a brew quickly without any fuss or hassle about lighting your fire, I'd say the wetfire tinder would be pretty hard to beat
Cheers
falling rain
09-09-2004, 16:39
Sorry viking - Yes it does burn with a very good flame that lasts quite a while.
Buckshot came up with the idea that you could sprinkle some shavings in amongst your feather sticks, and I have to agree in bad weather that would be a very effective way to get your fire going
One brick of wet fire is enough to warm up the water for a brew too!!!
I've found that crumbling or shaving some into natural tinder, like birch bark or clematis bark, really helps it to catch.
I've not tried it with feather sticks but it should work very well that way too.
A very versatile tinder and about the only synthetic I carry nowadays.
not even the cotton wool?
Ah, but cotton woll is natural! And I don't carry as much of that now...
Birch bark and any good resinous wood are pretty much waterproof. You can get fatwood as 'aromatic barbeque matches' - basicaly sticks that are supposed to smell nice as they light the charcoal.
falling rain
10-09-2004, 11:44
I've tried most of these, and as I said in my opinion the wetfire is the best there is that I've come across so far. It would be hard to beat this stuff
Exploriment
11-09-2004, 22:48
Another enthusiastic recommendation for WetFire.
I'd had it for a while, but I don't know why I hadn't tried it.
So one evening I sat down and trried out a whole slew of different tinders - charcloth, vaseline soaked cotton balls, dryer lint, birch bark, steel wool, magnesium.
And I found that I liked WetFire best of all.
Not to say that any of the other ones were bad, but I just found WetFire to light just a touch easier, and it burned with a better flame.
Just my dos centavos.
I just dont like the idea of buying tinder when i can find/make my own. Unless someone here tells me they last for ages (ie you dont need much) or they are cheap! :roll: :wink:
Cheers,
Jake
I have to agree with jake on this one. I've never tried wetfire, but strangely ordered some just yesterday. I decided to take a look at it to see what all the fuss was about - but it aint cheap. When you look at the cost differential between wetfire and vaseline soaked cotton balls, it'd better show some huge and significant benefit. It'll need to be much better than slightly better to win me round. I cant see it either as vaseline cotton is so damned good.
I bought some maya dust the other day - i dunno if this stuff has any fans here, but I just dont see the point of it. Just seems like really expensive wood shavings to me. I think I was expecting some pyrotechnic wonder, instead I just got - well, wood shavings. :roll:
The best thing about WetFire is that it will ignite and continue to burn when wet. I've had some out in the rain and it seems very reluctant to go out. I can see situations where a cube or two could com ein really handy.
Maya dust is a con - nothing more than hard to light wood dust :roll:
ChrisKavanaugh
12-09-2004, 05:53
Maya wood or dust is a fancy marketing name for fatwood as it's called in our southern states. It's nothing more than a portion of tree (usually pine) injured by lightning or fire. The resin pours into the wound just as blood would clot. fatwood is sold over here in 5 lb and larger bundles with sticks @ 8" long and @ 1/2-3/4" thick. I imagine with some looking about you may find a tree stump or old tree with a good supply. It's marvelous as a second stage tinder after the initial lighting of charcloth etc. It's always a good idea to mess with every possible tinder, natural or artificial. A pouring rain is no time to learn the peculiarities each one has.
It's always a good idea to mess with every possible tinder, natural or artificial. A pouring rain is no time to learn the peculiarities each one has.
I so totally agree with that statement. Practice and experiment. Practice and experiment! :biggthump
Martyn IMO wet-fire wins hands down over vas/cotton wool because its so light and usable. Vas/cotton wool is excellent and price wise a much better option but in practice Wet-fire has advantages.
As I have pointed out on other threads one brick of wet-fire will heat a brew, well warm it but it would be welcome none the less if it was brass monkeys outside. One brick if used wisely and on a correctly prep'd fire will light several fires all you need do is shave off another dust to ignite your tinder and kindling. One whole brick lighted from a match will ignite even poor kindling. One brink broken into a pile (for using a steel) will ignite even wet tinder or kindling as I proved on the Islay trip where I lighted the fire with one brick of wet-fire on finger thick wet kindling and then wrist thick drift wood. A cheer blaze ensued!!
Even if you only carry the wetfire as a back up source for emergencies it is worth it as takes up little room and weighs nothing.
Of course a tube of vaseline or chapstick and a tampoon in your first aid kit will be another back up to!
Gary how effictive's the tindercard?
Personally, I think it's pretty effective! Waterproof, lights from a spark, burns well and hot. It doesn't have the same property of burning well in the wet and it takes more space but it's a good tinder.
Ya, like what he said!!
Tinder card is good Mick, it has its advantages and disadvantages the same as anything. An advantage is it can be opened, a square turn off for use and the rest of the strip put back in the tinderpouch without it crumbling. It can also be made to last longer by using smaller amonuts and preping it be by scraping like birch bark. It will light readily from a match or torn open from a spark a strip can be moved around before the whole things alight and its cheaper than wet fire but costs more than vaseline and cotton wool balls - disadvantages, its heavier and bulkier and slightly awkward to tear up and light with cold (numb) hands, although in the north you'd likely use a match and light the strip.
All in all Tindercard is good stuff as the guys who have done one of my courses will tell you, in fact before I discovered wet-fire it was the only man made tinder I used.
Tantalus
12-09-2004, 16:08
gotta chip in my fondness for birch bark (again) here
the oils in the bark make it possible for it to burn even when soaking wet
;) used to win me a bet every time as a youngster
strip some of the finest bits of birch you can find, dunk in a stream, and proceed to light fire :o):
probably not too great without matches or a lighter tho, or maybe i just need more practice with the firesteel?
Tant
Tant, birch bark is the business - no1 natural tinder and I would recommend it to everyone who knows how to gather it without harming the tree and who know how to gather the right stuff. More importantly if you only carry a couple of wet-fire brinks as emergency fire starters then I would also recommend using birch bark as your primary fire lighting tinder for spark or match. If wet birch bark peelings can be dried enough to take a spark by vigarus shaking or drying in a poly/cotton trouser pocket (incidently this is why we recommend the tinderpouchs as, not being sealable moisture can escape from them even if damp tinder is placed inside).
But the thread is about man made tinders .........
Tantalus
12-09-2004, 16:48
But the thread is about man made tinders .........
yeah sorry bout that
but who needs man made tinders when ya can pick it off a tree?
I must be missing something here
Tant
Hmmm, still not all that convinced, but perhaps i'll become a convert when i try it! My tinderpouch is filled with lichen that I pulled off a dead tree trunk, not sire if it was live, but its is absolutely brilliant. I dont know how to gather birch bark evidently as i have never got some to catch!
TheViking
12-09-2004, 16:56
but who needs man made tinders when ya can pick it off a tree?
I always prefer to take what's in the woods. But if there's nothing dry to find it's nice to have some home/manmade... :wink:
And thats the problem Jake, some people dont know what to collect. I see it on courses all the time students trying to ignite the wrong 'quality' of birch bark or even peaople trying to ignite peelings from one of the species which actually contain little or no oil. Worse that that you often see Birches that have been scared by people cutting off whole sections of bark needlessly.
A liitle knowledge goes a long way and Tant your right if its there use it - but try hiking across ICELAND without a prep'd tinder pouch or man made stuff!
Ulitamely one should support the other. In my tinder pouch I carry several types of tinder (NATURAL and MAN MADE), matches and a candle stub because were fire is needed the most it is always the hardest to find and I like my arsenal banked in my favour.
TheViking
12-09-2004, 17:09
In my tinder pouch I carry several types of tinder (NATURAL and MAN MADE), matches and a candle stub because were fire is needed the most it is always the hardest to find and I like my arsenal banked in my favour.
Gary, what kinds of natural and manmade tinders do you carry in the pouch?? :D
Maybe i should give this wetfire tinder a go to make an educated decision! I generally find other tinders (other than birch bark) that work well for me, i have never had a problem with getting a fire going (apart from when its bucketing).
I do agree when its possible its best to use natural, but sometimes easier to use man made.
Usually my pouch has Birch bark and thistle down mixed in the front pocket and then in the little back pocket I store a few bricks of wet-fire, a candle stub amd a small match safe.
If I am away for more than a long weekend I will usually add a spare fireball firesteel as this takes up little room and I might even add a couple of pieces of old rubber tyre if the weather looks really grim.
I also make sure I have Vaseline and cotton wool in my first aid kit and spare matches in my pack - just in case.
Well kitted out! I just carry some of that lichen, cotton wool, and a firesteel.
Jake as long as you know how to use it and can make fire when you need it most thats all that matters.
To be honest 99% of the time I just use my firesteel and knife and my stove - and in fixed camp you should only need to light the fire once anyway.
But as Squirrel boy says 'luck favours those who prepare!'
What stove do you use?
how would you keep one fire going if you were to leave it for a while?
I tend to carry manmade tinders (wetfire, cotton wool and some of Gary's Tindercard) which I more or less save for emergencies, bad weather or times when it's just too slow messing around with natural tinders, the kids are getting cold and fed up etc. I think it's just plain sensible to have both ...
It's important to practice using manmade tinders though - had a fire get out of control a while back and pouring water on the wet fire made it burn more! :wink:
Well, got some wetfire from Gary (along with a few other bits 'n pieces - great service, thanks Gary!) and am well impressed. OK, so cotton vaseline works, but this stuff catches just as easily when it's shaved - in fact it's eargerness to burst into flames surprised me, dunno why, but it did. But like others have said, it's the long burn time and resiliance to wet weather that is impressive. I can definitely see how adding some to your tinder mix will set it going with ease. Can anyone tell me how long the bricks last once the foil has been opened? I've put the remainder of a brick into a zip lock bag, but just wondering what it's "use by *** after opening" was.
Cheers.
Nightfall
15-09-2004, 16:02
I was wondering the same thing.How long it will last after out of the pack.My order of wetfire came in the other day.I am also impressed with it.Good item to add along with other stuff to get a fire going.
Martyn I have had wetfire bricks in zip locks for several weeks and they still worked ok - as you have found the trick is to shave or crumble them up and I guess as long as they dont 'dry out' totally they should still be ok. (i say dry out I am not sure thats the right term but you know what I mean)
Things should only degrade because they are exposed to excessive moisture but apparently wet-fire works well when wet so should have a very long open shelf life. ?
Paganwolf
15-09-2004, 18:01
Kath mentioned Tinder card above, what is it? :?:
dave750gixer
15-09-2004, 18:28
Things should only degrade because they are exposed to excessive moisture but apparently wet-fire works well when wet so should have a very long open shelf life. ?
Actually things can also degrade when exposed to oxygen (air) or sunlight not just water.
Paganwolf look on my site - in fact I'll p,m you to save people moaning.
Paganwolf
15-09-2004, 19:10
:wink:
Paganwolf look on my site - in fact I'll p,m you to save people moaning.
What do you mean by that Gary? :?:
What moaning?
Just didnt want to seem to be giving the stuff the hard sell Adi.
Paganwolf
15-09-2004, 19:32
Ive looked at your site Gary its MOST impressive :wink: best site ive seen in ages :wink: (is that ok Gary :?: :lol: )
You'll get my bum smacked you cheeky *** - mmmmmmm actually .......... :wink:
Actually things can also degrade when exposed to oxygen (air) or sunlight not just water.
Ahh! Didnt think of that :doh:
Ahh! Didnt think of that :doh:
Still, it lasts a good few days. No need to burn it all at once!
But there is often more than a few days between bush outings for me :cry:. Still winters coming and i find myself out and about a lot more, wetfire may be just the thing!!