Puffballs as tinder

[mick miller]

So, yet another question raised by Daniel Beard's book. In it he mentions the collection and processing of two types of puffball for use as tinder. We're all familiar with Daldinia concentrica and fomes fomentarius as natural tinder capable of catching a spark but has anyone heard or tried to use either lycoperdon gemmatum (perlatum or common puffball) or lycoperdon cyanthiforme (which I'm guessing is now known as calvatia cyathiformis) after following the processing technique below (shamelessly lifted from the pages of said book)?

1. hang on a string to dry out
2. once dry cut into thin slices
3. lay on a board and beat until black dust is removed.

At that point your done and ready to use as tinder. Allegedly.

I've been out looking for puffballs but so far haven't found a single one, let alone one I could indentify as one of the likely candidates. I'm still hopeful as finding a horse hoof fungus this far south is probably stretching it. A puffball may be acheivable!

[dwardo]

So, yet another question raised by Daniel Beard's book. In it he mentions the collection and processing of two types of puffball for use as tinder. We're all familiar with Daldinia concentrica and fomes fomentarius as natural tinder capable of catching a spark but has anyone heard or tried to use either lycoperdon gemmatum (perlatum or common puffball) or lycoperdon cyanthiforme (which I'm guessing is now known as calvatia cyathiformis) after following the processing technique below (shamelessly lifted from the pages of said book)?

1. hang on a string to dry out
2. once dry cut into thin slices
3. lay on a board and beat until black dust is removed.

At that point your done and ready to use as tinder. Allegedly.

I've been out looking for puffballs but so far haven't found a single one, let alone one I could indentify as one of the likely candidates. I'm still hopeful as finding a horse hoof fungus this far south is probably stretching it. A puffball may be acheivable!

I wil give that a blast next time i see one ! Bet yer life i cant find one now i need one

[Galemys]

Was this used for traditional flint & steel or for flint and pyrites/marcasite? I have found that I can ignite untreated horse hoof fungus trama layer 'wool' with the latter but not with flint & steel.

I have a French book on primitive firestarting ("La grande aventure du feu" by Dr. Bertrand Roussel) in which the author states that the giant puffball (Langermannia?) whas used as tinder by the indians of Tierra del Fuego to catch sparks from flint & pyrites/marcasite.

Cheers,

Tom

[mick miller]

I'm not 100% sure as the details are a little sketchy but the puffball is mentioned in the same section as flint and steel fire making, so I would assume that it provides a source of tinder for that method.

Certainly he goes on to write that 'in olden times there was a certain mushroom, toadstool or fungus that was imported from Germany for use as punk', but 'woodcraft consists with supplying oneself with the material at hand' (the book is set in North America).

[Galemys]

'in olden times there was a certain mushroom, toadstool or fungus that was imported from Germany for use as punk',

´german tinder´ is the same as amadou from the horse hoof fungus, once an export product for certain areas of Germany (i.e. black forest).

Tom

[Gray]

Cut the Puffball into slices and dry it out in your pockets as your walking, it usually takes a spark from a firesteel but its gotta be bone dry