Mistwalker
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 19,035
I was reading through a thread on tinders ignitable with a ferro rod the other day that set me to thinking. I may be mistaken, wouldn't be the first time of course and being a writer I know how hard it is to put inflections into text, but it did seem to me that the author exhibited some thinly veiled disdain regarding the use of fatwood and the people who use it. In fact I have read a number of posts by various authors on multiple forums who expressed what I perceived as contempt for both the material and the people who use it, yet at the same time they will use Birch bark or the resinous fibers from inner barks of other trees, even leaves from corn plants... whichever is in their local area, and then present that triumphantly as if it somehow proves they are a more skilled outdoors-man. Usually I find this sort of thing rather hilarious and tend to just chalk the authors up as more closed-minded people...of which this world if full.
However, there was a case the other day during a lesson on fire starting that made me want to speak my opinion on things. I had a few kids from the area trying to start fires. I let them use disposable lighters and only whatever natural materials they could find in the general area. It was during a slight break in three days of rain, at this point it was just a heavy mist and fog. They had all previously had success using leaves and what-have-you on the previous outing on a dry day earlier in the Autumn, and were a bit disgruntled with the results under current conditions. After watching several attempts and several failures, and growing weary of the chill and the smell of steaming wet leaves, I walked over and broke down the skinny inner skeleton of a long dead pine tree standing at the edge of our little clearing that was soaking wet on the outside and had rivulets of water running down it. I smashed the piece into a large tree to break it into a manageable size, whittled off the wet outer material, whittled some thick pieces, then whittled off some thin shavings, stuck a lighter to it and got flames all in less than three minutes. "Wow"s issued from the young men standing around me. I added the thicker pieces, and then started adding handfuls of soaking wet twigs and we soon had a fire to knock of the chilling dampness. One young man asked what that was that I used and I said "a very resin-rich pine, that is known by several names with the most common being fatwood. At the mention of fatwood another of the young men spoke up and said "oh...I've read about that on a couple of forums, they said using it was cheating and that skilled outdoors-men don't use it. That really didn't sit too well with me, and the last couple of days I have taken my camera and gone for walks in the light rains, harder rains, and heavy mists and fogs that are the hallmarks of Autumn here.
Yes I do agree that if fatwood is the only tinder one can ignite with a ferro rod then yes they do have much to learn and more experimenting to do, there really are many tinders in the woods this time of year that can be ignited with a fire steel. There are....
Dead grasses
Lots of plants have dead leaves that hong on for a while drying in the breeze.
Abandoned bird's nests.
Queen Anne's lace is a good one when it's dried, but not so great green, and definitely not so great when dripping wet as this is.
Exposed root capillaries of various types. While Poison Ivy is a bad one to use, and I strongly advise against it, because the urushiol oils are not destroyed by fire but rather vaporised and can cause the same allergic reaction in ones lungs as on the skin, it is one that will work in a pinch if nothing else is available just make sure no-one in your party breaths the smoke if it has to be done.
End of Part-1
.
However, there was a case the other day during a lesson on fire starting that made me want to speak my opinion on things. I had a few kids from the area trying to start fires. I let them use disposable lighters and only whatever natural materials they could find in the general area. It was during a slight break in three days of rain, at this point it was just a heavy mist and fog. They had all previously had success using leaves and what-have-you on the previous outing on a dry day earlier in the Autumn, and were a bit disgruntled with the results under current conditions. After watching several attempts and several failures, and growing weary of the chill and the smell of steaming wet leaves, I walked over and broke down the skinny inner skeleton of a long dead pine tree standing at the edge of our little clearing that was soaking wet on the outside and had rivulets of water running down it. I smashed the piece into a large tree to break it into a manageable size, whittled off the wet outer material, whittled some thick pieces, then whittled off some thin shavings, stuck a lighter to it and got flames all in less than three minutes. "Wow"s issued from the young men standing around me. I added the thicker pieces, and then started adding handfuls of soaking wet twigs and we soon had a fire to knock of the chilling dampness. One young man asked what that was that I used and I said "a very resin-rich pine, that is known by several names with the most common being fatwood. At the mention of fatwood another of the young men spoke up and said "oh...I've read about that on a couple of forums, they said using it was cheating and that skilled outdoors-men don't use it. That really didn't sit too well with me, and the last couple of days I have taken my camera and gone for walks in the light rains, harder rains, and heavy mists and fogs that are the hallmarks of Autumn here.
Yes I do agree that if fatwood is the only tinder one can ignite with a ferro rod then yes they do have much to learn and more experimenting to do, there really are many tinders in the woods this time of year that can be ignited with a fire steel. There are....
Dead grasses
Lots of plants have dead leaves that hong on for a while drying in the breeze.
Abandoned bird's nests.
Queen Anne's lace is a good one when it's dried, but not so great green, and definitely not so great when dripping wet as this is.
Exposed root capillaries of various types. While Poison Ivy is a bad one to use, and I strongly advise against it, because the urushiol oils are not destroyed by fire but rather vaporised and can cause the same allergic reaction in ones lungs as on the skin, it is one that will work in a pinch if nothing else is available just make sure no-one in your party breaths the smoke if it has to be done.
End of Part-1
.
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