A Valuable Lesson For All-Please read !!!

pitdog

pitdog

Joined
Apr 13, 2007
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I was hiking with my buddy the other week and he is a townie who is more at home with his designer dud's and MP3 player than woollen wear and a knife.
Anyways he spots my ferro-rod and asks me about it and wants to see it work, now Iv'e started many a fire with my ferro-rod using PB cotton balls and even just using Ceder shavings( but that was in summer when they were bone dry ). As it happened I had picked some fluffy seeds the day before and still had them in my pocket as tinder.....I used the ferro-rod and nothing !!!
I said to my buddy I'll get some Ceder shavings, never fails...this time it did !!!
I even found some resin and mixed that in...still nothing !!!! There is a good reason why it is so green where I live, it's because it's so damp !!!
Now don't get me wrong I usually carry my full kit and have matches, lighter, PB balls, firelighter, candles you name it but what if you were lost for a long time and these ran out ? What if you lost them and just had your Ferro-rod ?
So today I set out with that though in mind.....

First I found some FatWood....
PICT4404.jpg

I broke a piece off and took it down to the beach where I could not cause a forest fire !!!!
I made a Fuzz stick with my little Benchmade...
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Then I made some FatWood dust with my Swiss Spirit....
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I then used my Benchmade again to add some fine Fatwood curls....
PICT4392.jpg

With about 8 strikes of my Ferro-rod the FatWood caught fire...
PICT4393.jpg

I wasn't going to add the Fuzz stick but finally decided I would and even though the fire had nearly burnt out the fine Fuzz Stick curls still easily caught fire....
PICT4394.jpg

The thing with FatWood is that it will still ignite when all other tinder is wet !!!

My main point is don't just wait for things to go wrong before you practice these basics, some things don't work, better to find out now than when you really need it !!!!

Here are a few more pics of where I was...
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PICT4403.jpg


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so,
you had a hard time starting a fire, good to find out what you need before you need it. and it is always good to have a plan B, so the pj cotton balls are a back up for natural tinder, as well as a lighter is a backup for a ferro rod. redundancy in critical mission essential gear has been practiced by the military for years, and now you have learned a valuable skill and have adapted your gear list, no one got hurt, sounds like it worked out well.

alex
 
very cool...:thumbup: great pics... it is rather difficult to find natural tinder around here during the winter as well... i always carry a few other tinder sources..
 
Practice is important. :thumbup:

I was just trying to light some office paper with a small ferro rod. It is pretty damn hard (I was unsuccessful :D ).
 
Beatiful pics as always. What's your opinion on the little Benchmade you were using?
 
I seen survivorman pick fuzz from his socks to make a fire. I seem to always have pocket fuzz, bellybutton lint ,.. What about those magnesium starters? Do the magnesium shavings catch the spark?
 
Chocula said:
Practice is important. :thumbup:

I was just trying to light some office paper with a small ferro rod. It is pretty damn hard (I was unsuccessful :D ).
Click to expand...

That's one reason I like the ferro rods that come embedded into magnesium bars. They'll start office paper--or dampish twigs.

I sort of figure that my NEED for a fire may be almost inversely proportional to the ease with which one could be started. On a hot, dry, clear mid-day, when the temperature's 120 Fahrenheit, it's not much of a problem to start a fire. But I guess that if I want to be able to build a big fire to draw rescuers to where my car is stuck in an Oregon snowbank in a blizzard in the forest at night, maybe I'd better have a firestarting setup that'll work then, too.

I figure that magnesium shavings cover a multitude of sins.
 
I've had a few rough starters this winter as well...I've notice recently I have an easier time getting the initial tinder to catch inside of a small container like a pot or can...I think surface moisture from whatever your working on gets sucked up by the heat and doesn't help...a dry shelter (from wind work space is clutch IMHO at the initial stage of fire buliding in a damp environment.
 
i make it a point to practice making fire with as little as i can get away with, saving the fatwood stick or the pjballs in my bag unless i really can't get a fire started without them.
 
siguy said:
i make it a point to practice making fire with as little as i can get away with, saving the fatwood stick or the pjballs in my bag unless i really can't get a fire started without them.
Click to expand...

I was trying to do the same today, if ya re-check my post you will see I gathered the FatWood on my hike. I agree with you it is a good thing to practice !!!:thumbup:
 
Hey pitdog,

I am mostly interested in what didn't go right the first day. When you gathered your cedar shavings, how did you get them. From inner wood? I usually find that in pieces of wood bigger than you can get both hands around, no matter how wet the conditions, the inner wood is usually still dry. Typically you can get away with smaller pieces, but that is more worst case scenario.

Anyway, I was wondering if you split wood, to get to the center, and then created shavings from that? If that did not work, I would be very shocked.....so you have me curious.

Brian
 
Luckily for me there's tons of birch around here. If you find yourself without good tinder, you should make an effort to gather some up along the way before you need it, so you can let it dry out in your pocket.
 
briangandrews said:
Hey pitdog,

I am mostly interested in what didn't go right the first day. When you gathered your cedar shavings, how did you get them. From inner wood? I usually find that in pieces of wood bigger than you can get both hands around, no matter how wet the conditions, the inner wood is usually still dry. Typically you can get away with smaller pieces, but that is more worst case scenario.

Anyway, I was wondering if you split wood, to get to the center, and then created shavings from that? If that did not work, I would be very shocked.....so you have me curious.

Brian
Click to expand...

I scraped the shavings from the bark with the back of my knife !
 
So far I have started mini-fires at home burning anything from cotton, to cardboard shavings, to newspapers but when playing outdoors... I have always relied in natural tinder.

I tried fatwood in snowing conditions and it was ok. Tried wood shavings, dry grass and pine twigs and I was succesfull as well. I can always shreed a Cleenex if needed I guess...

I think that the main purpose of being able to light a fire with a ferro rod and a knife... is just that. If I am carrying cotton balls, fatwood or any other kind of tinder... I am better of with a bunch of bic ligthers! Everyone mentions that you should rely on what you have on you (not your pack, not your fanny pack). right now I carry a ferro rod attached to my F1 sheat and secured with a lanyard and some rubber bands. It is uggly but it works with no rattling or anything. I think that as long as I can get a fire going with just that (no tinder) I will be ok.

Thumbs up for you Pitdog using just-found fatwood!
Mikel
 
I've had the same "problem" a few weeks ago, in a very damp forrest. Used the saw on my Vic Farmer, on a dead piece of wood (I thought it was bone dry) but after using my firesteel with the sawdust, it didn't light. After making a BIG pile of shavings and adding some fatwood shavings (that I allways carry) it finally lid after 10 attempts.

Never take, making fire for granted no mather how easy it goes under "controlled" environments like home.

CZ
 
Actually saw dust wouldn't be my first choice for a firesteel fire.
I would rather start with birch bark, dead leaves, dried grass, old bird nest or of course, tinder from home.
 
Ravaillac said:
Actually saw dust wouldn't be my first choice for a firesteel fire.
I would rather start with birch bark, dead leaves, dried grass, old bird nest or of course, tinder from home.
Click to expand...

FatWood dust cannot just be classed with any old saw dust, it definitely lights easier than leaves etc although they are obviously valuable as secondary tinder !:thumbup:
 
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