Chakma

[SASSAS]

I remember reading somewhere here that the scabbards used to (before lighters and matches) have a pouch for tinder and a flint (and that the chakma would be used to strike the flint). Have any of the HI Khuks ever come with this? I'm thinking a Magnesium fire starter would be nice addition...

 

[Dave Rishar]

My Dui Chirra has one. I packed it full of laundry lint. Some folks are concerned about possible toxic vapors from burning lint but I like to lean back when inhaling during the starting of a fire - whether the smoke is from natural sources or not, I don't particularly enjoy breathing it in. It burns very nicely.

 

[Yvsa]

My Dui Chirra has one. I packed it full of laundry lint. Some folks are concerned about possible toxic vapors from burning lint but I like to lean back when inhaling during the starting of a fire - whether the smoke is from natural sources or not, I don't particularly enjoy breathing it in. It burns very nicely.

Dave, does all laundry lint work? I've heard it's best to use only lint from cotton and no polyester. Is that because of the toxicity or because the polyester doesn't "catch" as well?
I wonder how dog hair would work?
Barb says she gets a lot of dog hair in the lint trap since we've had Ace our fearless and well trained watch dog. Should've named him Rolex he's so good at it.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

"Should've named him Rolex he's so good at it."

Groannnnnnnnn ...

I see you're back on the GOOD meds again.

 

[Svashtar]

Dave, does all laundry lint work? I've heard it's best to use only lint from cotton and no polyester. Is that because of the toxicity or because the polyester doesn't "catch" as well?
I wonder how dog hair would work?
Barb says she gets a lot of dog hair in the lint trap since we've had Ace our fearless and well trained watch dog. Should've named him Rolex he's so good at it.

Yvsa, when I was a kid (about 12 yo or so) my Dad had a flint and steel rig in a pouch he made, and I would practice with it for hours sometimes. I got so I could start a fire with it very quickly, assuming I had the fire laid out in advance.

I found that an old piece of flannel worked best for me. I would strike the steel onto the flint, get a good spark going on the flannel, do some judicious blowing of air (no, not hot air! ) and then transfer that over to some dry grass, and then from there to the base of the fire. I think the cotton material works best, especially if it's somewhat matted material, because it gets hot enough to transfer heat pretty quickly. I'll bet you're right and hair of any kind would work, but it would be consumed so quickly you might not have time to get the fire going.

Once I got the dry grass going I would just rub out the smoldering flannel and save the piece in my kit for next time.

From what I've seen with polyester it would just melt. I also wouldn't want to be breathing any fumes from that stuff. :barf:

Regards,

Norm

 

[Esav Benyamin]

In the film Quest for Fire, there is a scene where a man makes fire with a stick rotated between his hands, igniting his tinder, which then ignites grass, then twigs, then branches, for a beautiful, roaring blaze.

Naturally, as a cave man in those early times he had no flannel, so he used dried elephant dung.

 

[Morgane]

I candle rope as part of my work, and can say for sure that polyester just stinks and melts. It would be very easy to get a fire going with jute fibres though. That stuff immolates as soon as a spark hits it, even if slightly damp.

A kind reader named possum is sending me the' tool kit' from his dui chirra, so I'll be putting jute to the test again. Nothing stays dry here in Toronto.

 

[Yvsa]

In the film Quest for Fire, there is a scene where a man makes fire with a stick rotated between his hands, igniting his tinder, which then ignites grass, then twigs, then branches, for a beautiful, roaring blaze.

Esav I saw a couple of indigneous men doing this very thing on one of the Discovery type or Discovery channel just a little while back.
Didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would before they had a hot coal to start their fire with.
It would take me forever doing it like that although I might do better with a fire drill and bow.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I think you get better control with the hands, but you better have good calloused palms to try it!

The man who did it -- for real -- in the movie, was a Masai they hired for his skill at it.

 

[jurassicnarc44]

In the film Quest for Fire, there is a scene where a man makes fire with a stick rotated between his hands, igniting his tinder, which then ignites grass, then twigs, then branches, for a beautiful, roaring blaze.

Naturally, as a cave man in those early times he had no flannel, so he used dried elephant dung.

By gum, THERE'S a good reason to lean back when starting a fire! Burning elephant sh!* has that je ne sai quai that would bring tears to your eyes!

 

[Yvsa]

By gum, THERE'S a good reason to lean back when starting a fire! Burning elephant sh!* has that je ne sai quai that would bring tears to your eyes!

Personally I don't see a lot of difference between dried elephant sh't and dried buffalo sh't.
I've never had the occasion to use dried sh't for a fire starter or even for fuel for the fire itself but I've been told that well dried cow sh't burns with a bright hot blue flame that is odorless, kinda like natural gas before they put the stinky in it so you'll know if you have a gas leak.
At the Tulsa Zoo there is a pseudo Masai Village with concrete waddle houses instead of the natural material the Masai usually build their houses from. Their waddle is earth mixed with straw and cow sh't that is said to dry to concrete like properties and has no odor.
I don't know how a real Masai house is but the ones at the zoo are about 20* cooler inside on a hot 100*+ day with 50% humidity or more.
Always a pleasant break when walking through that end of the park.

 

[Sylvrfalcn]

Yvsa's right about the elephant dung, dried out it burns good with little or no smell at all. It's like big clumps of compressed, dried, grass.
Thirty something years ago, as a Boy Scout, I was participating in a camporee held on a fair ground. It dropped down cold at night, and there was no firewood to be had except what was hauled in from elsewhere. To my patrol's good fortune, there had been a circus through there some weeks previous, and in a back corner of the fair ground I found a tidy pile of elephant dung. Having read many accounts of mountain men like Jim Bridger, and other old timey fellers, burning "buffalo chips" for their fires, I knew we'd found a gold mine. Sure enough, we soon had a cozy fire going. The stuff burns hot, doesn't smoke excessively, and smells something like burning leaves. Still, boys will be boys, when our scoutmaster asked, "what y'all burning?", the immediate response of course was, "$H1+".

Sarge

 

[Astrodada]

............................. :thumbup:

 

[Steely_Gunz]

Sarge, now that your back in your civies, you really need to write a book. I could listen to your stories all day. Thank you, sir

Jake

 

[jamesraykenney]

My Dui Chirra has one. I packed it full of laundry lint. Some folks are concerned about possible toxic vapors from burning lint but I like to lean back when inhaling during the starting of a fire - whether the smoke is from natural sources or not, I don't particularly enjoy breathing it in. It burns very nicely.

What does the one in your Dui Chirra sheath look like?
Mine is open at the top AND bottom, and so will not hold anything...
It also has 'tassels' that stick out of the top of the sheath so that you can grap it...

 

[Svashtar]

What does the one in your Dui Chirra sheath look like?
Mine is open at the top AND bottom, and so will not hold anything...
It also has 'tassels' that stick out of the top of the sheath so that you can grap it...

James, as you stated those 'tassels' are the top of the tinder pouch. The opening for the pouch is supposed to be open at the top and the bottom, to allow expansion if you fill the pouch with tinder. Check it out a little more carefully and see what you find.

Regards,

Norm

 

[jamesraykenney]

James, as you stated those 'tassels' are the top of the tinder pouch. The opening for the pouch is supposed to be open at the top and the bottom, to allow expansion if you fill the pouch with tinder. Check it out a little more carefully and see what you find.

Regards,

Norm

No, the POUCH with the 'tassels' is open at the top and bottom, it is just a ring of leather with 'tassels' on one side at the top!
That is what I found so strange about it...

 

[Thomas Linton]

I have a couple of chakmas that came with real village-made khuks. They are all steel and shaped like a fish. One side has been cut in numerous places - sorta' like fish scales, and I'm told that is top facilitate "throwing a spark" with flint. Don' know. Havena' tried it.

 

[Bri in Chi]

I'm wondering the same thing about the strange pouch. Doesn't make much sense, unless I'm missing something