Flint, Steel, and Grass...and Some Random Photos...

[Mistwalker]

Well...after days and days...and days of rain, we finally had a couple of dry days in a row so I finally got a chance to get out and get caught up a little on my work some. After I shot the photos I needed for work I decided to just enjoy the time outside, gather some materials for an upcoming class on fire starting, and shoot some photos for the website.


Lots of tracks in the softened dirt roads during all the rain, and plenty of coyote sign.

A lot of Datura popping open, some pretty dangerous stuff.

The weather was surprisingly warm for winter.

Looks like another victory for the ants, plenty of fire starting materials here.

I had a small visitor hang out with me for a while.

I gathered some of the various grasses in the area for a workshop on using flint and steel and a fire bow. The lower parts of the grass were still really wet so I cut it rather than pulling it, I think it's quicker that way anyway and the serrations of the knife made quick work of the clumps of grass. All of the punk I found was still soaked.

I decided to play around a little. I know the traditional method of striking it to hold the flint and char in the weak hand and hit it with the striker with the strong hand, and that works ok for me most of the time...and it's good for when things are damp so I practice it.

But if I have a dry place to lay my char cloth, I have quicker success laying the char cloth down, holding the striker near it and sitting on the same surface, and hitting the striker with the flint throwing sparks at the char cloth.

You can just barely see the cloth starting to ember on the right side of the corner at the bottom of the photo. Then just added it to the tinder nest and blew into flames.

You can see the high moisture content in the grass.

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[Mistwalker]

Then another visitor showed up as I was gathering my things.

Soon the shadows were growing long and it was time to head out.

But I managed to find a few other things on my way back to the truck. I found a nice sized hunk of resin rich pine.

And I found a few more pieces of the fungi I want to experiment with some more.

So, not a bad haul for the day.

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[Triq]

Thanks for the trip brother.

 

[Shotgun]

Very cool. The detail in your pics is very good. I need to get out my flint and steel kit. I haven't played with it in a while.

Info on Datura I found interesting from wikipedia.

All Datura plants contain tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine, primarily in their seeds and flowers. Because of the presence of these substances, Datura has been used for centuries in some cultures as a poison and hallucinogen.[2][3] There can be a 5:1 toxin variation across plants, and a given plant's toxicity depends on its age, where it is growing, and the local weather conditions. This variation makes Datura exceptionally hazardous as a drug. In traditional cultures, a great deal of experience with and detailed knowledge of Datura was critical in order to minimize harm.[2] Many tragic incidents result from modern recreational users ingesting Datura. For example, in the 1990s and 2000s, the United States media contained stories of adolescents and young adults dying or becoming seriously ill from intentionally ingesting Datura.[4][5] There are also several reports in the medical literature of deaths from Datura stramonium and Datura ferox intoxication.[6][7][8] Children are especially vulnerable to atropine poisoning, and their prognosis is likely to be fatal.[9][10] In some parts of Europe and India, Datura has been a popular poison for suicide and murder. From 1950–1965, the State Chemical Laboratories in Agra, India investigated 2,778 deaths that were caused by ingesting Datura.[2]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported accidental poisoning resulting in hospitalization for a family of six who inadvertently ingested Datura used as an ingredient in stew.[11]

In some places it is prohibited to buy, sell or cultivate Datura plants.[

 

[carspidey]

nice pictures man... nice place!!!!

 

[VTguy17]

Excellent pictures my friend. That's one nice camera you have, thanks for sharing!

 

[Hawkeye5]

Good pic's Mist. That's the way it is around here when you see a deer track there is almost

always a coyote track close to it.

Jeff

 

[pitdog]

Arrrrgggghhhhh......it has serrations, everyone knows that real Bushcraft/Survival knives don't have serrations !!!!

Great post as always Mist buddy !:thumbup: I gotta get me a firesteel and give one a try, can't believe I've been into this stuff for so long and still not tried one !

 

[WILLIAM.M]

Yet another GREAT post!!

Thanks Mist for taking the time

 

[L4NE4]

Very cool pictures! Thanks for posting, I gotta get me some flint and steel like that.

 

[beanbag]

Good job Mist.

Yup, I had the same experience with high moisture content tinder (cedar bark) with my flint and steel post from earlier this week. Very smokey. I actually blew it into flame and it went out a few times before it stayed lit.

See what I mean?

 

[Mistwalker]

Thanks for the trip brother.

Glad you liked the post.

Very cool. The detail in your pics is very good. I need to get out my flint and steel kit. I haven't played with it in a while.

Info on Datura I found interesting from wikipedia.

Thank you. They'r some of the pics I'm using on the website so I wanted them to be good and clear. Flint and steel is a lot of fun to play with.

Datura is some pretty mean stuff. Some people have gone on trips and never returned...

nice pictures man... nice place!!!!

Thanks man, glad you liked the thread!

Excellent pictures my friend. That's one nice camera you have, thanks for sharing!

Thanks man, I'm glad you enjoyed them!

Good pic's Mist. That's the way it is around here when you see a deer track there is almost

always a coyote track close to it.

Jeff

Thak you. Yep same here and hard to find rabbits anymore. It's ok with the deer though, we have an overpopulation of deer going on right now.

Arrrrgggghhhhh......it has serrations, everyone knows that real Bushcraft/Survival knives don't have serrations !!!!

Great post as always Mist buddy !:thumbup: I gotta get me a firesteel and give one a try, can't believe I've been into this stuff for so long and still not tried one !

Uhn uh, bushcraft knives = no serrations, for survival knives they are all but a must for me

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed them! Yeah, that's the same thing I told myself wen I first started tinkering around with it a few years ago. With good char cloth it really isn't hard at all. I'm wanting to experiment more with organic tinder materials.

Yet another GREAT post!!

Thanks Mist for taking the time

Thanks Doc, I'm really glad you enjoyed the post!

Very cool pictures! Thanks for posting, I gotta get me some flint and steel like that.

Thank you! I was fortunate in that this steel was a gift from a friend a while back. He bought us both one so I would teach him how to use it. Then he got really hung up on it for a while. He actually made the char cloth I used this time too, he just gave me a whole small ziplock full about two months ago. Flint I have in plenty here, need to go harvest some more, this piece was a gift from another friend a couple of years ago. It works really well.

Good job Mist.

Yup, I had the same experience with high moisture content tinder (cedar bark) with my flint and steel post from earlier this week. Very smokey. I actually blew it into flame and it went out a few times before it stayed lit.

See what I mean?

Thanks man. Yup cedar is really good about that when it is a little damp. I like using it like that with a fire bow and with flint and steel because you can expand the ember, blow it into flames, and then it will ember again and not burn away quickly while you get it under your kindling.

 

[Rockywolf]

Great thread buddy! Always enjoyable to learn through your pics and words. Thanks!

 

[Mistwalker]

Great thread buddy! Always enjoyable to learn through your pics and words. Thanks!

Thanks Rocky, really glad you enjoyed the post!