Flint & Steel Using Punk As A Coal Expander

[Mistwalker]

Today I played around a little with flint and steel using punk as a coal extender/expander while i waited on better light for the photos I needed to take for work.

The first step was to make a pocket in the punk to insert the char cloth into.

Then spark the char cloth.

Then place it in the pocket and give it some oxygen.

After expanding the coal a good bit, Next came igniting the dry leaves and twigs I had for tinder.

It would have been easy to ignite a few fires with this one large coal.

I just sat the coaling piece of punk on a rock and let it smolder to help keep the mosquitoes at bay.

And I still could have started another fire or two nearly an hour later.

I may well have been able to just spark the punk itself if I had a bigger piece of flint on hand, I'll have to give that a shot later.


.

 

[IA Woodsman]

I have gotten punk wood to take a spark from just flint and steel a few times. But it is not a sure thing. Nice pics, and post.

 

[j williams]

punk wood rules. A very overlooked and usefull firecraft tool. Nice work mist.

 

[jcl-MD]

Good Stuff!!

Thanks!!

 

[kgd]

Yep, works great as a coal extender with bowdrill also. However, I find you have to be pretty picky on the punk you select. The really spongy yet dry stuff is what works for me. I once picked up some from a tree that was so spongy and dry that I was able to fan it to flames without any tinder. Wish I would have harvested some more of that stuff, it was better than chaga!

 

[Mistwalker]

I have gotten punk wood to take a spark from just flint and steel a few times. But it is not a sure thing. Nice pics, and post.

Thanks IA. I would never have been able to spark it to life with flint and steel a few days ago, and couldn't today...raining then and now...but I think if I had had a larger piece of flint on me i could have that day. It had sat in the sun as I worked on other things and quickly expanded the coal from the char cloth.

punk wood rules. A very overlooked and usefull firecraft tool. Nice work mist.

Thanks Jake. It is a great resource to remember, it's just not always a viable option for m here...but one never knows where they may wander eh?

Good Stuff!!

Thanks!!

Thanks JC, glad you enjoyed the post!

Yep, works great as a coal extender with bowdrill also. However, I find you have to be pretty picky on the punk you select. The really spongy yet dry stuff is what works for me. I once picked up some from a tree that was so spongy and dry that I was able to fan it to flames without any tinder. Wish I would have harvested some more of that stuff, it was better than chaga!

Yep, the first time I did it was with a bow drill. It's a lot quicker and less work with the flint and steel though , man I must be getting old Most of the punk I have messed with will coal well but that's about it. Maybe the moisture content drops enough between rains for coaling but not flames. I'll have to experiment some this summer when the drought period comes.

 

[coaldigger]

Nice work ! I need to get myself a flint & steel to play with !

 

[Mistwalker]

Nice work ! I need to get myself a flint & steel to play with !

Thanks man. Yeah, get one, if nothing else they are fun to play with...but i find having the kit around to be handy.

 

[Doc13]

Nice post Mist, that's some great old school fire starting!

 

[pitdog]

Great stuff buddy, I gotta get myself a flint and steel !

 

[sicily02]

Pretty cool mistwalker, I like to use the punk wood when the skeeters are nasty. Other than that I really do not use it much. That stuff can really hold a coal.

Bryan

 

[Mistwalker]

Nice post Mist, that's some great old school fire starting!

Thanks Doc, glad you liked the post, flint and steel is fun to play around with.

Great stuff buddy, I gotta get myself a flint and steel !

You should get a set, you'll like messing around with it. A friend of mine ordered the steel on line somewhere, I have plenty of flint here locally.

Pretty cool mistwalker, I like to use the punk wood when the skeeters are nasty. Other than that I really do not use it much. That stuff can really hold a coal.

Bryan

Thanks Bryan, yeah the smoldering punk works pretty good for that, so does smoldering konk. I have only recently explored its uses in fire starting, it's usually to damp to fool with so I only get to play with it now and then.

 

[tonym]

Good stuff Mist, Soon you will have some TTF to catch that spark!

 

[Mistwalker]

Good stuff Mist, Soon you will have some TTF to catch that spark!

Thanks Tony, and that kicks @$$ bro. I have been wanting to experiment with TTF ever since I saw a write up Allan Beauchamp did on making a TTF stove on another forum a few years ago.

Soon you will have something smaller than an RC5 to use as a bearing block

 

[Rupestris]

Nicely done Mist!

I put together a flint and steel kit last summer after finding a nice little tin for making char cloth. I've yet to get a real steel. I've been using a piece of a file that I cleaned up and shaped on the bench sander. It's been working well but I haven't had to use it with cold wet hands yet. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow.

I had a friend of mine bring me a piece of Chert from Tennessee as we don't have any here in MI. She went to Denmark and brought me back a couple nice pieces of flint that throw sparks like crazy. It is fun to mess around with.

 

[TheZenful1]

Awesome post mist! Thanks! Very cool, I love my flint & steel.

 

[Mistwalker]

Nicely done Mist!

I put together a flint and steel kit last summer after finding a nice little tin for making char cloth. I've yet to get a real steel. I've been using a piece of a file that I cleaned up and shaped on the bench sander. It's been working well but I haven't had to use it with cold wet hands yet. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow.

I had a friend of mine bring me a piece of Chert from Tennessee as we don't have any here in MI. She went to Denmark and brought me back a couple nice pieces of flint that throw sparks like crazy. It is fun to mess around with.

I played around using knife spines and files for a while, I find the steel I was gifted a lot easier to use.

Oh, we have a lot of chert here too, but I was lucky enough to find a massive flint deposit with lots of nodes sticking up and out into a water course that cut through a very large rock over the years.

 

[Mistwalker]

Awesome post mist! Thanks! Very cool, I love my flint & steel.

Thanks Z, I'm really diggin' mine too these days.

 

[kgd]

I played around using knife spines and files for a while, I find the steel I was gifted a lot easier to use.

Its amazing how well a very hardened steel will throw the sparks compared to using a knife spine of carbon which will throw the odd spark. However, an optimized steel will throw showers of sparks. I rarely ever have to strike more than once to catch a spark with one of my fancy dancy steels. With a knife spine or softer steel, I have to strike many times before I can catch a spark.

 

[Mistwalker]

Its amazing how well a very hardened steel will throw the sparks compared to using a knife spine of carbon which will throw the odd spark. However, an optimized steel will throw showers of sparks. I rarely ever have to strike more than once to catch a spark with one of my fancy dancy steels. With a knife spine or softer steel, I have to strike many times before I can catch a spark.

Yeah, I was inspired by a lot of Allan Beauchamp's work and played around with it a lot. He is partial to Cold Steel's CarbonV because he can get good sparks from it, but in the process he eats away the spines of his knives. He does some awesome works in the field, he's probably forgotten more than I've learned, and I like knowing that it can be done... but I'd prefer not to do that unless it was my only choice.