Fuzz Sticks use

luckykitty

luckykitty

Joined
May 14, 2009
Messages
1,410
As I'll be receiving a RAT firekit (thanks again Mr.Coffee), I thought I should try to increase my skills with the softer kind of firesteel.

I got some going gear firesteels, and I find it very hard to control those, but I'm getting there. But my real issue is:
No matter how fine I shave any wood, I don't get it to light without another tinder (tampons are great, they pack small and I have tinder for 4 fires).

Now I have seen a vid on youtube (don't find it right now) with someone lighting a fuzz stick directly with a firesteel. I don't think I'd be able to, seeing that I couldn't light finest shavings - and the molten glob hit them for sure.

So apart from the obvious (my wood most likely was not dry enough), what else do I have to observe (for example which kind of wood) if I want to light a fuzz stick directly or would you advise to light that with another tinder anyway?
 
A mix between good surface area, and plenty of space for oxygen to reach the heat is crucial. Ideally it would be fairly dense where you try to light it. Use more pressure if you are having issues, that creates hotter sparks that last longer. Wet wood will hurt a lot here too.
 
twine, drier lint, and charred cloth all are good tinders, then there's wetfire cubes, cottonballs soaked in petroleum jelly, magnesium, steel wool, and other fun toys.

I've never had good luck lighting a fuzz stick with anything other than a lighter, not to say it isnt possible.
 
I have the same exact issues. I have never gotten a fire going from JUST my firesteel and natural elements. There are not cat tails near me and no tinder fungus and no birch bark.

I too use cotton but thats one more thing I have to carry into the field. I use cotton balls with some patroleum jelly and can get those in one strike. I keep them in an old pill bottle. Also, Dryer lint is very effective. But again, all things I have to take with me.

Dried grasses have not been much use to me. Now, I use fuzz sticks and shavings for my next level. Before going to small twigs.
 
dandelions seeds with dry grasses work for me, dryer lint depending on source (pure cotton works best) and BBQ charcoal lighters - basically paraffin soaked sawdust, of which one bar can be cut for several fires - and alcohol jelly (love that stuff - but I wouldn't really want to transport that)
 
Be careful. You start making fuzz sticks and you will get laughed at! :D
 
LK, I have had the same issue. I tend to search around for a very old dead tree, grab a chunck of it, crumble it up until it is like very fine sawdust, and then throw the sparks at it. but I have never been able to do it with a Fuzz stick and nothing else. Honestly I tend to make fuzz sticks in the bush more for something to do more then anythign else.


Fuzz sticks or no... I am going to get laughed at... Hell, I recently cut back on the Coffee intake, and started drink tea, now... sigh... My nickname is in danger... my female co works have been refering to me as Mr Tea... sigh.
 
Great post luckykitty. I think that making a fire from natural tinder is very difficult too. I have had good success with dried grass, but other than that, its rough. I have been able to do it on a dry day with the shavings from fatwood, but it takes awhile.
You probably already seen these, but just in case: this is last Monday I think and it was raining. I wanted to try and simulate me being stuck in the rain and cold and needing to start a fire with what was in my pockets. It rained hard for about an hour then went to a drizzle. I got the fire started twice, but both times, it never got past lighting the fatwood. I used a napkin for tinder too. I am not sure what I could use besides fatwood if it were pouring rain and I had to have a fire right then using only natural tinder. This has become my shortterm goal to do as far as bushcrafting goes.

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MrCoffee said:
my female co works have been refering to me as Mr Tea... sigh.
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When I worked at a school in Caerphilly (Wales, UK) I was dubbed Miss Teapot ...

And I'm pretty used to getting laughed at ...

Oh, and the tissue trick works for me (wrapping the tissue around the striker), so it is not about not being able to start a fire, but about starting a fire with stuff you find in nature. Even tinder fungus - I mean, when I collected some (on private property, actually the owner invited me to take some) it was very wet, so it has to dry first, and then it is not treated, and treated tinder definitely catches a spark easier.
 
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another thing is not to have your tinder lying on the ground , place it on something,like split wood or bark, make a bed of dead grass with fuzz stick shavings on it etc...
 
Has anyone tried those little hand sanitizer soaps as a fire starter? I saw a youtube video where a guy set his hands on fire using one.This got me to thinking so I went on the front porch this morning and squirted some on the concrete it only took a few stokes with a boy scout fire starter to get it going. You cant see the flame because this soap is alcohol based, you can feel the heat from it .Then just added some pine straw and had a little fire going in just a couple of minutes.
 
In wet weather, get a large chunk of bark to start the fire on, wet side down, dry side up.

I use trade wood (old pine pitch wood). Thin slices/fuzz stick will light fairly easily.

To find it, look for old pine stumps that have rotted away completely, except for a "skeleton" center of gray colored wood and knots. Whats left is VERY dense, as it is pitch impregnated to the point of resisting rotting. This has so much pitch, the wood dosen't get wet, even if put directly in water.

Once you find some good trade wood, cut extra and keep a chunk in you pocket. The pitch is solid, dried out and not sticky at all, and it works even if it gets wet.

I've always heard it called "trade wood" out here in the North West (by old timers, most younger people don't even know what pitchwood is or how to find it) because the Indians, trappers and settlers valued it and would trade for it.
 
Great info from Col. Cornelius there .....the knots have loads of resin in them, I look for damage to the tree (pine) and around the damage the wood normallly has more combustable properties so I make feather sticks from that, you can spark directly onto dryed grass, I grab a handfull and rub it hard in my hands to break it down,then compress it a little into a ball and spark directly into that, but it takes ages somtimes,

the inside of birch bark when scraped off and made into a small pile readily takes a spark, so if you made your sticks out of birch ,you wouldn't be cheating

normaly I carry better tinder so I don't have to bother

Oh I almost forgot about the can of petrol......
 
R.A.T. said:
Be careful. You start making fuzz sticks and you will get laughed at! :D
Click to expand...

Nobody laughs at me while I'm making fuzzies with my RC-3 Jeff. NOBODY! :eek:


:D

You need to use the knife to scrape the finest fuzzies to get them to light with a firesteel. The edge is scraped perpendicular to the stick and that stuff will go with a few strikes.

Also, be patient. Sometimes it take a dozen strikes to really get it going.

B
 
I almost always have some sort of saw with me. If I'm backpacking, I have no issue with straping a 30 inch bowsaw on the side of my bag. Or I take a small roll-up chainsaw with me. I try to cut long sections of a log, drag them to camp, and do all my cutting in one area. The resulting pile of sawdust is generally useful in firestarting.
 
With the goinggear FS, the best way I've found is to put the steel into your tinder, and put the knife like you were going to strike into the tinder, but instead pull the FS back quickly. It works great. Very controlled, always get the sparks were you need them, and it usually doesn't send your tinder flying all over the place.
 
if using a folding saw, COLLECT THE SAWDUST. Run a piece of bark under the wood you are cutting and then strike it right in that. That stuff is almost explosive in the way it lights.
 
PayetteRucker said:
if using a folding saw, COLLECT THE SAWDUST. Run a piece of bark under the wood you are cutting and then strike it right in that. That stuff is almost explosive in the way it lights.
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Great info... hadn't thought about making sawdust as an accelerant.
 
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