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Help...little "fuzzy" on fuzz sticks

T

T-Dog

Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
68
This week I read Woodcraft and Camping "Nessmuk" and I am about half way through Wildwood Wisdom by Ellsworth Jaeger (will post my impression and review after I finish Wildwood and then Kephart that comes this week) and I have a question on fuzz sticks. In Jaeger's book there is a pretty good description on why and when to use it plus a decent picture but I am confused if you are supposed to create them out of young small GREEN sticks or only dead and try timber. Obviously dry will catch and burn better but I am having a hard time envisioning getting the wood strips to flare out without breaking off on dry dead timber like it shows in the pictures. I live in Colorado and in the woods I pretty much have the selection of various pines depending on the area, aspen, willows and maybe a little scrub brush. I don't have the beech, cedar, hickory, birch oak etc.. that is so commonly refered to. Any help?
 
Dry wood works best. Be patient, it's a bit difficult at first if you're not familiar with wood carving. Some guys here can post some pictures of their ridiculously curly fuzz sticks, but mine usually look more like this but still work fine:

IMG_0682.jpg
 
rocketbomb said:
Dry wood works best. Be patient, it's a bit difficult at first if you're not familiar with wood carving. Some guys here can post some pictures of their ridiculously curly fuzz sticks, but mine usually look more like this but still work fine:

IMG_0682.jpg
Click to expand...

My fuzzsticks end up like that too, and I do quite a bit of carving! Oh well, they still work. By the way, what's that orange-handled wharncliffe?
 
RocketBomb did a good job with the fuzz sticks. But you dont even have to keep it together as a single stick..just whittling it off in shavings and splinters and making a pile of them will give you that same catches fire quick effect. A pile of shavings then twigs up to about pencil size then bigger sticks going up to kindling size. Just remember to let each stage get going a bit before you add the next size and to not add too much on top at a time, spread your sticks out (crisscross stacking) so the fire underneath can get air..you'll have a blazing fire before you know it. Oh Yea..Talk to member Mistwalker about the joy of fatwood! (that outa keep that pyro busy for a while! :) )
 
Indeed, that helps alot. Is it pretty typical for it to take a spark with just that as a starter or do you find that you quite often have to add a finer tinder to get it going initially?

I also notice that the fuzz is made on about half or 180 degrees of the stick so that it sits on the ground flat, is that to keep the video shorter or the final intention. I suppose if you made the fuzz all the way around it would create an unstable base probably would not catch fire and if it did it would just collapse?

Of the species available to me here in CO, do you consider a particualr few to excel at their "fuzzing" potential.

Sorry for all of the detail questions, I am pretty analytical and would like to start learning the right way and avoid bad habits; the video was a considerable help, thanks.
 
Talfuchre said:
I forgot about this video. Your son cracks me up!

TF
Click to expand...

Yup, that is my little guy! Kid cracks me up. He thought I was talking to him, and felt the need to answer! :D Since you can't see my face in the video, what you don't see is me turning my head and saying SSSSHHHHH! :D

B
 
I finally made my first decent fuzz stick a couple of weeks ago. It definitely takes practice, and seeing someone else do it first makes it even easier.

P1011364.jpg


Of course, a sharp knife is essential!
 
some wood is better than others to make fuzz sticks out of. I really like poplar.
 
When making feather sticks, I position myself on my knees, place the end of the stick on the ground and keep the arm straight. All the movement comes from the upper body pushing down.
Put more force into keeping the blade close to the stick rather than pushing down.

Also, by dropping the tip of my knife slightly, it's possible to get 3 or 4 curls of the feather, which can generally light from a firesteel.

Hope my descriptions make sense...
 
if you find it hard to make them by moving your knife over the wood, try holding your knife still and pulling the wood back, you can get more control like this and some people find it easier
 
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