"I knew that".

siguy said:
a note on getting fires started;
it is a good idea to carry some ready made kindling, not just tinder. when i am going on trips where i can have a fire, i carry a small cloth bag filled with dry woodshavings and peices of matchstick sized sticks left over from when i whittle to waste time. i also carry wax paper and brown paper with the wood.

really nice when you get somewhere, especially if it is getting dark, to not have to go finding dry starter wood and fuzz and split it up. just pull out the bag and toss in a handful. also, the cloth is 100% cotton, so i could use that too if i really need it.
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Tinder:

-If you are at home making a kit, try smashing some toothpicks. if you have a vice or flat peice of metal (hatchet head) you can pulverize the toothpicks down into fine pieces. Of course, this works for any dried wood, out in the wild too.

-Using a hand-drill type of method, you can twirl up some "wood dust" to use as tinder. Should only take a couple minutes.

-Strop your favorite knife across any dry cotton fabric and you will "fuzz up" some good tinder.

-Carry a couple of firecrakers in your kit. :eek:
You can break them open , and pour out the powder for a quick ignite. You can grind the powder into some wood fiber so that when it catches the wood continues to burn. Same would go for the propellant in a rifle cartridge, but it needs to be smashed into powder.

-Making Charcloth: Get two cans, sized so that one fits over another.
punch nail holes in the larger of the two cans.
Place some pieces of 100% cotton cloth into the smaller can, and place the larger can over it. Cook down the cloth until it is entirely charred brownish-black. The small holes allow gases to escape.
It is like cooking food, you want to cook it down entirely, but not set it on fire. You can do this on your gas grill or over a small fire, no blow-torch needed, just enough heat to "char" it.
 
Codger 64
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: Add to your "I knew that" file, the roots (Sassafras) make an excellent toothbrush and a good "woods chew" as well, good "root beer" flavor (was originally a component of root beer, sasperillo), and it freshens the breath too!
 
On the throwing line/slingshot thing, I used a big eyed sinker on some fishing line and shot it over a tree branch with the sling shot. Used it to haul my rope over the top. You can put together a neat little fishing kit w/ hooks, a lure, couple split shot, cork and foam bobbers, in a film canister, and then wrap it w/ 20 yards of spiderwire. Mine weighs 1 oz. The little Coghlans fire starter sticks are relatively hard to start, but burn quite well for a long time. If I am not in the mood to mess around with tinder, I break off a piece or two about an inch long. They are inexpensive and seem to carry fairly well. Keep the cotton/vaseline too.
 
I like Nevr-Dull wadding for general cleaning of my knives. I keep a small ziplock of it in my pack for wiping crud off blades. It also works very well as a tinder.
 
Sending this back up to the top because I have not read all of the pages yet but really a great post. Could we make this a sticky?
 
Briggz said:
Sending this back up to the top because I have not read all of the pages yet but really a great post. Could we make this a sticky?
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That brings to mind a question I have had, do we have an active moderator for Wilderness/Survival Forum, or two maybe?

I've seen a couple of "Connecticut Survival Class" posts up there, that are pretty stale and inactive. They seem like a topic that can be dealt with off line amongst the group interested.

We've had some good threads that should be stickies. Having Modded other websites, you sticky things that are inforamtive (like Briggz sez about this thread) , or one that answer those ever repeated questions.

Off the top of my head , there could be a stickies for any of the following:
-"What's the best Survival Knife?" and/or "Which Knife"
-"PSKs, 72hr kits, and long duration Survival Packs"
-Fire (methods of making, as well as tinder sources)
-Shelter
-Food
-First aid
-Navigation
-Sgnalling
-Urban survival (things specific to the concrete jungle)
-Winter/Cold survival

-Bear Grylls and Les Stroud: Saviors or Satans? :D :D :D
 
I carry several red kool-aid packets when travelling in the snow. They weigh almost nothing and make excellent dye markers. A little goes a long way i just tear a small notch and sprinkle it on the snow dry. Think bread crumb trail or signalling for help when your tucked away in your snow shelter.
 
DOC-CANADA said:
You're out in the woods, and you're gathering shoots for arrows, or whatever, and you find that you forgot your cordage. Strips of the outer layer of Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) can be used like cordage, as is, with no processing (later summer and fall). Can also be used for lashing all manner of things - shelters, etc. A buddy and I once 3-braided some green Milkweed and used it successfully for a bow drill fire. It was fairly worn out at the end, though, no more fires left in it, but it did work.

Doc
(Master of the Creative Comma :o )
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The down inside those milkweed pods in late summer/fall goes up like gasoline with even a small spark and takes a coal from a bow drill like nobodys business.
 
i found the cotton tip to be quite good. i scraped off a fair amount of what is basically drier lint from a 100% cotton rag, struck a spark into it and used it to catch a small square of the same rag that in turn caught some wood shavings on fire, which could easily grow into a nice fire.

i now wear a 100% cotton head-rag, with plenty of excess fabric that can be cut off and used for fire when in the woods.

i find that contrary to popular belief, cotton can be a lifesaver instead of a killer, as long as it is used for fire and not clothing :D
 
SkunkWerX said:
That brings to mind a question I have had, do we have an active moderator for Wilderness/Survival Forum, or two maybe?
Click to expand...

Good question. As a wild guess, I'd have to say "no". That may or may not be a good thing... I haven't really missed a moderating presence in here. I have no clue who "owns" or started W&S, or the forum as a whole, for that matter.

About stickies... I don't think there's a real need for some programmer wonk to make this a sticky. As long as we keep updating it, it will stay near the top of the list.
 
For tinder, most deep fried bagged snacks are flammable. Try using a potatoe chip or a corn chip. They burn really well. Stay away from seasoned types, as they don't burn as well IME.
 
Zipties. If you want the best zipties all you gotta do is look to the coppers. Flexi-cuffs are probably the strongest zipties out there. I don't use them myself but my buddy always has a bunch.
 
This is an idea I came up with when I switched from tents to tarps for my overnights.

I carry 6 to 8 three-foot pieces of paracord with one of those cheapie key ring caribiners tied to each end.

I can set up a tarp shelter in about 5 minutes, or if caught out in the rain, I can find a nice sitting spot and rig my US surplus poncho for a rain shelter really quickly. (great for dayhiking in Western Washington) You can make loops through the caribiners in nothing flat, and the caribiners themselves hook to the ponch (or tarp) grommets in a flash.

Clint Hollingworth
The Wandering Ones webcomic
http://www.wanderingones.com
 
with my poncho, i carry a light warm blanket and 4 10 ft long peices of para cord, each with a little loop tied in one end. i also carry 4 hard ground stakes (hard metal spikes) and 2 soft ground stakes (bigger plastic spikes) there are only 4 grommets in my poncho, one in each corner.

i use the loops tied into the end of the cord to tie a very quick slip knot into each grommet, and can set up a stable tarp shelter in about 10 minutes.
 
To all the W&S Guys (and Gals;) ) I am embarrassed to admit that I don't have more to add other than.... I have picked up so many tips and tricks that I am sending links of this thread to friends and family of mine.

Should be a sticky....

Thanks to all:thumbup:
 
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