- Joined
- Feb 28, 2007
- Messages
- 9,786
Sleety, wet rain today. Just walked over to the neighborhood school/prairie field to give the dogs a run. The snow is about 6" deep, but the rain/freeze cycle we've had made a thick enough crust to walk on in most places.
Decided to keep my eyes peeled for tinder and fire material with the knowledge that the wet/sleet would make things difficult.
First, a bark platform just like Bryan used.
This little oak decided not to drop its leaves. Being careful to pick the ones under other leaves and sheltered from the drizzile, I managed to find some dry ones.
The little milkweed pods were also still available. I noticed that some of the pods were opened downward and the pod shell kept some of the fluffy stuff dry.
I tried a makeshift shelter tarp out of the garbage bag in my kit, but admittedly it was a half hearted attempt and soon gave it up as the drizzel was off and on. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the natural tinder lit. I did resort to some materials in the kit.
A coglan fire stick. I decided on it instead of the fatwood as I know it would take much less time to scrape the tinder and cut off some bigger curls of waxed sawdust. These sticks can be had for $2 for 12 sticks and they work great. In fact, I think they work better than fatwood, even though I like the nostalgia of fatwood. Once the curls of the fire stick dried the leaves a bit, the rest of the gathered tinder started up just as well.
A couple of beta action shots
Decided to keep my eyes peeled for tinder and fire material with the knowledge that the wet/sleet would make things difficult.
First, a bark platform just like Bryan used.
This little oak decided not to drop its leaves. Being careful to pick the ones under other leaves and sheltered from the drizzile, I managed to find some dry ones.
The little milkweed pods were also still available. I noticed that some of the pods were opened downward and the pod shell kept some of the fluffy stuff dry.
I tried a makeshift shelter tarp out of the garbage bag in my kit, but admittedly it was a half hearted attempt and soon gave it up as the drizzel was off and on. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the natural tinder lit. I did resort to some materials in the kit.
A coglan fire stick. I decided on it instead of the fatwood as I know it would take much less time to scrape the tinder and cut off some bigger curls of waxed sawdust. These sticks can be had for $2 for 12 sticks and they work great. In fact, I think they work better than fatwood, even though I like the nostalgia of fatwood. Once the curls of the fire stick dried the leaves a bit, the rest of the gathered tinder started up just as well.
A couple of beta action shots
