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Must haves in your tinder box?

Diomedes Industries

Diomedes Industries

Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
7,443
I am making up a tinder box for myself and I have this to start with:

1) Altoids tin.
2) 12 1 inch ranger bands (intertube) for a coal extender.
3) a 1/8th inch firsteel with handle
4) A ton of char cloth.
5) One ranger band to hold it closed.

I am going to add some jute twine and a small bic lighter - but I am wondering if there is anything else you carry in your fire kit that is a must have!

TF
 
You can get small alcohol wipe packets for first aid kits that work great as fuel. A thin little bit of fatwood never hurts. Fatwood is one of the few things that can act as tinder for catching a fire steel spark but also act as kindling. If you don't have access to fatwood, then a piece of one of the Coghlan's Firesticks - which are basically parafiin wax embedded saw dust works just as good.
 
I would suggest putting some fatwood shavings into your kit, along with sometlhing like Spark-lites Tinderquik. Add a couple of pieces to your kit and you have a rain or shine firestarter with you.

You might also make up some of your own firestarters. I made mine from cotton balls and candle wax. Added the wax to the cotton ball and then rolled it between my fingers like I was rolling a cigarette, but fatter in the middle and near pointed on the ends. Then when they hardened, I cut them in half giving me two cone shaped starters from each cotton ball and they burn for 5 minutes or so. Not too much wax, but enough to penetrate into the cotton ball, but making it so you can scratch the top off and find cotton fibers to spark the tinder to life.
 
KmNO4 = potassium permanganate = Condy's Crystals - mix with sugar or antifreeze to make a fire, also serves as an antibacterial.

For me, dried kangaroo dung is small and round, up to 3/4 inch diameter, and will extend and ember from a friction fire for at least 3 minutes. Charcloth is also nice because I go to many areas where there is quartz, and struck with the back of my carbon mora I can catch a spark without too much effort. Depending on where I am, some of the local barks and bracken fern fronds are also handy.
 
you can also use flint and steel for the steel wool, just make sure it's 0000 steel wool...:thumbup:
 
TF, have never heard of Ranger bands being a good coal extender... are you sure your not using them as a burning accelorator?

My tinder pouch contains:

-jute
-fatwood
-steel wool
-cedar bark
-true tinger fungus

I keep it all mixed together in a small leather bag. My char stays with my Firepouch Tin.

IMG_0037-2-1.jpg
 
I am still a fan of good ole PJCB's Easy to light, somewhat water resistant, and burns long.

That said, I never use it unless I fail to get natural materials to light...

I wish Paper Birch grew everywhere!
 
Magnussen said:
TF, have never heard of Ranger bands being a good coal extender... are you sure your not using them as a burning accelorator?

My tinder pouch contains:

-jute
-fatwood
-steel wool
-cedar bark
-true tinger fungus

I keep it all mixed together in a small leather bag. My char stays with my Firepouch Tin.

IMG_0037-2-1.jpg
Click to expand...

I gotta say, everytime I see your fire kit I love it more...:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Tinder: PCBs, magnesium shavings, fatwood & maybe a little fine steel wool.

Ignition: firesteel, REI matches, peanut lighter. (Not all stored together) This if for fire when in the bush, which can be critical for survival. I'll leave the reenacting for fires close to home.

-- FLIX
 
saxon said:
I keep a 4in.bone hairpipe in my fire kit. It makes a good blow pipe to keep the beard from going up when the tinder flares! Or just to generally direct a stream of air on the coal. Like the one in this pic.

http://www.coloradoleathergoods.com/Hairpipe.htm
Click to expand...

I've been using a 10" long piece of medical tubing and it works good, but your bone hairpipe will work and it's more durable. Think I'll see if the wife has one in her beading supplies and I'll give it a go. Thanks for the tip.
 
I keep paraffin impregnated jute in my "tinder box" at all times. My tinder box may not be anything more than a ziplock bag. The paraffin keeps the jute dry and will act like a fuel which is great for starting fires. Unlike PJCB's, it is easy to fluff up the jute to catch a spark because the paraffin is hard at normal operating temperatures. You can light one end of a piece of it and use it like a little candle.

I like PJCB's, but find they clump more. Also like PJ impregnated 4x4 gauze pads wrapped in foil. Can be used as a fire starter or candle.
 
Telescoping blow tube!:thumbup:

I recently added the neatest piece of gear I have ever stumbled across to my fire kit. I had hoped to post some pics but time has not allowed. I bought a 6" telescoping magnet (extends to almost 26") for my wife to retrieve her needles from the cracks in between the floor boards and a light bulb went off.

I bought two and gave my wife hers, took mine out to the shop and popped the magnet out, drilled a 1/16" hole in the brass cup that had previously held the magnet and then drilled a larger hole in the other end. Presto! Instant collapsible blow tube! It weighs next to nothing and takes up virtually no space. I have been using it for several months and it works great.

The 1/16" hole really concentrates the air for an intense ember without blowing all your tinder away and getting you dizzy. One good breath goes a long way and is usually enough to take a char cloth ember to flame. If you lose your balance and tip forward, you won't knock a front tooth out or "cookie cutter" a hole out of your lip as I have imagined could happen with my aluminum arrow shaft blow tube for the wood stove.

Once I catch a spark in my char cloth, I can shove it down into my secondary tinder, which is already inside my firelay and protected from wind and rain, and the tube lets me put the air right where I want it without getting mud or snow in my ear. Precludes the necessity of transferring a flaming ball of tinder to the base of the firelay and is particularly nice for wet/windy weather.
 
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