Not another fatwood thread.

[tonym]

Not that I have anything against fatwood threads, this just isn't one.

Anyway, fall and winter is when I make the most fires when I am out hiking or messing around in the woods. I always take PJCB's and other artificial tinder, but other than practicing they pretty much stay in the pack. I much prefer using natural tinders.

I made a couple of quick videos today. One is on my favorite natural tinder that is easily found in my area and the other is on fire preperation.

Sorry for the quality, I have no clue how to edit videos, so these are all one take. Probably a good thing, cause if I edited out all my mistakes it would be a more of a photogragh than a video..

Questions and comments are always welcome.

[youtube]8LgU-9TqtMk[/youtube]


[youtube]2okWHpQlrHw[/youtube]

Dead Birch tree. Bark is easily removed and excellent as a 2ndary tinder. You can scrape it up and get it to take a spark as well.




Paper Birch tree






Loving the Laconico


My new Brian Andrews lil scandi necker/edc

 

[WILLIAM.M]

Thanks for posting Tony!!!

 

[valcas1]

Nice videos Tony. Birch Bark is my all time favorite natural tinder. Makes lighting a fire so easy.

 

[Stickman]

Tony, the videos came out great, you're better at it than you thought. I use the paper birch too, amazing stuff and whenever I find a downed white birch I take some of the heavier bark and cut it into strips for my kits.

 

[tonym]

Tony, the videos came out great, you're better at it than you thought. I use the paper birch too, amazing stuff and whenever I find a downed white birch I take some of the heavier bark and cut it into strips for my kits.

Thanks.

Taking some bark for my kits is probably something I should start doing. I usually just find some when I am out, but there eventualy will be that time I don't find it. Good idea bro:thumbup:

 

[John G]

Great instructional. Thanks!

 

[KuRUpTD]

Great videos T :thumbup: wow that birch bark looks like it burns crazy hot.

I like that Brian Andrews necker a lot, looks very useful and sharp.

 

[tonym]

Great videos T :thumbup: wow that birch bark looks like it burns crazy hot.
.

I was thinking how dumb I sound saying that in the video. "This burns really hot"

No sh%t, it wouldn't burn cold would it...

Oh well, at least you got what I was talking about

 

[TheGame]

I recently tried out the birch, and I loved the stuff. Still prefer the fatwood, but that isn't readily available in the woods around me either. And I have a lot of pine in my area.

:thumbup:

 

[HikingMano]

Awesome vids, Tony :thumbup: It's always a trip to put a voice to name for the first time...it's always nothing like you'd expect the person to sound. Great pics too man.

Man that Birch bark lights up quick! Thanks for sharing this! :thumbup:

 

[machinest]

everyone is talking about fatwood. WHAT IS FATWOOD.

 

[Bushman5]

everyone is talking about fatwood. WHAT IS FATWOOD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatwood

 

[Joezilla]

How did a non fatwood thread somehow drift into one.

Aahhhhhhh

 

[Don M]

I wish there were birch trees around here. When I lived in upstate NY years ago I could find it, but it is rare here. At the higher elevations in the Smokies there is Yellow Birch, but the bark isn't quite as good for this.

 

[Mistwalker]

Great thread Tony, awesome videos. I sure wish Paper Birch grew around here. With the pitch in that stuff it's like the fatwood of the north. How does it do in igniting under wet conditions?

 

[tonym]

Great thread Tony, awesome videos. I sure wish Paper Birch grew around here. With the pitch in that stuff it's like the fatwood of the north. How does it do in igniting under wet conditions?

Birchbark is quite water proof. It will not absorb water like cedar bark, so if you collect it in the rain and put it in your pocket it will be dry when ready to use it.:thumbup:

 

[KuRUpTD]

How does it do in igniting under wet conditions?

Apparently birch bark will ignite even when wet :thumbup:

[youtube]zDmyZqDZpEs[/youtube]

I wonder if it will catch a spark using a firesteel when dripping wet?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I LOVE birch bark! We have TONS of it up this way--it's actually hard to find a section of woods that don't have a few birch trees in it. Takes a spark no problem and burns like an inferno! Just doesn't last forever, so make sure you built up those pencil-sized sticks!

In answer to the above question--yes, but you may have to separate the layers of the bark to get a dry patch for catching the spark. Also, the bottom layers seem to absorb water more readily than the outer ones. It makes the job more difficult for sure, but not by much.

 

[Anrkst6973]

Good stuff Tony. There are isolated patches of paperbark here, make great secondary tinder. Birch and sycamore are both naturally self pruning too. Always twigs and sticks under the trees that light readily even when its been raining. Ash also sheds limbs..no work or chopping, just collect em and build log cabin piles.

 

[Mistwalker]

Birchbark is quite water proof. It will not absorb water like cedar bark, so if you collect it in the rain and put it in your pocket it will be dry when ready to use it.:thumbup:

Thanks Tony. Hmmmm..., now this has me thinking a bit. There are a lot of Cherry trees up in the mountains here. A while back I hiked through an area where there were several Cherry trees with some major bark issues. This makes me wonder how that separating bark would work as tinder. I didn't think about it at the time because everything was soaking wet from days of rain. Now after reading this, and hearing that tinder fungus has been found on Cherry trees before, I want to go back and check it out. Maybe their barks have a similar chemical make up.