November's Challenge Discussion Thread

MyWifeThinksImCrazy said:
Here's my problem(S)

I live in WA state.

Bow/hand drill, pretty much impossible from what I've tried and have been told. Most branches and other wood found on the ground is wet, and if it's not wet then it's been so super saturated from previous years that it's rotted.

Parabolic lens, right now the sun is so low in the sky it looks like morning all day so I would never get enough sun to even consider that to be an option (but I still carry a magnifying glass in my kit, for them summer days).

Flint rock and steel, I have yet to find a rock to pull a spark from any of my carbon knives. Every time I've been to the river beds this year I've been looking for anything that would through a spark, and nothin.


My only option, IMO, is my firesteel(s).

The good part though. We do have a lot of good tinder that will take a spark from a steel :D and I just so happen to have a metric butt ton right around here :D:D

More fire starting soon :D:D:D:D:D



I like fire!!!
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I hear ya, I live in a temperate rainforest. Its tough, but its fun. And no one says you can't prep your material some. I mean, if I had the time to say, dry out some wood in the back of my car (best place for this, btw), and prep a bowdrill kit, so I could have a chance to use one. :D

I'm hoping for some folks to play around with light refraction. Its, um, interesting. Plus, its a skill that requires more experience than material. And less work. Which is good sometimes. I have a small piece of fresnel, about the size of a credit card, that I keep in my wallet and one of my kits. Its neat once you get the flex down, and the light angle, how easy it is to control. Stuff like ice and condoms are cool, just because you can say you done it.

To each their own, I just like watching stuff catch fire. :D

Moose
 
Well today on the way home from work I was looking at everything that I could grab to use as a tinder. I was very tempted to pull over a few times just to grab some stuff. I might have to gather some wood though and try my hand again at a bow drill set.


A little off topic, or not, I bought some cotton round pads for makeup at the store today. I'm planning on impregnating them with some was to have a new tinder in my kit (maybe in the kit IDK yet). I'll post up how it goes though.
 
moosez45 said:
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Moose
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Bit slow to this one. D2 tak?
 
Looks like an ESEE 4. Did a little firemaking tonight, some success, some failure. Success was ferro rod (going gear type) on birch bark which I gathered as I was walking my boys trick or treating. Anyways that lit right up. Failure was Flint and steel on dry wood shavings, I can get charred cloth to light easy, but nothin else.
 
Need some advice and an OK on my tinder. So before even getting into the woods I rounded up some stuff I thought may be good tinder. I tried thinking outside the box on stuff since we need 5 different types and I don't know trees for nothing. Below is a pic.of what I found today. Need advice on if its good or bad and also if its OK for the contest (primarily the pumpkin stalk and the pitchwood)

Top is Douglas fir needles, left to right is corn stalks, hair off the corn (does that count for one or two different tinders?) , pitchwood from fa'ler, a dried pumpkin stalk, white Burch bark, bottom is different grasses first two are dried ornamental stuff that's very straw like, and last is dried grass clippings. What do you guys think?

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Did you collect he pitchwood yourself (I'm assuming fatwood, Fal'er, help me out here)? If not, it doesn't count.

Basic idea, is if you find it in nature and you have collected it yourself in the time frame of the contest, it counts.

I'm not allowing charcloth, because mainly, it makes it too easy, and charcloth is one of those things that has to be prep'd. You need a fire, a tin, some cloth, and some time to make. Its a process. Natural tinder is natures way of giving you what you need. So natural, and something you collected.

Moose
 
Ok, I just got to thinking right after I hit post, just above, here's the deal, use whatever you want.

You wanna use charcloth, go for it, you wanna use store bought fatwood, go for it, but when the contest is judged, we will be taking into consideration all the materials used.

I'm saying this, because I want EVERYONE to at least try something new, but it doesn't matter, really as long as you are doing something.

So, for your flint and steel, use some charcloth, or some fatwood, its all good as long as you are doing something.

Moose
 
moosez45 said:
Did you collect he pitchwood yourself (I'm assuming fatwood, Fal'er, help me out here)? If not, it doesn't count.

Basic idea, is if you find it in nature and you have collected it yourself in the time frame of the contest, it counts.

I'm not allowing charcloth, because mainly, it makes it too easy, and charcloth is one of those things that has to be prep'd. You need a fire, a tin, some cloth, and some time to make. Its a process. Natural tinder is natures way of giving you what you need. So natural, and something you collected.

Moose
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I expected as much but I had it so I asked. Still an awesome gift Oregon. Ill use it elsewhere, since I got it a few months back. No big just wanted to get the OK on all the stuff I had. Everything else legit tho moose? I got some wild ideas and some aces in the hole on this one
 
See my post above yours Oh Clichenwalner.

Mooose
 
I'm hoping the contest also takes into account the previous skill set of the contestant...

I'm going to try firesteel (yet to be successfull there), Bow drill (did that once), and magnifying glass (once I find one).

its been epic wet around here lately, so I'm going to have to start keeping a sharp eye out for good tinder between here and campus (the "forest" that I get to walk past every day)
 
ocnLogan said:
I'm hoping the contest also takes into account the previous skill set of the contestant...

I'm going to try firesteel (yet to be successfull there), Bow drill (did that once), and magnifying glass (once I find one).

its been epic wet around here lately, so I'm going to have to start keeping a sharp eye out for good tinder between here and campus (the "forest" that I get to walk past every day)
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Your entry is what we look at, the entire thing, not just the pics. If you want it known that you don't know what you are doing, then say so, we can judge how well you are doing by the pics you share.

We do these challenges so you guys will practice some skills and get a chance to win a prize for your efforts, and just to let you in on a secret, the best doesn't always win, in Ethan's eyes, the progress you make, is the real prize, he likes seeing folks that have never done something successfully, get it down.

I do too, its why I teach woodland skills to folks. It ain't makin' me rich or famous, its making me feel good. Watching someone make a fire with bowdrill for the first time, is amazing. Truly amazing. AND to do it yourself, makes you feel even better.

Give it your best shot, and don't worry about what you don't know, worry about what you are gonna learn.

Moose
 
I just collected some tinder a bit ago, and I got into my bag-o-fatwood and got a very nice piece of that out :D
 
moosez45 said:
Your entry is what we look at, the entire thing, not just the pics. If you want it known that you don't know what you are doing, then say so, we can judge how well you are doing by the pics you share.

We do these challenges so you guys will practice some skills and get a chance to win a prize for your efforts, and just to let you in on a secret, the best doesn't always win, in Ethan's eyes, the progress you make, is the real prize, he likes seeing folks that have never done something successfully, get it down.

I do too, its why I teach woodland skills to folks. It ain't makin' me rich or famous, its making me feel good. Watching someone make a fire with bowdrill for the first time, is amazing. Truly amazing. AND to do it yourself, makes you feel even better.

Give it your best shot, and don't worry about what you don't know, worry about what you are gonna learn.

Moose
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Thanks for the response man.

Like I said, I've really been wanting to get better at this, and hopefully this helps give me the kick in the pants I need to go out and to it. Of course thats assuming my classes don't take ALL of my time on the weekends.

Also, is it legal to get the tinder all ready and kept inside beforehand (like I said, rain/snow has been abundant lately)?
 
ocnLogan said:
Thanks for the response man.

Like I said, I've really been wanting to get better at this, and hopefully this helps give me the kick in the pants I need to go out and to it. Of course thats assuming my classes don't take ALL of my time on the weekends.

Also, is it legal to get the tinder all ready and kept inside beforehand (like I said, rain/snow has been abundant lately)?
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If I were wondering in the woods, and I knew a storm was coming or nearly on me, you bet your ass I would collect some tinder, stuff my pockets full, and keep it dry.

I hate to say it, mostly because of TV hype and BS, but what Cody Lundin does all the time, is collect wet now, and dry it against his body <shudders> for later. Its very effective, and a good means to make sure you got something to work with later.

Just to add, these aren't survival skills, these are woodland skills, or bush skills, or just basic knowledge that has been lost or forgotten through the years. Back in the day, if folks happened upon bounties such as milk weed, cattails, birch, stuff like that, they refilled their pouches and bags so they would have some dry tinder for later. Its just natural to do so.

Moose
 
I got outside today on my lunch break and tried the magnifying glass thing. I can get it to smolder and turn to char but no luck getting a flame. You must have to get it juuuuuuuust right for it to ignite. I am gonna try again tomorrow and see what happens. It was fun trying though. I expected it to be fairly easy but I was definitely wrong. Ended up trying for over an hour with no joy.
 
pokesalad said:
I got outside today on my lunch break and tried the magnifying glass thing. I can get it to smolder and turn to char but no luck getting a flame. You must have to get it juuuuuuuust right for it to ignite. I am gonna try again tomorrow and see what happens. It was fun trying though. I expected it to be fairly easy but I was definitely wrong. Ended up trying for over an hour with no joy.
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I was never allowed to play with matches as a kid, but for some reason magnifying glasses were perfectly ok.

The trick with it is keeping the angle right (aka, 90 degrees from the sun), and keeping that dot as small as you can, and as steady as you can. You were probably already doing that, but thought I'd throw it out there.

Also... bigger magnifying glasses are much easier :D.
 
moosez45 said:
Ok, I just got to thinking right after I hit post, just above, here's the deal, use whatever you want.

You wanna use charcloth, go for it, you wanna use store bought fatwood, go for it, but when the contest is judged, we will be taking into consideration all the materials used.

I'm saying this, because I want EVERYONE to at least try something new, but it doesn't matter, really as long as you are doing something.

So, for your flint and steel, use some charcloth, or some fatwood, its all good as long as you are doing something.

Moose
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Good call! :thumbup:
I'm gonna use char-cloth, BUT I'm gonna try some other "spark catchers" as well for the flint & steel method.
 
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ocnLogan said:
I was never allowed to play with matches as a kid, but for some reason magnifying glasses were perfectly ok.

The trick with it is keeping the angle right (aka, 90 degrees from the sun), and keeping that dot as small as you can, and as steady as you can. You were probably already doing that, but thought I'd throw it out there.

Also... bigger magnifying glasses are much easier :D.
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Yep I got it down to a pinpoint. I wonder if using 2 magnifying glasses would work. SHoot one beam into the other and then to the tinder. I bet that would be damn near impossible. Hmm...
 
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