Recommended tinder?

rocketbomb said:
Dryer lint, especially from cotton clothing, works well.

I would be interested in seeing if you could generate enough heat from a bowdrill to light the whole Doan block of magnesium up. Used as a pivot properly, I doubt it would do anything, but it would be interesting to see if somebody could make one light.
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Naw I don't think so. The genius of the mag block is that in its block form there is no surface area. Hold a flame to magblock and and doesn't do anything.

Now if your drill were some kind of really hard stuff, which would defeat its use in firebow, and it were shredding up the mag bar - well then you'd have cause for concern.
 
The cadets ( 15-17yrs) in my survival class carry both a tampon and a PJ based lipbalm.
A Tampon can be used as a sterile wipe for wound cleaning ( theye are sterile till the plastic is broken) padding for a blister, final part of a water filer, making fishing flys, wound cover/dressing ( although I would wet it with clean water first) ear plugs nose plugs for bleeds. Dare I suggest perfect for plugging a bullet hole in flesh in an emergency ( but I have no experiance with that)
PJ based lip balm, is good for lips, small cuts, mixed with a bit of tampon it makes waterproof earplugs.
and when you combine the two you end up with a very easy to ignite tinder that I have had burn for not quiet five minutes.
the more PJ you work into the tampon the longer it burns. If your having trouble getting ignition make sure the bit the sparks are hitting are teased out finely. if you tease the whole thing out finely it will burn more quickly therefore at a slightly ( in the scheme of things) hotter temp.
A little bit of the PJCB mix wrapped around a twig makes a taper, anoher small bit wrapped around a sliver of rubber inner tube will ignite that ( I haven't had any success with lighting rubber from a spark , never tried actually)
I have used lip balm as a lube when I forgot to bring the oil for my 9mm and I burnt it off. and I had a mate who used it as a lube to stop chafe.
Fatwood isn't readily available here.
Oh yeah I also get them to carry a pencil sharpener, perfect tinder from standing dead wood every time
Carl
 
Hwpaintballer I like fat wood and dryer lint, on fatwood you can cut about 3'' long drill a hole and paracord it to your knife(RC) wehen needed cut small piece off and bang you have a great tinder!
 
Howdy,

I just got back from a camping trip at the coast (Pacific Ocean).

I started five camp fires this weekend with a firesteel.

I used trade wood (pine pitch wood) shavings for one fire. The other four I used my Leatherman saw to make trade wood saw dust.

All five fires lit easily with the firesteel (Scout size).

When I'm in the wood's, I always carry an antique brass water proof match case (full of strike anywhere matches) a firesteel, a knife and a small piece of trade wood.
 
The pencil sharpener sounds like a great idea, and the tampon sounds like a good idea too... I just... don't know what kind of looks I'll get from my friends around me when I pull out a tampon to start a fire, being a guy and all :)

I guess if I am man enough I don't have to care what they think :)
 
for a magnesium bar use a Corona sharpening tool (or any tool with a square edge of carbide) it will generate lots of shavings quickly with out worry of dulling a knife.

Here is another tip... most everyone carries duct tape (if you dont you should!)
use a small square of duct tape to hold the magnesium shavings (or fatwood shavings or anything that the wind might blow away!) light it up ! the duct tape will burn fairly easily as well!

for duct tape: save one of those gift cards like walmart gives out when you return something. wrap duct tape length wise around the card. 3 feet takes up almost no space! its great for firestarting, first aid, shelter repair, etc.
 
Saturated PJCB are erally good for catching sparks and burning for a while. You have to make sure you get them really wispy before you spark them though. Just twine is good stuff too. I was going to try and make some waxed jute at some point. I've heard that works well.
 
I usually use dryer lint or some petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls. Untangle some jute, make a nest and put the dryer lint or cotton balls in the center.
 
Pic of pencil shavings, of course if you need to pencils work just as well as twigs.
nearlyperfecttinder.jpg

Carl
 
I carried (and tested 3 nights this weekend) jute and petrol jelly cotton balls. We camped at a spot with NO WOOD, just a sand/rock bar surrounded by a massive river on one side and vertical rock wall on the other. Someone packed 2x4s in a drybox and busted them out but had no small stuff to make those 2x4s take. It was a cold windy night. I destrung half of the jute, until I had a ball of fibers the size of my fist. I lit it with a camp lighter, it took, and dropped in two cotton balls, which also took and started burning (they burned for maybe 5 minutes) I split some 2x4s with the tomahawk (kiln cured 2x4s are alot harder to split than dead logs) those cotton balls gave me the flame I needed for the length I needed to get the 1 inch by two inch sized chunks of wood to take. Otherwise it would have been a real real cold night.
 
Ya ditto on the Vaseline Cotton balls. Not sure who was sitting around with a jar of Vaseline in one hand and a bag of cotton balls in the other and decided on how to best use these two items.. -not sure I want to know either. But I can tell you they WORK. The Rat Fire Kit will ignite a V-Ball from 5 feet away. I glob up a bunch of them and keep them in a freezer zip lock. Many, MANY of them will smash down to almost no space.
 
10Beers said:
Not sure who was sitting around with a jar of Vaseline in one hand and a bag of cotton balls in the other and decided on how to best use these two items.. -not sure I want to know either.
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The same guy running around with a bic lighter and a can of aerosol hairspray...
 
Most of the bars in this town refuse to sell me 151 anymore.....

It was only once, and in the scheme of things, a -little- fire...
 
I store my pjcb's in old prescription pill bottles. Just peel of the labels and load them up. Have a half dozen with these and another half dozen with dryer lint.

I washed out a small plastic Folgers canister and leave it on the dryer to collect from now on. Nothing like free fire starting material.
 
I use the vaseline-soaked cotton balls (make sure they are cotton). I put them in a film cannister or match safe, they last a long time. The other product that I carry with me is the BSA Super Cedar block. It is the shape and size of a hockey puck, easy to light and will burn for a 40 minutes on its own. You can also scrape off particulate from the block and use it for fine tinder.

Lower right:
mike016.jpg


Super Cedar producing high energy, self-sustaining oxidation in the visible range (Fire!):

mike021.jpg
 
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