- Joined
- Jun 3, 2010
- Messages
- 1,516
This was posted on another forum but a knife was used so maybe some here might enjoy it. I wanted to practice making a fire using my neck knife plus an altoids tin. Also wanted to show each setup from tinder gathering, charring natural materials, finding and preparing the sharp rocks, tinder bundle creation and twig fire prep with materials found in the area during that trip. The initial fire would be started with modern methods then the traditional methods would be used as a backup aka opps I lost my lighter (s), fire steel and multiple packs of matches. LOL! Keep in mind this just practice so there could be areas for improvement. Practice makes perfect so here goes.
First on my list was tinder. This cedar bark looks nice. The tree is dead and clearly wont miss some bark. It was fluffed up some and dried near the initial fire in this case a woodstove scooted under a tarp.
On the ground near the stove is the cedar bark being fully dried. It was a but damp from days of heavy rain. The bark was also put out in the sun the next day. I had to use a stick to keep it from blowing away. Basically I babied this stuff until it was needed later on in the trip.
What is better than using birch bark within a tinder bundle? Maybe using two different types at the same time.
Found this white birch.
And this Yellow birch. Took bark from both trees.
There was some punk wood within this Hemlock. The punk was a bit dampish but hoped the charring would cook off any moisture.
Using the fire started with modern methods I charred the cedar bark and punk wood found earlier. A person doesnt need a tin to char tinder but theyre very nice.
For steel to toss sparks I would need a sharp rock. One of the best places to find good rocks is a river bank. I wasnt sure what the black speckled rocks were. Maybe granite but knew full well what quartz looks like.
Dropping a large rock on a smaller one is clearly complex bushcraft. We could spend a few thousand words discussing the forces of entropy or simply just smash those rocks! The best way to check if the shards are good is to test them on site with carbon steel. If striking the rock and steel together on a sharp angel produces sparks odds are something was done right. In this case both types of rocks worked. Are these rocks equal to the best English flint? Maybe not but the fire wont care. On a side note all joking aside I try to close my eyes and look away before the impact just incase a chip of rock somehow hits my eyes.
So here are the materials I gathered during the outing ready to go.
A fire platform with backstop or support. This is nice to keep my tinder off the ground and protect it from being smothered during startup.
Twig fire fuel ready to go. Four piles ranging in size from thinner than a pencil. I hate running around like a chicken with its head cut off scrambling for wood. Best to have the prep done first.
The fire took off nicely.
Here is a video of the entire process including tossing the sparks on the charred cedar then blowing the cedar and birch bark tinder bundle into flames. Charred cedar bark on fluffed up cedar bark worked very good. I enjoyed the practice.
[video=youtube;AcM47mhJxE8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcM47mhJxE8[/video]
First on my list was tinder. This cedar bark looks nice. The tree is dead and clearly wont miss some bark. It was fluffed up some and dried near the initial fire in this case a woodstove scooted under a tarp.
On the ground near the stove is the cedar bark being fully dried. It was a but damp from days of heavy rain. The bark was also put out in the sun the next day. I had to use a stick to keep it from blowing away. Basically I babied this stuff until it was needed later on in the trip.
What is better than using birch bark within a tinder bundle? Maybe using two different types at the same time.
Found this white birch.
And this Yellow birch. Took bark from both trees.
There was some punk wood within this Hemlock. The punk was a bit dampish but hoped the charring would cook off any moisture.
Using the fire started with modern methods I charred the cedar bark and punk wood found earlier. A person doesnt need a tin to char tinder but theyre very nice.
For steel to toss sparks I would need a sharp rock. One of the best places to find good rocks is a river bank. I wasnt sure what the black speckled rocks were. Maybe granite but knew full well what quartz looks like.
Dropping a large rock on a smaller one is clearly complex bushcraft. We could spend a few thousand words discussing the forces of entropy or simply just smash those rocks! The best way to check if the shards are good is to test them on site with carbon steel. If striking the rock and steel together on a sharp angel produces sparks odds are something was done right. In this case both types of rocks worked. Are these rocks equal to the best English flint? Maybe not but the fire wont care. On a side note all joking aside I try to close my eyes and look away before the impact just incase a chip of rock somehow hits my eyes.
So here are the materials I gathered during the outing ready to go.
A fire platform with backstop or support. This is nice to keep my tinder off the ground and protect it from being smothered during startup.
Twig fire fuel ready to go. Four piles ranging in size from thinner than a pencil. I hate running around like a chicken with its head cut off scrambling for wood. Best to have the prep done first.
The fire took off nicely.
Here is a video of the entire process including tossing the sparks on the charred cedar then blowing the cedar and birch bark tinder bundle into flames. Charred cedar bark on fluffed up cedar bark worked very good. I enjoyed the practice.
[video=youtube;AcM47mhJxE8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcM47mhJxE8[/video]
