Tempest in a teapot .

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
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Actually its : Fire in a tin can . :I think I am going to find my own version of an altoids tin , just for fire making .
For the moment I will stick with the firesteel and tinder approach . I will also make this a one shot make the fire in the tin deal . Actually I could do two if I used the lid for a second .

I went to a traditional archery tournament and had a few comments about the firesteel held in a loop on a knife sheath made for me by a friend .
Most people thought it was a sharpening rod of some kind . They were quite impressed with the amount of sparks it threw off . I think a little demo of an actual tinder fire in the tin lid may make a convert out of a couple of the more adventurous ones .

They like natural approaches . They also seem to be of a conservative practical nature where actual useage would speak volumes . I do need a tinder that would burn well but only for a very short time . What do you think I should use ?
 
Charcloth and tow is traditional. These kits are ages ols and are called by some "Strike-a-lights". Ted Cash used to make them in brass or German Silver, some with a burning lens in the lid.

Codger
 
Codger64 now that you mention it I might have seen one with a lens in the lid on :The Antiques Roadshow"

Most of the trad archers enjoy traditional ways . They do seem to be caught up with the :It has to work better than a modern way: approach .
If a bic lighter is more practical then they don,t see the utility in firesteel/flint and charcloth . This varies in severity from archer to archer . A very few of them have self bows(even I have self and laminated) There is a line they will not cross between what they see as practical and primitive/traditional .

It is opposite with me . The better I become the more lines I cross .

These are among the best of the trad shooters I know . Archery store owners . Association presidents , volunteers . Generally people who know how to get things done . I try to look at their point of view as they are all people I admire .
 
Kevin, I've had a strike-a-light for years, but didn't use it all that often. I embarassed myself badly once in front of a bunch of friends (they still talk about it) when I tried to demonstrate the flint and steel method for fire lighting outside in the middle of December, in the snow. I was holding the flint at the wrong angle and it wouldn't spark (we had been drinking some yule cheer). Once I realized my mistake and turned it around, it all worked just fine.
I agree with Codger, tow is the ticket - fiber from the flax plant, very combustible, very traditional. One on-line source for it is Dixie Gun Works:

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=2685
 
DGW may still have the Ted Cash boxes in stock. They have such a large inventory, it may not show on their website. If not, just ask them. They have the fire steels, flints, tow, cloth (I use their bulk cotton ticking patch material to make charcloth in the tin), maybe the boxes too.

Codger
 
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