Tinder.... what's your preferred? Why?

hey STITCH-AWL, i just picked up a tube of cedar carpenter pencils form home depot, there is 10 or so fat construciton pencils, and a neat sharpener that fits the flat pencils, the shavings are super thin, cedar and you get a huge amount form a single pencil.
 
baldtaco-II said:
Fag butt fire-straw test: Little Smurf tampon filters designed to go in the end of a hand rolled cigarette. Each cellophane tube contains 5 units.

Findings: You can get them going with a flint and steel but compared to cotton wool it's a real bitch. I suspect that is mostly to do with the size of the strands. I also suspect that under decent magnification we would find the synthetic to be a lot smoother across the surface. Even teased out with a hacksaw blade they are no match for cotton wool teased by hand. Still, it is possible, and I got a steady ten count before the flame exhausted.

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Good job, Yeah i totally agree that it doesn't compare with pcb's but it works in a pinch.:thumbup:
 
As I said there is plenty of natural tinder in my neck of the woods.

 
Bushman5 said:
hey STITCH-AWL, i just picked up a tube of cedar carpenter pencils form home depot, there is 10 or so fat construciton pencils, and a neat sharpener that fits the flat pencils, the shavings are super thin, cedar and you get a huge amount form a single pencil.
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... and tinder that smells good too! A bonus! :D
I'll have to check the DIY shops in my area and see if they also sell cedar pencils. Lots of cedar growing here. In fact, it creates havoc for us with hay fever when it begins to drop pollen! Thanks for the heads-up!

Stitchawl
 
I carry tinder-quik in my kit, but I prefer to start with natural tinder first. Birch bark being my favorite.
 
I find that all i realy need here in SO CALI is a pencil sharpener. Find a small stick while walking and im done. But i do carry a few cotton balls with PJ. Just in case. I found that if the stick is wet it would take about 2-3 days to keep it in the pocket to get it dry enough. But that would work only if you think in longer term.

Sasha
 
I take a few small sticks of fire starter that I buy for starting fires in my fireplace. There parafin impregnated wood chips and you can break them up into smaller pieces to use to start a fire. Works great.
 
My favorite tinder is to shave off small bits of cedar and pack it in a couple of film canisters. It lights fairly easily and I cut it dry, so it is great for wet environments. I also carry PJCB with me but have yet to even test it out. We have been under a long-standing fire ban so I can't really try it out much.
 
Dryer lint. It's cheap, plentiful, lightweight and effective.

For more energy output you can add wax or pj (beforehand), or hand santizer (just before use).
 
Look around a knock out a rotten log knot, split and shave off some shavings of fatwood. Or find one laying on the ground most anywhere.
 
I've found that dryer lint from white cotton clothes is the best tinder as it lights with a light spark from my firesteel.

I do have a tin of resinous pine and powdered resin (fatwood & mayadust) that I gather from dead pine. This stuff will work in wet conditions better than dryer lint though.
 
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