Tinder

T

Temper

Joined
Oct 30, 2002
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A couple of days ago I took receipt of a Swedish Fire Steel (Army model) I tried it out on Kitchen paper almost immediately :D I thin took out the dog and while out I plucked some dry grass, instant sucess as with the paper.

OK thinks I, what if I am stuck somewhere, I'm soaking wet and my tinder is also wet due to falling in some water. What can I use as tinder for this Fire Steel?

Luckily it threw it down the next day so while I was once again walking the dog I snapped off some small dry branches from a couple of trees and shaved a load of what I though were very thing strands. When I tried to get them to light however all I was rewarded with was a couple of the strands glowing but not enough of them to blow into a flame.

Where did I go wrong? I pride myself of being able to start a fire with a single match in most conditions becasue I take the time to prepare everything I need beforehand. This deflated me though :(

Suggestions?
 
that is why a small film container of vaseline soaked cotton balls will get you a fire and even if they take a dunking they work, i have held them under water for a minute or so, and then shook out the water and they light, so many folks here carry this little bit of insurance, then again you could also carry a road flare, it will get you a fire anytime.

alex
 
Temper-

It's hard to find good tinder in a wet environment. If you're going to carry a firesteel, a lighter, or matches you should carry some form of tinder too. You might not need to use it, but it's there if you do.

As for your natural tinder not working, I (and many others) had the same problem in the beginning. I think your main problem is down to you trying to 'cut' tinder. You'll never get it thin enough that way. The tinder must have thin fibres, with lots of air pockets and be totally, totally, dry.

Paper-thin dried grasses, dried crushed (thin) leaves, the paper from birch bark, the dry inner bark of cedar (when scraped into sawdust), and dried mosses will all work, however there is more to using a firesteel than just finding some tinder and stiking the steel. You should strike the steel slowly and quite hard to shower as many sparks as possible on each draw. Keep the steel, and therefore the sparks, as close to the tinder as possible, if they have to travel any distance through the air to reach the tinder they will cool too much to light it easily.

Most importantly, practice with different tinders. Alot of natural materials will work but sometimes they need to be stuffed into a warm poket for a while to get them totally dried. Go out and find a number of different tinders, and put them in your pockets. After you have found several types, try lighting the first tinder your found, as by then the warmth of your poket should have driven out any excess moisture.

I hope this helps.

Matt
 
There was a thread a little while back about using vaseline-coated (not soaked all the way through, just a light coating) cotton or dryer lint stuffed into drinking straws. I made several of these and they work like a charm. Crush the ends of the straws with pliers and use a lighter to seal them together, and you have waterproof plastic tubes full of tinder. (BTW, don't use a full-length straw, cut them into 3-4 inch lengths. :D )
 
I know some who carry charred cotton cloth for this but if your looking for things in the woods birch bark is about the best.
 
bandages and neosporin... which you should have when entering the woods anyway... make great tinder...
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I guess the shaved tinder just wasn't thin enough. Unfortunately I dont live near any Birch or Cedar trees but I am familiar with what you are reffering to.

I might try it again as the scenario was that everything I had was soaked, Another thing I though of was to pluck grass and just keep it next to my body, but as the scenario stated I was soaked through so how much that would work without me catching my death of cold I dont know.

I will definately try the straw and cottom wool/vaseline combos though.

Thanks again
 
Temper, if you do try the cotton/vaseline thing, play with it a bit till you get the proportions right. The first time I made some I used way too much vaseline and the stuff just would not light. As long as there are some dry fibers, though, you shouldn't have much of a problem. Use a Q-tip with the end cut off or a shisk-ka-bob skewer to shove the stuff into the straw.

Happy lighting!
 
In the absence of prepared tinder, try the inner bark of cottonwood trees. They'r often found near water, another survival need.
 
If you plan to travel in a wet envirorment think about carrying small stripes of rubber ( old tires ). They burn well in the wettest conditions.
 
As any west-coast Canadian can attest or better yet, anyone who has been in a monsoon climate, It doesn't matter what you do right or wrong, if you have no dry fuel you won't light a fire and keep it lit for any length of time.
 
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