Two new discoveries = A good day !!!!

pitdog

pitdog

Joined
Apr 13, 2007
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When I set out today my main objective was to seek out an alternative natural tinder to fatwood for fire starting when everything is soaked through !
We are currently on about our 4th consecutive week of more or less constant rain so you can't get any wetter conditions than this !!!!

The first tinder I tried was what looked some kind of birch bark which I fuzzed up, this didn't even come close to taking a spark.

Next up I tried some good old Cedar bark......

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This took a spark but just kinda smouldered and went out...

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Next up I tried cutting up a pine cone into fine stuff, I didn't get a pic because some sheeple appeared so I had to quickly put my knife and ferro rod away( I'm sure you have all been there !).
It didn't take a spark anyway !!!!

So now I got to thinking what if I took some resinous sap......

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And mixed it in with some Cedar bark !

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After about 3 strikes I spotted a flame....

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Oh yeah baby !!! This continued to burn for quite some time and I finished up putting it out with some moss !

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Problem solved. No Fatwood, then mix some sap in with some Cedar bark and ya good to go !

Onto discovery two. As I continued my walk I heard the familiar croak of a tree frog. Usually these are far off in the distance and when ya get anywhere close they go quiet so ya never find them ! Today was different though as I narrowed this frog down to an area about 6' by 6' before he stopped croaking !!!!
Even when you are on top of these critters they are still nearly impossible to spot but lady luck was with me today....

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Yay my first tree frog...

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If ya doubt how hard they are to spot, take a look at this pic and he isn't even in the deep moss where I found him !

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I carried on my walk enjoying the brief break from all the rain !

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In Florida, there are many areas where Deer Moss, or Deer lichen grows on the forest floor.
This is an excellent tinder, and will burst into flame with a hot spark.
DeerMoss.jpg
 
Mannlicher said:
In Florida, there are many areas where Deer Moss, or Deer lichen grows on the forest floor.
This is an excellent tinder, and will burst into flame with a hot spark.
DeerMoss.jpg
Click to expand...

Yeah I use that along with many other tinders during summer etc but over here at this time of year you wouldn't get that to light even if ya soaked it in gasoline !:(:thumbdn:
 
Great pics, Pit. You live in a beautiful area. Treefrogs can be purty near invisible when they want to. On a scarier note, so can copperheads:eek:!
 
Those lil frogs are hard to spot for sure. I have them in my yard and they sound like they are huge when they get to making noise. I finally spotted one like you did and couldn't belive something that small could be so loud. Thanks for the tip on pitch and cedar bark. I'll give it a whirl down here on the Oregon Coast.
 
Hey pitdog,

I don't ever remember you doing bow drill fire but Cedar bark can be a good tinder for friction fire, but you have to mix it with something else (like Birch bark) because it lights easy, but also goes out easy.

I guess that tree frog was not one of the poisonous ones, since you didn't make any arrows. :(

Doc
 
Nice one, pitdog! I'll try that next time I go out.

On the tree frog, I've been hearing then now and again lately and found one on my front door a week or so ago. I thought they would be dormant this time of year. . . :confused:
 
Some more great pics from your area of the world, Pit. Thanks for posting :thumbup:
 
Nice stuff.....I had nothing to do and was eyeing the plank cedar my wife bought for BBQ'ing the salmon.....Well we ate the salmon but forgot to cook the plank (so we just had salmon)......Does that cedar plank make a good coal on bowdrill? OH YEAH BABY.....and it smells good too. My wife didn't even yell at me for bowdrill smokiness in my hair and hands. She just said, mmmm you smell like freshly laundered underwear from the cottage :D
 
kgd said:
Nice stuff.....I had nothing to do and was eyeing the plank cedar my wife bought for BBQ'ing the salmon.....Well we ate the salmon but forgot to cook the plank (so we just had salmon)......Does that cedar plank make a good coal on bowdrill? OH YEAH BABY.....and it smells good too. My wife didn't even yell at me for bowdrill smokiness in my hair and hands. She just said, mmmm you smell like freshly laundered underwear from the cottage :D
Click to expand...

In all my 63 years on this rock, that's the first time I ever heard a wife tell her husband he smelled like freshly laundered underwear from the cottage! :eek:

Doc
 
Pitdog Have you tried your pencil sharpener to get dry tinder yet,we get alot of rain here on the shore of Lake Ontario this time of year but nothing like the monsoon type rain you guy's get. usually a few minutes with a twig a sharp kinfe or the pencil sharpener i can get enough dry tinder to get a fire going.
 
Good stuff pitdog!:thumbup: Great pics!

I make little 'fireballs' of sap mixed with finely minced needles and such, rolled in light fluffy tinder, if need be...

The Usnea or Grandfather's Beard, Tree Moss, etc. is proliferous around here as well; when dry, it works well! Lichens are interesting aren't they? A symbioses between algae and fungus...
 
Pritch said:
Nice one, pitdog! I'll try that next time I go out.

On the tree frog, I've been hearing then now and again lately and found one on my front door a week or so ago. I thought they would be dormant this time of year. . . :confused:
Click to expand...

It has been so warm lately I bet the frogs are confused too! It was almost 60 yesterday, and the daffodils in my yard are starting to grow. I think they'll be in for a nasty surprise in a month or two.
 
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