by Todd Walker
Carbonized dust shine from friction.
Charcoal hurryings up just so amazing exothermic reaction of combustion. Align a convex lens vertical to full sunbathe on different non-charred tinder material. Smoke will rise in a minute. Do the same with charred substance and a rosy ember is birthed in seconds. Weak flint and sword sparks make the same glow.
When material containing carbon is heated without enough oxygen, charred substance reflects the results. We coach our students to realise char cloth at academy. One place of the Fire Triangle is forgotten by heating textile in a closed chamber( Altoids tin ).[ I have a class mounted of Altoids tins stored in an old cassette videotape receptacle. Exclusively a few cases students have ever heard of these “ancient” melodic manoeuvres .] The lid hinge express the volatile gases as the material is heated. When cooked, the pitch-black charred textile takes a spark from flint and steel.
Un-Burned Carbon in Ashes
Over the years, David West sparked my interest in the role of wood ash impregnated in tinder through his experimentations on his canal. View his entire Ashed Tinder Playlist here. This, my pyro friends, has been a game-changer for me. Rubbing wood ash on any tinder cloth accelerates the combustion process.
Saving wood ash from previous fuels has become an important part of my fervor kit. A few years ago at a Georgia Bushcraft Gathering, I had a young teenager question during a Rudiger Roll( fervour bun) demonstration why I lent ashes to the cotton ball before rolling between the two committees. I has no such real scientific explanation. I just did what I met David West do.
Here’s my presumption. Though wood ash examines good-for-nothing like charcoal-grey, enough non-burned carbon remains in ash to significantly lower the temperature required to ignite tinder. Saturating any un-charred tinder( internal husk, jute braid, plant fiber, cotton substance) with timber ash accommodates an excellent fuel extender. In the video below, David pictures a 4 foot row of ashed denim burning/ smoldering for three hour in time-lapse.
Following the make of Stone Age chemists, manufacturing plans for future burns was smart. The digit instruct( lighter) was various millennials away from store shelves. Fire was not automatic. I make it a practice of the separation of burning enters in the fire crater at the end of each class at academy. These partially charred stays of cellulose are the stepping stone for the next morning’s fire lay. No need to start from scratch every day when charcoal-gray is plentiful in the attack pit.
Carbon Steel and Rock
Flint and Steel was the most popular fire-making method up until joins and lighters ignite up our world. Even without cast-iron strikers, sparks could be delivered to charred information applying the right combination of stones. The common catalyst in all primitive flame procedures is carbon.
Modern re-enactors and wistful woodsmen continue to use flint and steel as ardor starters. The technique takes less vitality and pattern than attack by resistance. The usual flint and steel package consist of a high-carbon steel striker, a abrupt rock-and-roll( doesn’t have to be flint- any hard, silica based rock will work ), and char cloth in a metal container.
However, cotton cloth does not grow in the groves. For a flint and sword kit to be sustainable long-term, natural materials can be carbonized.
My best knowledge exploiting charred natural cloth include 😛 TAGEND
Punky wood- Decaying wood which is spongy when crushed between digit and digit. My favorite is the sap wood of Eastern Red Cedar( Juniperus virginiana ). I’ve had good luck finding it on the underside of blow down cedars in the title stage of degeneration.
Punky cedar sap wood has a stringy consistency which manufactures great char material.
Pithy weed stalkings- Crack open the woody stalk of dead Mullein( Verbascum) and remove the spongy pith. Cook it in a receptacle like char cloth for an excellent F& S spark-catcher. Natural tinder/ cordage- Tulip Tree( Liriodendron tulipifera) changed cordage has worked but not as well as the previously mentioned materials. Yucca( Asparagaceae) cordage runs as well.
The only non-charred natural cloth I’ve found to consistently take a weak spark from F& S is 😛 TAGEND
Chaga( Inonotus obliquus)- This fungus germinates on birch trees in higher altitudes. It is called True Tinder Fungus as it will catch a spark from F& S. It likewise will smolder for a long time for a shoot extender.
Thin slices of chaga erupted with flint and steel sparks.
I have friends who have achieved F& S embers exerting other non-charred material. Phillip Liebel, teach at Flint and Steel Critical Skills Group, discovered that the internal ordering of gourds will take a spark from F& S. It’s a very well prepared, papery fabric which burns rapidly. Joshua Enyart, founder of Flint and Steel Critical Skills Group, has use the Milkweed( Asclepias) pod to procreate barrage with F& S. I’m sure there are other non-charred natural cloth out there that will work. Just recently I attempted the following points with no success…
Dog hair- Moose, our oldest salvage dog, molts punishment gobs of hair. A few flickers shored and fizzed out without catching. Looked promising. Cattail duff- White fluffy stuff is always value trying. Still a no-go for me. Mullein pith- Did not work. I sliced some to organize a penalize, triangular border. Sparks shored on the leading edge with no radiance.
The above works well when carbonized, except hound fuzz. In my experience, any natural tinder substance you’d naturally use to build a tinder bundle will take a inspire from F& S when charred. The exception to this is fat lighter’d( aka- fatwood ). Don’t char fat lighter’d in a tin. You’ll end up with resin varnish the bottom of your container.
Non-charred and Un-natural F& S Ignition
Good luck see the elusive steel wool tree in the wilderness. I save a pad of 0000 steel fleece in my pack for cleaning axes and implements in the following areas. For stubborn tinder, add a tinge of steel fleece and strike it with F& S. Once the inspire catches and begins to spread like minuscule dynamite fuses, the tinder becomes super-heated from rapid oxidation.
Gun powder will also ignite with F& S glints. Flintlock rifles implemented this technology to explode powder and launch missiles down series. A modern woodsman is very likely to have a cartridge of some kind which contains gun powder. Carefully remove the bullet from the brass cartridge and pour out a small amount of gunpowder indictment. Be ready to transfer the heat from the light pulverize to your tinder fabric. It goes up in a flash.
Carbon Ash Experiments Coming
The South African tonteldoos pocket tinderbox I obliged journeys in my F& S equipment. It works well as long as the charred skin-deep is charred well. With sporadic employment, the dark char turns brownish from smacking around in my paraphernalium. In a future affix, I plan to experiment with the wash front filaments to see if impregnating them with grove ash will aid in ignition on brownish charred intentions. This should be interesting.
A student achieving kindling with the Tonteldoos.
We’re too strategy a berth on inducing charred information without the conventional metal container. Stay tuned.
Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,
~ Todd
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