Old time Woodscraft... :mrgreen:
One of those unsettled days, up here... Rain off and on all afternoon. Nothin' major, just a short soaking and then sunshine.
Good chance to try makin' a fire using damp tinder.
For those of you that spend time outdoors, I'm sure you've all experienced the same thing. How to get a fire started when everything is damp or wet. I've got a trick to show you....
First picture is of something I carry when treking or camping. It's a horsefoot fungus. I find these growing on dead or dying White Birch. It's the only tinder that I know of that you can get to hold an ember when it's just been cut off the tree. They can be ignited the day you cut them. I always have a dozen or so in the basement that I've dried over the winter near the woodstove. Either way, what you do is make shavings with them. I am showing just one shaving next to the horsefoot and in front of the pile.
Rather then use a lighter or a match, I used a flint and striker to get a ember going. In the next picture...you can see the single shaving starting to glow from a few strong blows of air.
I then inserted this into a pile of White Birch shavings that had been in the rain all day today. The resins in the Birch will burn hot if you can ignite them. Moving the Horsefoot ember into the pile and cupping my hand around it...I then blew until the fire ignited....
This is the same pile of material more then a minute and a half later. Much heat was made, to ignite a pile of kindling for the fire.
Anyrate, if you find yourself in damp or wet conditions, don't despair... Our Ancesters wouldn't...they'd of made camp and simply started a fire....with what was available to them. There are many other species of woods available that will do the same thing. Some of the more resinous pines in the South will do even better....
Anyrate, you could easily use a match to start the Birch if it was dry enough. The point of using many shavings of the Horsefoot fungus is that it will create a long lasting bed of embers...enough to dry out the starter and get it going.
Another use for the fungus is to carry fire. A ember caught in a large piece can be kept going for many hours. Allowing you to easily start another fire later in the day...without matches, lighters, or flint and steel....
One of those unsettled days, up here... Rain off and on all afternoon. Nothin' major, just a short soaking and then sunshine.
Good chance to try makin' a fire using damp tinder.
For those of you that spend time outdoors, I'm sure you've all experienced the same thing. How to get a fire started when everything is damp or wet. I've got a trick to show you....
First picture is of something I carry when treking or camping. It's a horsefoot fungus. I find these growing on dead or dying White Birch. It's the only tinder that I know of that you can get to hold an ember when it's just been cut off the tree. They can be ignited the day you cut them. I always have a dozen or so in the basement that I've dried over the winter near the woodstove. Either way, what you do is make shavings with them. I am showing just one shaving next to the horsefoot and in front of the pile.
Rather then use a lighter or a match, I used a flint and striker to get a ember going. In the next picture...you can see the single shaving starting to glow from a few strong blows of air.
I then inserted this into a pile of White Birch shavings that had been in the rain all day today. The resins in the Birch will burn hot if you can ignite them. Moving the Horsefoot ember into the pile and cupping my hand around it...I then blew until the fire ignited....
This is the same pile of material more then a minute and a half later. Much heat was made, to ignite a pile of kindling for the fire.
Anyrate, if you find yourself in damp or wet conditions, don't despair... Our Ancesters wouldn't...they'd of made camp and simply started a fire....with what was available to them. There are many other species of woods available that will do the same thing. Some of the more resinous pines in the South will do even better....
Anyrate, you could easily use a match to start the Birch if it was dry enough. The point of using many shavings of the Horsefoot fungus is that it will create a long lasting bed of embers...enough to dry out the starter and get it going.
Another use for the fungus is to carry fire. A ember caught in a large piece can be kept going for many hours. Allowing you to easily start another fire later in the day...without matches, lighters, or flint and steel....