I've gotten lazy. I've found over 25lb of fatwood locally over the past few years and haven't even gone through half of it. I split a few chunks off with my knife and light them with a bic.
I can do friction fires and spark fatwood shavings with ferro rods, but I figure why work harder than I have to.
If anyone here wants to try a chunk of fatwood I could mail them some.
Hey it never hurts to know about materials that ignite easily. That is part and parcel of fire starting skills and thus will make the chore a whole lot easier. And yes if had my choice I would also take the "easier" way out>> who wouldn't? But my whole thrust of this thread is to learn new skills and the hardware involved.
I've heard of this "fatwood" you're talking about and I think I might have something similar up here in Missouri. We have a species of pine that grows in parts of the Ozarks Mountains that we use to start fires with. I've heard it called "Short Leaf Pine" but I'm not 100% sure that is the textbook name for it. But you can take splinters and shreds of this wood and literally light it with no more than a wood match.
Having the right tinder is a big, big help and if any of you want to compile a list of ideal materials that can be used as easily ignitable tinder that would be cool.
In general, knowing how to do things the old / hard way is good knowledge to have. Modern conveniences are great and I use them every day, but its good to not depend on them.
Learning these things gives one a greater appreciation of how life was lived in years gone by.
Well VIVI it sounds to me like you might have had some of them old Southern Baptist school teachers like I had when I was a kid :eek: I wish I had a $5 bill for every whipping I got from them :D But them ol' Ladies made you learn it the hard way :cool:
But your point is spot on because I don't know any young people under age 25 that can do math without a calculator. Nor can they cook on a conventional stove, nor can they change oil in their car, Nor can they do their laundry without mom helping them>> I could go on and on but you get my drift
It's going to be people who know how to do things manually and doing them the hard way that will have any chance of real survival when "push comes to shove". As addicted to cell phones and computer games as many of those younger people are it's as though there is an intentional "Dumbing Down" of our society by design.
Fatwood is just the heart of a pine tree down by the stump, where all of the resin collects. It can be from any species of pine that produces a high amount of resin.
I believe I advocated for Bic lighters the last time this subject came up, but there is something to be said for refillable windproof butane lighters, particularly if you fill them with isobutane instead of n-butane. Isobutane has about a 50% higher vapor pressure, and its boiling temperature is about 12C lower than n-butane, which means your lighter will work below freezing.
I currently keep a Windmill AWL-10 in my bag, along with a Colibri Afterburner triple torch lighter, both filled with Neon brand isobutane. The AWL-10 has a platinum catalyzer and is fairly wind resistant (and waterproof), while the Afterburner has a much higher flame output but zero wind resistance.
I think you're 100% right "Accutron" because there is more than one species of pine that we have here in Missouri and the resin on all of them seem to work ( most are not indigenous) . That's one big reason you don't want to burn a lot of any kind of pine in a wood stove. You will get so much resin buildup in your flue it can become extremely dangerous.
I'm pretty sure that "Short Leaf Pine" that I told VIVI about is the only indigenous pine tree we have here in the state of Missouri. A couple of years ago I got to talk to a Conservation Agent and he told me that there were absolutely no indigenous pine trees in the state of Kansas (it's the only of the 50 states that has no indigenous pine trees). But the main point being is that all pine trees have resin that ignites quickly. But be careful!!
Always take a ferro rod camping. Usually light a few fires with it and have a play sitting around at night.
(Usually a ferro rod fire Is started way after the actual cooking fire was lit with a BIC and not anything but keeping up practice and something to do)
Im a vegetarian as technically cows are made of grass and water.
One of these days Im going to make a bow drill and make a fire. I have this weird desire to go on Naked and Afraid and think I can survive. The bugs at night will probably kill me though!
I have a very similar knife (mine's a Landi) and it's been an amazing value.
Yes.
I have a Bushcraft, a PSK, and two EDC's.
The combo of A2, micarta and kydex is pretty much perfect for a camping / bushcraft knife. He gets his knives run a little harder than typical so they have very nice edge holding.
I've sold off a lot of fixed blades lately, including that ESEE 6HM I stripped and reprofiled, but I'm keeping my Landis. They're work horses.
He's a fan of Spyderco too. On his instagram he posted an old beat up FRN Native you can tell has received plenty of love :)
I always keep a Bic on me. Never know when you might need a fire. I actually keep a few in the car just to be sure I always have one available. I have a ferro and also one of those magnesium blocks. I've practiced with them and I feel pretty comfortable using them but I'd probably try the Bic first. Not to mention tinder prep is a huge part of getting a fire going. Ohh and you can bring a Bic lighter pretty much anywhere. Even on a plane.
I have been building bow drills for years and have gotten pretty proficient at it.
I enjoy fire skills. I have a fire piston and they can work well. The tinder you put in it needs to be really dry. I have mostly used char cloth in it but other tinder can work. I also find it helps to get the o-ring wet for a better seal. I am a HUGE fan of Vaseline soaked cotton balls and putting a little Vaseline on the o ring helps a lot. Chapstick or spit can help too.
I live in New England and birch bark is plentiful here. Birch Bark burns like cardboard or paper soaked in kerosene and it will burn even when wet. I also really like Vaseline soaked cotton balls. I have gotten both of these fire starters lit in the rain with a ferro rod.
I have done a few types of friction fire but want to try some others. I have also started a lot of fires by striking some quartz or flint on the spine of a carbon steel knife. A magnifying glass can work very well. I have a credit card size fresnal lens that has started many fires.
I like fire a lot!
-Darby
sal wrote:Knife afi's are pretty far out, steel junky's more so, but "edge junky's" are just nuts. :p
SpyderEdgeForever wrote:
Also, do you think a kangaroo would eat a bowl of spagetti with sauce if someone offered it to them?
I have actually used the magnifying method on a camping trip one evening when we arrived early on top of a hill. I unfortunately lost the kids binoculars that flipped out a magnifying glass....
"Yeah? Well, you know, thats like uh, your opinion, man" - Lebowski
I have been building bow drills for years and have gotten pretty proficient at it.
I enjoy fire skills. I have a fire piston and they can work well. The tinder you put in it needs to be really dry. I have mostly used char cloth in it but other tinder can work. I also find it helps to get the o-ring wet for a better seal. I am a HUGE fan of Vaseline soaked cotton balls and putting a little Vaseline on the o ring helps a lot. Chapstick or spit can help too.
I live in New England and birch bark is plentiful here. Birch Bark burns like cardboard or paper soaked in kerosene and it will burn even when wet. I also really like Vaseline soaked cotton balls. I have gotten both of these fire starters lit in the rain with a ferro rod.
I have done a few types of friction fire but want to try some others. I have also started a lot of fires by striking some quartz or flint on the spine of a carbon steel knife. A magnifying glass can work very well. I have a credit card size fresnal lens that has started many fires.
I like fire a lot!
You hit on two key components to starting a fire>> first off you need really good, ignitable kindling. Second, having some type of compound that is also easily ignitable like Vaseline, kerosene or any other petroleum based product is also helpful.
I've heard that "Wilderness Solutions" has one of the better fire piston type of fire starting devices on the market. They were kind of the first one out of the gate with that type of a device. It's almost miraculous how those things work. I'm curious as to which one of those you have? Because if there is one better on the market I would like to know who makes it?
Also I've heard of waterproof, windproof matches in the past two years. Great input so far guys :)
