Howdy from the Upper MidWest, USA

[DuxDawg]

Lifelong outdoorsman: hike, hunt, camp, backpack, track, fish, trap, long hunter, primitive and aboriginal skills, wild edibles, etc, etc. Skilled at most forms of fire ignition, eaten parts from more than 100 species of wild plants, made cordage, containers, clothes, shelters, knapped flint, tanned hides, lived for months in the woods, etc, etc.

Always loved being in the woods. A thick paperback book with black and white photos, a red cover and a title something like "1,001 Camping Tips and Tricks" back in the 1970s got my mind going on this path of "How could this be done in the woods" and of course, "How can I do this better".


Here is an excellent article (with a video) by Paul on a few of the possibilities with F&S when going into the woods with only a striker. I have been doing the same things with local materials for years here in the Upper MidWest.

http://www.junglecraft.com.my/index.php/category/fire/flint-steel/

Straight to the vid in the above article:

http://youtu.be/RVJKSooQ6DA

There are more than a dozen NUTs here in the MidWest. NUTs are my term for Natural Uncharred (primary) Tinders. That is to say, tinders that while in their uncharred natural state will catch a spark from flint (the rock) and steel and grow an ember. This means one can walk into the woods with only a striker and produce flame by percussion. Often with all materials gathered and processed inside a half hour. Only the scarcity of suitable pyrites hereabouts requires me to bring some form of striker, be it purpose made, knife, hacksaw blade, etc.

I point this out because it is a skill set that I believe everyone can easily aquire if only the knowledge were readily available to them. I find Percussion Fire to be easier to learn, more reliable and useful with more natural materials than any other form of Primitive Fire. After all, F&S was probably the most used form of ignition from about 1,200 BC until the popularity of the friction match surpassed it in the 1880s. 3,000 years is an amazing amount of time to be the dominant form of anything.

Well, I've rambled on quite a bit for an Intro.

Happy Trails Y'all.

[FishyFolk]

Welcome in here. I love my old school fire steel too. But I always bring whatever is catching the spark from home as the climate here is very wet. I could probably find something if I work at it. But I prefer to be sure that I can get that fire going. The punk wood for example is always soaked like a wet spunge when I find some. Chaga is hard to find, and I've never seen any around my home, and horseshoe fungus needs processing before it will catch a spark easily. Other spark ready materials are either very seasonal or always wet when I find them, so needs drying before use.

Else I am in the coastal birch forest, so finding something to turn that ember into flame is no problem year round :-)
But must admit that yesterday when me and the boy was out, I had trouble finding anything usable...but that was after first a week of snow, then a week of rain, sleet and melting snow...everything out there was soaked :-(

[DuxDawg]

Thank you. I hear ya, always somethin amazing about how one tiny little spark amongst all the other sparks decides to dwell and grow into an ember. Hope I never lose my awe of that. Sounds like Norway and the UK have even bigger problems with moisture than the Great Lakes Region on this side of "The Pond". Have you found fatwood? I have soaked a ferro and a chunk of fatwood in water for two weeks straight then immediately made fire with them. Fatwood scrapings usually produce flame from ferro for me in a single strike.

I use the squared spine of knife, saw, etc or teeth of saw held almost parallel and scraped along the fatwood. Scrapings are different than feathers, curls or dust. Scrapings from any wood or plant stem work better for me with ferro or flame than feathers, curls or dust from the same material.

Squared spines are a fantastic invention! From fire to cordage to hides... extremely useful.

I always bring multiple ignition methods and tinders with me, even on day hikes. Simply a personal challenge that I frequently indulge myself in to gather on that hike everything except striker or everything except striker and char. Took me 3-1/2 hours on one soggy trip, but I got it done. Of course when time is short, out comes a ferro and fatwood scrapings or an alkie stove and Bic.

IMHO, everyone has their own path to find in woodsmanship/bushcraft. There is no right or wrong. I think we should endeavor to stretch ourselves enough to learn and (hopefully) never enough to be in danger.

I constantly try to perfect my understanding of methods and materials. Hopefully people are understanding if I come off as having a clip board and checking off boxes as I respond to posts. (For example, something like: great job on materials selection, poor job on processing, more compression on the tinder bundle would have helped, etc.) That's just how my mind works: constantly analyzing, evaluating, looking for the nuances as to how and why things did (or did not) work. I see it as being helpful. Unfortunately some take it as being under the microscope. Nuances that are abundantly clear in person are often lost in a text format. For the record, however it may appear to some, I never intend to be condescending or rude.

Everyone has things they can teach and things they can learn from everyone else. That's the fun part of gatherings. What else is an online forum but an ongoing, informal gathering??

Cheers.

[Dreward]

Hello DuxDawg and Welcome....I've learnt from your posts already....Fatwood, I tried a Ferro rod with Shavings not Scrapings and failed...Much Appreciated...As for Flint it's rare in the North West of England and plentiful in the South...So, a question I would like to ask is 'Are there natural alternatives to Flint ?'....Lastly, I agree...Everyone has something to Teach....

[FishyFolk]

Yes fat wood is no problem to find. There is the odd scots pine in the landscape here, in between all the birch. I usually go the easy route and take it from the dry, dead branches at the bottom of the tree. No problem lighting it with a modern ferro rod. But those trees are few enough that I save them for when I can't find anything else.

I usually carry two sets of fire kits. One that I call my "bushcraft" kit...wich is in a leather pouch and consist of a traditional flint and steel striker, a tin with some char cloth and bits of chaga, a good handfull of birch bark, and an opinel #8 folding knife.

Then there is my hi-tech kit, which sits in a zip lock bag inside a small 1 litre dry bag. It contains a bic lighter, a magnifying glass, ranger bands, a couple of tea lights, a small container of charcoal lighter fluid, a good meter of petroleum jelly soaked hemp string rolled up in a small zip lock bag, storm matches, regular matches, a big ferro rod, a storm lighter, some cotton makeup removing pads, water proofed by candle wax with petroleum jelly between the layers, etc...I refer to that as my S:H:T:F kit...or..."I-can't-be-bothered-about-it, I just want to get the kettle on and be finished with it kit :-)

...if I don't just fish up the Zippo in my pocket...lol

But 90% of the time its the flint and steel that does the job. The flint or chert I had to get from friends in the UK, as it does not exist in Norway. But we do have plenty of quartz...can't go anyhere without seing some, so no problem really. But flint is just easier to use as it is not as brittle as flint.

I've tried friction fire too, but I lack the patience to master it :-p

[FishyFolk]

Hello DuxDawg and Welcome....I've learnt from your posts already....Fatwood, I tried a Ferro rod with Shavings not Scrapings and failed...Much Appreciated...As for Flint it's rare in the North West of England and plentiful in the South...So, a question I would like to ask is 'Are there natural alternatives to Flint ?'....Lastly, I agree...Everyone has something to Teach....

Try quartz. It works well. I learned to use a traditional steel striker with quartz. :-)

[Dreward]

Thanks Fishy Folk...or it may be Rune...I've seen posted once or twice, sorry if I'm wrong....I'll google the whereabouts of quartz...On the subject of Flint, I read once that one of the reasons the Stonehenge and Avebury circles were where they are is because Flint and other Life procuring materials are/were in Abundance at the sites.....So, a pilgrimage to the sites may have been for more reasons than just religious....

[FishyFolk]

Yeah, Rune is my name. When I came on here a few years back i leved and breathed for fishing, he he

I I am in Norway, so Stonehenge is is bridge to far for me :-)
People had flint in Norway as well in old times. But it was imported from Denmark and Doggerland mostly. And they have found tools made from flint all over the country. Our ancestors where well traveled.

[saxonaxe]

Hello DuxDawg, welcome, forum's a bit quiet at the moment, I think they're all busy writing out their lists for Santa Claus...:D

[Dreward]

Perhaps Santa Claus can bring us a Forgotten Flint Mine, Sax....I'm of Isle of Man descent, Rune, so Viking is in my Blood...I've always been intrigued as to how successful the Northern Europeans have been, plus, Where did they get the materials to Survive as Travellers ?....So Well...

[OakAshandThorn]

:welcome: Dia duit from Connecticut :camping:

[FishyFolk]

Perhaps Santa Claus can bring us a Forgotten Flint Mine, Sax....I'm of Isle of Man descent, Rune, so Viking is in my Blood...I've always been intrigued as to how successful the Northern Europeans have been, plus, Where did they get the materials to Survive as Travellers ?....So Well...

The materials?
From here:

http://static.nationalgeographic.nl/pictures/genjUserPhotoPicture/original/74/18/15/norwegian-wood-in-the-ardennes-151874.jpg

[Dreward]

The means to Light Fire....or Chop Wood....Flint ?

[jus_young]

Welcome to the community :)

[DuxDawg]

@ Fishy Folk: Now that is an impressively comprehensive fire kit!! I hear ya on Friction Fire. Created some coals with a couple different bow drill sets, have a bunch of bow and hand drill spindles waiting to be used, but yeah, haven't spent the time to master. Hmmm, five strikes or less on flint or ferro... or five minutes on a bow drill... lol. That winter forest pic is just stunning! Thanks for sharing.

@ Dreward: As it seems you have already discovered, I have posted some info on flint here:

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?8691-Flint-Hunting

You may not yet have noticed that I posted some info on strikers here:

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?8069-Flint-Steel-striker-How-to-make-or-got-a-spare&p=122845#post122845

@ Saxonaxe: No worries. I'm still busy catching up on all the threads. There looks to be quite a lot of info here. Exciting.

@ Jus_young: Why thank you. Hopefully when all is said and done, the time spent was both profitable and enjoyable for all.

[FishyFolk]

Heh, the fire kit was created just by cuiosity and youtube is to blame. Just wanted to try all the stuff I saw there on fire lighting, and dumped things in the bag if it worked. Some of it was also given to me by friends :-)

[Valantine]

:welcome: to the forum

[Ehecatl]

Hello & welcome,

M@

[Rasputin]

Hi and :welcome: from Shropshire T^ Ken

[DuxDawg]

Thanks again for the warm welcome!

[Woody]

Welcome Back DuxDawg! enjoyin your posts!!!
T^