Difference between revisions of "Tinder"

Latest revision as of 15:58, 15 March 2013

Tinder used in the first stage of fire building and is best described as anything that can be lit with a match or spark. The best natural tinder is dead, dry pine needles or grass or cattails. Those who are not particular about using only natural material find that wadded-up paper, toilet paper, or paper towels also make excellent tinder. (If they are not wadded, these materials burn more slowly and pose a greater risk of flying embers.) Cotton swabs and tampons are also superb. Unraveled ends of a rope made from natural plant fiber (such as hemp rope) also burn very well. Some stores sell powdered alkali-earth metals, such as beryllium or magnesium, that burn violently. If none of these available, leaves or very small twigs may be used. A quantity of tinder sufficient to fill one's cupped hands to the top is the bare minimum needed.

Other good types of tinder are:

• Items for use as tinder (must be completely dry)
• Birch Bark
• Shredded inner bark from cedar, shestnut, red elm trees
• Fine wood shavings
• Dead grass, ferns, moss, fungi
• Straw
• Sawdust
• Very fine pitch wood scrapings
• Dead evergreen needles
• Punk (the completely rotted portion of dead logs or trees)
• Evergreen tree knots
• Bird down (fine feathers)
• Down seed heads (milkweed, dry cattails, bulrush, Cananda thistle, goldenrod, dandelion)
• Fine dried vegtable fibers
• Spongy threads of dead puffball
• Dead palm leaves
• Skinlike membrane lining of bamboo
• Lint from pocket and seams
• Charred cloth
• Waxed paper
• Outer bamboo shavings
• Gunpowder
• Cotton
• Lint

Also, some items to be used as kindling (must be completely dry):

• Small twigs
• Small strips of wood
• Split wood
• Heavy cardboard
• Pieces of wood removed from the inside of larger peieces
• Wood that has been doused with highly flammable materials such as gasoline, oil, or wax.

Finally, some items to be used as fuel

• Dry standing wood and dry dead branches
• Dry inside (heart) of fallen tree trunks and large branches
• Green wood that is finely split
• Dry grasses twisted into bunches
• Peat dry enough to burn (this may be found at the top of undercut banks)
• Dried animal dung
• Animals fats
• Coal, oil shale, or oil sand lying on the surface

From: textfiles