• Welcome to The Bushcraft Forum

    You are currently viewing the site as a guest and some content may not be available to you.

    Registration is quick and easy and will give you full access to the site and allow you to ask questions or make comments and join in on the conversation. If you would like to join then please Register

Perfect Char Cloth

bushcraftbob said:
So how do you folk make the perfect char cloth have my method and has never failed me, so whats yours ?
Click to expand...
An old tea cloth (not the fluffy version) rolled tightly and placed in an old tobacco tin with a small hole in the lid then shove it on my BBQ
 
I'll let the photos do the talking, after its done keep rolled up like a bandage in the tin, tear of as nec and replace helps to protect it from breaking up (Be sure to use 100% cotton ONLY)
char.jpg
char1.jpg
char2.jpg
char3.jpg
char4.jpg
char5.jpg
char6.jpg
char7.jpg
char8.jpg
 
I know this reply will go up people's noses, but don't you think as Bushcrafters you should be using plant & fungi tinders instead of a home based tinder like charred cloth?
Also the use of a tin just adds to the bulk & weight of your pack, & there is no need for a tin. Plant & fungi tinders are charred directly in the fire & the embers are extinguished in the tinderbox, as was charred cloth. I have never understood why bushcrafters have to invent new things to talk about & display. Like batoning a knife blade to split sawn wood when there is kindling wood all around you?!
Sorry, but I just find this hard to get a handle on, I just don't see the point. Perhaps someone could explain it to me so I can better understand what bushcraft really is in this day & age?
Keith.
 
Think you should read a post of bushcraftUSA on the history of chat cloth not a new think nor the way it was made references made back to 18th century and you refer to making charred plant and fungi them extinguishing it in a tinder box ??? whats the tinder box made from ? Why use tinder at all lol Why not use the charred wood for a previous fire which will take a spark from flint and steel and a ferro rod (A new thing) ;) Iv'e yet to try pyrite and flint on this
 
Keith said:
I know this reply will go up people's noses, but don't you think as Bushcrafters you should be using plant & fungi tinders instead of a home based tinder like charred cloth?
Also the use of a tin just adds to the bulk & weight of your pack, & there is no need for a tin. Plant & fungi tinders are charred directly in the fire & the embers are extinguished in the tinderbox, as was charred cloth. I have never understood why bushcrafters have to invent new things to talk about & display. Like batoning a knife blade to split sawn wood when there is kindling wood all around you?!
Sorry, but I just find this hard to get a handle on, I just don't see the point. Perhaps someone could explain it to me so I can better understand what bushcraft really is in this day & age?
Keith.
Click to expand...
Hi Keith, I think most of us have our own interpretation of what bushcraft really is, My personal interpretation is that when ever possible to leave no trace, also a blending of the old and the new. I use a fero rod simply because it quick and fairly easy, some people use it in conjunction with char cloth for that reason. I can make char cloth and have used it in the past but these days I prefer cotton wool balls soaked in petroleum jelly which I carry I a plastic fish food container so am I wrong to use what is now acceptable practice in bushcraft circles. I agree its good to still practice and to teach the old ways but also to be prepared to accept the new

Joe
 
My view Keith is that Bushcraft is what you want it to be and importantly what you are comfortable with dependant on your skill set.

I know that you believe that we should be looking to the long term and using late colonial era methods but for others that is a step back in time that is not necessary or prudent.

38
 
38thfoot said:
My view Keith is that Bushcraft is what you want it to be and importantly what you are comfortable with dependant on your skill set.

I know that you believe that we should be looking to the long term and using late colonial era methods but for others that is a step back in time that is not necessary or prudent.

38
Click to expand...
And most Colonials had a tinder tin/ box and in that was flint and steel and tinders of natural material and I would bet a pound to a pinch of poo there was char cloth and what is char cloth 100% cotton and what is 100% cotton a natural material
 
bushcraftbob said:
Think you should read a post of bushcraftUSA on the history of chat cloth not a new think nor the way it was made references made back to 18th century and you refer to making charred plant and fungi them extinguishing it in a tinder box ??? whats the tinder box made from ? Why use tinder at all lol Why not use the charred wood for a previous fire which will take a spark from flint and steel and a ferro rod (A new thing) ;) Iv'e yet to try pyrite and flint on this
Click to expand...
I am an 18th century living historian & experimental archaeologist Bob. Charred cloth was used in households in the 18th century, but the cloth was charred directly in the fire & then extinguished in the tinderbox. Many household tinderboxes were made from wood, others, especially those carried in the field/bush were brass or steel.
TINDER 7 REDUCED.jpg
This is a wooden tinderbox used in the home. The left hand compartment has a damper for extinguishing the smouldering tinder after it is taken from the fire. You will note that the inside of this compartment is charred from smouldering tinder.
tinderbox inside REDUCED.jpg
Another domestic tinderbox, this one of steel or iron. This too has a damper for extinguishing the smouldering tinder. There are no holes punched in a tinderbox.
Tinderbox 2 REDUCED.jpg
This is my brass tinderbox, it is shallow & therefore does not require a damper. By simply closing the lid the smouldering tinder is extinguished. I sometimes place uncharred tinder in this tinderbox because when I use this tinderbox for making fire, this uncharred tinder gets charred. Note there is no hole in the lid.
tinderbox7.jpg
Four original 18th century tinderboxes of the type carried in the field.
So if the article in the american bushcraft forum says they used tins with holes in them to make charred cloth, they are mistaken & ignorant of the true facts.

Ballou’s Monthy Magazine from the late 19th century.png2.png

We might make tinder by burning: some linen rag, and putting it in & close box*: but we have unfortunately^ none to spare ? and;,, therefore, the best thing for us would be to find ... Johann David Wyss, Johann Rudolf Wyss - 1818

Shall I instruct you in the practical science of getting a light with flint and steel? The first thing is to make your tinder, by burning or rather scorching a piece of rag. Toast it or char it till it is tenderly made into tinder. Neither do it too little, nor too much; cook your rags to a turn. Be very mindful to keep your tinder dry as a bone; for a spark will be of no service if it does not fall where it will be nourished; and the least damp will kill it. The sparks of temptation would be harmless if it were not for the tinder of corruption in our hearts. Good teaching is also lost unless it falls upon a mind prepared to receive it: so that the metaphor can be used either way.
Having secured your tinder, you had next to know how to strike your flint and steel so as to create sparks. Many a knock of the fingers would you get if you did not look alive. Possibly you would also bark your knuckles if you did know the art, if the weather was cold and your hands were half frozen. So is it in your dealing with men's consciences: you may give a hard knock and fetch fire out of them, or you may break your own knuckles by bringing upon yourself personal ill-will.
If you were so skilful or so fortunate as to cause a spark to drop into the tinder, you had to blow upon it very gently; just as the first sign of grace in any heart needs encouraging with the fostering breath of sympathy. How often have I seen a servant go down on her knees to blow at a coal which seemed to have a little life in it! Let us do the like with those persons concerning whom we are somewhat hopeful.
When the spark had become fairly prosperous in the tinder, then you applied the point of your brimstone match. You do not quite know what I mean. Well, mind you do not make a brimstone match when you get married. The brimstone, at the sharpened point of the match, would take fire when it touched the spark, and then your labour approached its reward. When you had your match flaming, and smelling, you lighted your candle; and having done with your elaborate apparatus, you popped the flat lid of the box upon the tinder to put it all out.
http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/candles2.htm
“They employ tree mushrooms very frequently instead of tinder. Those which are taken from the sugar maple are reckoned the best; those of the red maple are next in goodness, and next to them, those of the sugar birch, for want of these, they likewise make use of those which grow on the aspen tree.”
Peter Kalm, Canada, 1749

http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/plant-tinder-preparation.html
http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/more-on-flint-steel-firelighting.html
Authentication. Use Of The Tinderbox. http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/authentication-use-of-tinderbox.html

Tinder & Tinderbox Facts. http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/tinder-tinderbox-facts.html

Using charred wood from a previous fire does not work well with a real flint & steel, though this may depend of the wood. Personally I have never had much luck using charred wood as a tinder. Punkwood yes, ordinary wood no. If you are using a ferocerium rod, you probably don't need tinder at all, you could probably ignite light kindling such as dried grass or leaves. I have never used a ferocerium rod.
Keith.
 

Attachments

  • Tinderbox 1 REDUCED.jpg
    Tinderbox 1 REDUCED.jpg
    183.7 KB · Views: 185
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top