Starting a fire

[pseudonym]

Gimme a 9v battery and some wire wool anyday

pseudonym, I wonder if we've ever met at Bardsters?

Nope never been to a Meet down South.

[pseudonym]

Ace, brilliant post there! Sounds like you've been doing this stuff for a lot of years!

Thanks!! Yeah, been into what I do for a looooooooong time. Making fire using different methods, and using different woods is one of my fave things to do when I'm out camping.

Ace.

Me too.

Here's a Poem about woods to burn (not by me)

Beech wood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year.
Chestnuts only good, they say
If for long its laid away.
But ash wood new or ash wood old
Is fit for a queen with a crown of gold.
Birch and fir logs burn too fast,
Blaze up bright and do not last.
Is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould -
Even the very flames are cold;
But ash wood green and ash wood brown
Is fit for a queen with a golden crown.
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
Apple wood will scent your room
With an incense like perfume.
Oaken logs if dry and old
Keep away the winter cold.
But ash wood wet and ash wood dry
A king shall warm his slippers by.

Oak logs will warm you well,
If they're warm and dry.
Larch logs of pine wood smell
But sparks will fly.
Beech logs for Christmas time;
Yew logs heat well.
Scotch logs its a crime
For anyone to sell.
Birch logs will burn too fast,
Chestnut scarce at all.
Hawthorn logs are good to last,
If cut in the fall.
Holly logs will burn like wax,
You should burn them green.
Elm logs like smouldering flax;
No flames to be seen.
Pear logs and apple logs,
They will scent your room.
Cherry logs across the dogs
Smell like flowers in bloom.
But ash logs all smooth and gray,
Burn them green or old,
Buy up all that come you way,
They're worth their weight in gold

[The Ace of Spades]

Awesome poem, pseudonym!

[The Ace of Spades]

Tinders, Coal & Flame Extenders, Accelerants & Ignition Sources

Natural Tinders:

Birch Bark
Cedar Bark
Clematis - Bark & Seedheads (Species of Flowering Vine)
Honeysuckle Bark
Dry Leaves (Very smokey)
Dry Grasses (Very smokey)
Dry Ferns (Very smokey)
Fat Wood
Wood Shavings
Cat Tail Seedheads
Usnea - AKA Old Mans Beard, Beard Lichen, Treemoss (Form of Lichen. Also edible and has medicinal uses. Please do research first!)
Cramp Balls - AKA King Alfreds Cakes (Fungi found on dead trees)
Horses Hoof Fungus
Chaga Fungus
Dried Pith of Citrus Fruits
Old, Disused Bird & Rodent Nests (Please make sure these are old and disused before utilising!!)

Note: Dry seedheads from most plants should work. I.E: Dandilion, Thistle, Milkweed, Honeysuckle.

Other Tinders

Cotton Wool soaked in Vaseline/Petroleum Jelly
Cotton Wool soaked in Wax
Tampon
Alcohol Prep Pads
Paper (Not the best really. Burns too fast, not enough heat produced, and may smother your fire)
Rubber (Inner tube rubber works great)
Magnesium Shavings
Hand Sanitizer (Must contain Alcohol)
Dryer Lint (The stuff out of your Tumble Dryer Filter)
Char Cloth (Charred Cotton Material)
Jute Twine - AKA Burlap
Wire Wool (Used with a 9v battery)
Wet Fire
Maya Dust
Quick Tinder
Potassium Permanganate combined with Glycerin (Violent chemical reaction)
Tea-Bag (Seriously!!)
Hexamine
Trioxane
Brasso Wadding
Crisps with HIGH fat content (Frazzles, Wotsits, Monster Munch, Etc)
Cigarette Filters

Coal Extenders

Cramp Balls (Again)
Pine Cones
Charcoal from previous fires

Accelerants & Flame Extenders

Pine Resin
Petrol
Paraffin
Methylated Spirits
Paint Thinners
WD40
Alcohol (Spirits. Unless your life REALLY depends on it - Save for drinking)
Perfume/Aftershave
Wax
Vaseline/Petroleum Jelly/Lip Balm

Ignition Sources

Matches
Lighter
Ferrocium Rod (Fire Steel/Metal Match)
Blast Match
Flint & Steel
Quartz & Steel
Quartz & Quartz (Strike 2 pieces together)
Iron Pyrites (Strike 2 pieces together)
Fire Piston
Friction (Primitive Methods)
Magnifying Glass/Fresnel Lens/Convex Lens
Batteries

Many of the above tinders, etc, I have tried for myself with very good results. Others I have not yet tried, but I do know that they work. I'm sure that there are many others that could be added to the list, but this should be enough to be getting along with for now.

Any questions you may have, please feel free to ask and I'll do my best to provide you with the answer. Have fun!

Ace.

[Arzosah]

This thread has simultaneously become very beautiful and incredibly, wonderfully useful! Thank you both so much!

[The Ace of Spades]

This thread has simultaneously become very beautiful and incredibly, wonderfully useful! Thank you both so much!

No problem at all. Happy to help.

Ace.

[VSAINT]

Hi , the vasalene is messy and will make your hands greasy , Cotton wool and a bottle of surgical spirit ( Stars a fire and cleans a wound ) .Or a 99p tin of lighter fluid is best . Even if the wool is damp you can place it over the open bottle and let a little absorb into the wool , It can be easily ignited with a flame or spark and the wool lasts a lot longer than when used in it's dry state .
Charcloth made from old cotton jeans placed in a sealed tobbaco tin with a small hole in the top to let the gas out , Then heated on a stove ( outdoors ) or as i do , On our open coal fire .Untill the gas and smoke has stopped coming from the hole in the tin . Can be also soaked in a flamable liquid as mentioned before or with Methulated spirit .The Charcloth when placed in a tin ( small alcohol stove size ) will act as a wick and give a long burn time . A piece of mesh ( as used in the toy steam engine burners ) will keep the flame from burning the charcloth .To do this cut the jeans into stove tin sized piecess and stack up in the burning tin . Once charred , simply transfer it to the stove tin and soak in Meths or Alcohol . Again easy to light or lift a layer off to place under kindling ready to light a fire .This design is best discribed as the old tin of make up removing pads that resembled cotton wool discs , you just lift one out ready to use .Or if used as a stove replace the lid to extinguish when finnished cooking . Or if you have a tin the size of cotton wool discs then just stuff it full and soak with Meths ready to open and take one out , But i like charcloth and having something to do on a long night .

[The Ace of Spades]

VSAINT, some great tips there. Will be trying out a few of those suggestions myself. Especially the surgical spirit. Never thought of that. Airgun pellet tins are also great to use for making Char Cloth in. Some of us have will no doubt have a few of those laying around somewhere.

It doesn't bother me if I get my hands a little greasy from the vaseline, I've always got tissues on me so I can wipe my hands if need be.

Ace.

[TwoDo]

One fire starting method I did not see posted is the Slam Rod, looks pretty easy and cheap to make.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rum-lbJowBM

[The Ace of Spades]

One fire starting method I did not see posted is the Slam Rod, looks pretty easy and cheap to make.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rum-lbJowBM

Slam Rod - AKA Fire Piston. (Listed in my post above) The guy in the video refers to his creation as a "piston" on several occasions, and is named as an "Acrylic Fire Piston" in the opening credits.

Ace.