Char cloth

[Mark@Sea]

Made up my first batch tonight in an Altoids tin.

Must have lucked out, it turned out great!

Couldn't find Jute fiber right off hand, so I birdcaged some short lengths of sisal twine. Caught one tiny spark, and within 30 seconds I had fire.

I cheated a little - I don't have flint and steel, I used a firesteel. A spark is a spark, right?

Still - I made FIRE!

[RED333]

Drier lint is great for fire starting, Fine steel wool and a battery and you have fire quick.

[DaveS]

AWESOME Mark! Yes Sir...a spark is a spark! A good skill to master indeed!

If you have problems finding supplies let me know!

[Moped]

I made a Char cloth tin out of one of those mini Altoids tins, last year. Works great! I have huge ball of what I'm pretty sure is jute twine. It's from a hay baler and is orangy in color. I use a fire steel as well. But at some point I would like to get or make a steel striker and some flint for a primative fire kit.

[Mark@Sea]

I've found and ordered a striker and flint. I know, I coulda found a rock, but I needed a flint for my queen anne anyway... I haven't looked real hard for jute, the sisal works. Not as well, but it works.

In my limited experimentation, I found that char cloth made from old military cleaning patches works better than cut up blue jeans.

[UncleJak]

Char cloth works better if you soak it in lighter fluid before you light it. But seriously, the char cloth is a great idea. I guess the altoid tin is the standard for making these now. I have found that regular t-shirts make a good char cloth material.

[Moped]

Oh, any old tin will do. It's just those are easy to find. I think you can still get BB's in tins and other types of candies like Altoids, and don't forget Sucrets! Actually those are bigger tins! But most containers are made of plastic now and don't hold up well. Shoe polish would be another one that would work, but they come in two pieces and can get lost easier. They might make a good penny stove though. Hadn't thought of that! Might have to give that a whirl one day.

[Mark@Sea]

Yeah, speaking of which, I found out you can get new/empty/unpainted shoe polish tins for a dime. Only hitch is you have to order 5000, which slightly exceeds my char-cloth/penny stove/tinder box needs.

[Handsome Rob]

I've always made my char cloth from old blue jeans. Never thought of making char-twine afore! Does it hold together as well as cloth?

I make mine in an old paint can (I generally make a bunch at a time)

[Spots]

He was using the twine for tinder, not charring it. I like the sisal rope birds nest tender.

[Timestepper]

30-35 years ago when I was a newby at this stuff, the standard char cloth tin was a Prince Albert Tobacco tin. Nowadays, those are museum pieces and collectors items. Mayhap at our next get together I'll show you fellers how to make char-wood (soft charcoal which serves as char cloth and is actually more historically accurate).

Oh, and when I'm making a big batch of char cloth (for instructional purposes where I may be lighting 150 or so fires during the course of a day) I'll go to the local auto supply store and buy an empty quart paint can. I punch one hole in the center of the lid with a 16d nail and fill it with the cloth of my choice then tap the lid on good and tight and set the whole mess in the middle of my campfire for an hour or two.

Glad to hear you had great success, Mark! (And your modern fire steel is welcome in my camp any time!)

[Mark@Sea]

I have a couple Prince Albert cans, actually - but I'm using them for my old telegraph setup.

[Moped]

Mark, you never get bored, do you!

[Mark@Sea]

Well, I was in commo and I like antiques... it seemed the thing to do.

[Guest ochretoe]

I use old white T shirts usually but I mad some really good char out of those big beefsteak mushrooms that grow on the side of trees. Sliced and chared, they worked great.