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char cloth again

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spudnut

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Does blue jeans material work for char? Ive got a bunch of them I am gonna toss.what else can I use it for,cleaning patches? shooting patches?
 
Shooting patches ought to be of similar thickness, so keep that in mind as you start "harvesting" denim. However, I have used old denim for patching in my Brown Bess because it was thick (about .025") and cheap. I found it was good for about 3-5 shots if you can recover it. It's ok for char, but in my experience a looser weave catches sparks and ignites better.

If the pants have long legs (unlike mine) you might sew two together and make a sleeve for a longarm.
 
spudnut said:
Does blue jeans material work for char? Ive got a bunch of them I am gonna toss.what else can I use it for,cleaning patches? shooting patches?
Are those jeans 100% cotton? Make sure. If they are then they'll do. If not, they won't. And even if they have any, even the slightest amount of synthetic fiber at all....they still won't work for char cloth.
 
Thicker material has a harder time catching the spark, when it does catch it heats like a blow torch when you blow on it. Rub it between two bricks or scrape it over a sharp edge to rais the nap before charing and it catches easier. Cut it on an angle so the edges unravel easily also makes it catch well.
Old t shirt or flannel works better.
 
spudnut said:
Does blue jeans material work for char?
Nope. Any "clothing" fabric will not make good char cloth. New or used.
Clothing fabric is treated with "Flame retardant",, meaning that even if flame touches it,, it will extinguish,, or at least not spread quickly.
(it doesn't matter how many times you wash it,, it's a chemical treatment at production)
That's bad news when you wanna catch a spark.

You want the best fabric for char cloth?
,,the stuff that the guy's that always win the fire starting contest at vous use to win with?
Buy a 1/4 yard of Monks Cloth from a local fabric shop for $5 and be set for years.
p.s.,, don't forget to "char" it.
 
was just wondering, I dont ever remember using it.My favorite are those red grease rags mechanics and machine shops use, the ones washed about a million times till theyre threadbare, gues I' ll just toss em. I get about ten pairs a year from my job.
 
Cotton t-shirts work. Check to make sure the label doesn't have The FR designation. Specially treated clothing will be more expensive and should bear this designation.
 
necchi said:
Colorado Clyde said:
Old cotton T-shirts work well....
No, they don't. It's still a fabric used for clothing.
Sorry, old clothes does not make good char cloth.
Period.

Well, we disagree.. Cotton T-shirts may not be the "best" out there...But they do work....And they work better than blue Jeans.

A few summers ago I started at least one flint and steel fire every day, all summer ...Rain or shine.
I used either charred cotton T-shirts or charred punkwood.

I don't know what kind of Nascar flame retardant clothing you are buying, but a Hanes or fruit of the loom T- shirt is highly flammable after 50 washings and a years use.

Just make sure it's 100% cotton.

If a person thinks their clothing is flame retardant, there is an easy way to tell....Put a match to it....just make sure you're not wearing it.
 
Colorado Clyde said:
I don't know what kind of Nascar flame retardant clothing you are buying
Oh, that's cute, even having fun isn't it.
Building fires, or even practicing in the back yard is a good thing.
It's the best way to learn.
When you want char to catch a spark with the first strike, or get flame from the nest in under 10 seconds. let me know.
Otherwise keep telling folks clothing fabric works well.
My old t-shirts are shop rags used for wiping grease off zerks and drain plugs.
 
necchi said:
Colorado Clyde said:
I don't know what kind of Nascar flame retardant clothing you are buying
Oh, that's cute, even having fun isn't it.
Building fires, or even practicing in the back yard is a good thing.
It's the best way to learn.
When you want char to catch a spark with the first strike, or get flame from the nest in under 10 seconds. let me know.
Otherwise keep telling folks clothing fabric works well.
My old t-shirts are shop rags used for wiping grease off zerks and drain plugs.


I've used a lot of blue jean and T shirts, and I've made flame in 7 seconds. Though most of the time I'm looking at 25-30.
 
necchi said:
When you want char to catch a spark with the first strike, or get flame from the nest in under 10 seconds. let me know.
That's not my goal...
My goal is to be able to start a fire with nothing more than a striker if necessary....Nature provides everything else. even the striker is an option...

To be perfectly honest, I don't like using char cloth at all....I much prefer charred punkwood, because it is available from the landscape, burns longer and hotter.

I like to challenge myself by making my conditions more difficult and learning from them...

If speed is your "thing"....Make it real. Go jump in a river in November, Loose all your gear but your knife....Now start a fire as hypothermia sets in......
 
necchi said:
Colorado Clyde said:
I don't know what kind of Nascar flame retardant clothing you are buying
Oh, that's cute, even having fun isn't it.

When you want char to catch a spark with the first strike, or get flame from the nest in under 10 seconds. let me know.

Adding to the racing metaphor, much like a race car, all that speed is far less practical off the track.
 
Howdy!
A really fantastic thing to use to make char are the cotton rounds in the cosmetic section at Walmart. They come in packages of 100 or more and are dirt cheap. They are 100% cotton, slightly pillowed-like, char extremely easy, retain some flexibility (don't crumble!) and catch a spark amazingly quickly. Stuffed into a birds nest of jute, or ground pine needles, or pounded juniper tree bark or pounded old dried yucca leaves (the stuff I have here in the Mohave desert to make fires out of) some decent blowing and you're on fire!
(With the jute, I usually take several strands in a bundle, unravel the ends on one side and twist and dip the other ends in candle wax. This gives you a longer burn than just exposed jute. If you want to know more about this jute prep, let me know!)
 
I use the linen scrap left over from making a shirt. These scraps are too big to throw away, and too small to do much of anything else with. Contest winning speed is not my goal...building a fire is. The fabric is tough, and not treated with any fire retarding chemical, and won't shred. Never have timed myself, so I can't say how long it takes. I can tell you that it works for me.
 
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