Fire starters? 🔥 🔥

[Black Hand]

I have Mushrooms Demystified by David Aurora, an extensive 959-page tome of mushroom identification which also contains B&W and Color images (over 2000 species and 800 photos). Even armed with this information, I'm not planning on harvesting from the wild....

 

[Cruzatte]

Death caps have gills.... :barf:

Wanna give this guy a taste?

Fly Agaric, scientific name Amanita muscaria. I think of that one as the Walt Disney mushroom. For some reason it seems to be the most common mushroom for cartoonists. NOT EDIBLE, in case anybody doesn't know that.

Yep. I don't know nothin' 'bout shrooms. But that one's so pretty, it made me suspicious.

 

[Black Hand]

Yep. I don't know nothin' 'bout shrooms. But that one's so pretty, it made me suspicious.

I remember collecting mushrooms in Germany as a child, which were then brought to a central area where the edible ones were separated from the inedible by experts. I also remember the baskets filled with mushrooms being reduced to a handful of uninteresting LBM's (Little Brown Mushrooms) that were edible...

 

[tenngun]

...then we got to go to that byproduct of a fungus infection of grain...

Are you referring to Ergotism...?

Well that might bring some religious visions, and it might bring you closer to God then you were planning, but I was thinking of another by product of fungal infected grain.
A wee bite of the creature (said in my best Irish Accent)

 

[Nativearizonan]

The reason it was called Fly Agaric, it was used to attract and kill flies, so it is a known insecticide.

 

[Black Hand]

...but I was thinking of another by product of fungal infected grain.

During fermentation, the grain is not infected with a fungus. Specific yeast do however use the sugars/starches from the grain as a food-source and create ethanol as a byproduct.

 

[coloradoclyde]

...but I was thinking of another by product of fungal infected grain.

During fermentation, the grain is not infected with a fungus. Specific yeast do however use the sugars/starches from the grain as a food-source and create ethanol as a byproduct.

So.....Actually, a beer/grain can become "infected" with a fungus during fermentation, And...in the case of grains like rice, a "fungus"....(mold) is added to produce amylase breaking down the sugars so yeast can eat them.....But I know you knew that....
Makes one of my favorite drink....Sake...

 

[tenngun]

That’s an interesting divisional line. Fungus in a wound would just be using the organic stuff in your body to live on, but I think we would call it a fungal infection :idunno:
Anyway the line was given tongue in cheek

 

[coloradoclyde]

Back to fire starters....

For those looking to cheat with some good birds nest material a chainsaw with the rakers taken down a bit and used to rip instead of cross-cut throws the most beautiful pile of shavings....
a wood like cedar make a great fire starter....

 

[tenngun]

Robins have tried to make a nest on my porch light. Four days in a row I had a nice little fire kit given to me. I think the birds finely got the message that that wasn’t a good place for a nest. Prehaps they will take comfort in the knowledge their work will not be for nought. :rotf:

 

[Black Hand]

I save the shavings when I use a hand plane on Cottonwood. These shavings are used as tinder but won't catch/hold a spark.

 

[dsayer]

Death caps have gills.... :barf:

Wanna give this guy a taste?

Fly Agaric, scientific name Amanita muscaria. I think of that one as the Walt Disney mushroom. For some reason it seems to be the most common mushroom for cartoonists. NOT EDIBLE, in case anybody doesn't know that.

Yes, sorry. I should have added a "Smilies" or something to indicate this was intended as a joke and that this particular 🍄 should NOT be eaten.

 

[dsayer]

Robins have tried to make a nest on my porch light. Four days in a row I had a nice little fire kit given to me. I think the birds finely got the message that that wasn’t a good place for a nest. Prehaps they will take comfort in the knowledge their work will not be for nought. :rotf:

That's being resourceful!! :rotf:

 

[Black Hand]

A short walk along a river with Cottonwoods lining the banks should yield a supply of tinder from fallen trees (inner bark) that will last a very long time. Grab a large handful, fluff it up and use it as a nest to hold your lit coal or charcloth which can then be blown into a flame.

 

[Kansas Jake]

That cottonwood inner bark is good stuff for starting a fire. Cottonwoods like to drop limbs as they get older. Just find one of those limbs where the bark is coming loose and harvest the stringy stuff inside.

 

[tenngun]

Juniper inner bark is good. The park by the gym I go to has some birch that I never see in the woods here. All that bark cries out to me each time I walk past. We get a lot of wild broom grass out here and in the fall it almost will catch from a spark.

 

[Nativearizonan]

Good dry cottonwood bark will light up so fast you can barely get it out of your hands before it burns you, which is good.

On the other hand, I had trouble using cottonwood bark I carried in a plastic baggy one time, and I think that may have been because there was a small amount of condensation in the baggie. The bark looked and felt dry, but just didn't want to catch fire.

I'm thinking maybe well shredded and dry juniper bark, with it's natural oils may be the better tinder of the two, in the case of too much humidity. I have not tested that assumption yet, though.

The forests are closed to fires around here now, which is as early as I ever remember them enacting fire restrictions. It may be a while before I test my theory and replicate the test under some humid conditions.

 

[dsayer]

Thanks everyone!

What have you had success with at high elevations (10,000+ feet)? Lots of dead pine from the beetle kill and aspens where we hunt.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I've never had a problem starting a fire at 10,000 feet.... The beauty of high elevation is that there is less humidity....Makes starting a fire easier. Water evaporates quite quickly....
I think Aspen has a nice inner bark like most poplars...suitable for a birds nest...

It is work noting that I don't generally use the typical birdnests any more....Punkwood and shavings do the job....But you should have no problem finding dry grass, punkwood or anything else you need at elevation....

If you find a beaver pond, you'll likely find dead trees, chewings, bark, and tall grass....just don't drink the water.... :grin:

 

[tenngun]

Furbearers Revenge?