fungus for fire starting

[jbtusa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S9hOGJg-2E

Wow, great series! Sam Hearne is rarely talked about but he sounds like he is equal in opening the frontier as Lewis & Clark, only years earlier. I recommend to all to watch these Ray Mears videos. Fascinating and well done by the BBC.

 

[Eterry]

I looked around here on trees for fungus, but the Mesquite trees here dont seem to have anything but thorns.... :idunno:

Eterry

 

[paulvallandigham]

Mesquite beans can be crushed, then dried in the sun, and use as tinder. They have an oil in the bean that will burn. Crush them well, and then make a small pile to catch your sparks. Don't hesitate to add mesquite leaves, crushed also. The finer the material, the more easy it is to dry in just the sun, on bare ground or a rock. I know you have rocks in Texas- lots of them.

 

[jbtusa]

Well the gods spoke today and it warmed up to -6 C / 20 F today in Idaho. So pursuant to Keith Burgess' new book, "Primitive Fire Lighting", I charred a piece of punky pine and let it smoother out in the tinderbox (tin). I then held the chunk next to the flint like I would a piece of charcloth, hit the flint with the steel a few times, and by golly, the darned thing caught the spark!

Now I'll char up some more, fill the tinderbox, and eliminate charcloth altogether!

Then the next experiment will be with the tinder fungus... will report on that too.

 

[necchi]

The dried pod of a Milkweed, charred, will catch a spark (theres a little web inside that'll catch without charring)
The pith of the common Mullien stalk. Dried corn tassel.

Tinder;
Thistel down, Cattail fluff will Explode in flame when used as a nest.

 

[Eterry]

Paul, I may just try the mesquite bean/leaf as a starter, then I can throw away my Bic lighter :wink:
I tried starting a fire once by rubbing two sticks together; after a couple hours I was so warm from the workout I didnt need a fire! :rotf:

Eterry

 

[Southlander]

tg,
Powdered wasp nest, esp. paper wasp nest is very flammable. It is nature's own paper and when I was a kid living north of K.C., we used to burn every nest as soon as we could dowse it enough to drive the wasps off for a while and knock down to keep them at bay. Burns nice and easily. Let me know how it goes using it for tinder!

 

[Southlander]

For all those interested, you can go here and get a nice supply of chaga:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Chaga-Fire-Pis...aultDomain_0&hash=item20b648f0a3#ht_500wt_951

 

[jbtusa]

The above link seems to go to a dead-end re chaga.

...Just finished Keith Burgess' new book "Primitive Fire Lighting." He did a good job imparting the concept of charring wood and vegetable material for tinder to catch the spark, but not a specific methodology. But it worked for me.

Another report:

I charred a piece of bracket fungus, dark rust colored stuff, and it simply would not catch the spark. Next time I'll try hoof/shelf fungus, the white 'artist fungus' type.

Then I tried a magnifying lens on the recently charred punk wood. The ember lit right up. So, I am leaning towards using charred punky wood as a viable alternative and substitute for charcloth. It also works great for catching the spark with flint & steel and it is an unlimited supply, always available and free!

 

[Claude Mathis]

The above link seems to go to a dead-end re chaga.

That's because it violates the Forum rule about linking to items on eBay.

 

[paulvallandigham]

With most mushroom- shaped Bracts or fungi, you have to first DRY them out,( Like in an oven under slow heat) before they catch sparks well. Charred cloth, and wood work because the moisture in the fabric or wood has been reduced to under 8%, by heating them up to a temperature higher than the temperature at which they will burn, but in a oxygen reduced, or deprived container. Fabrics loose a lot of moisture in the form of steam, but so will wood that is charred( think Charcoal briquets). What is left is very BLACK, and in the case of fabric, the natural threads become thin black filaments, unable to soak up moisture easily from the air, or your sweaty hands. :thumbsup: