Natural Tinders

Natural tinders are are great way to progress your fire lighting skills once you have got the hang of using some of the man made tinders that are available. Knowing which materials are available means you no longer have to carry tinders with you, reducing the weight of your kit. here are a small selection of some of the tinders available in most places across the UK.

Silver Birch  (Betula pendula)

The bark of the silver birch (Betula pendula) is a fantastic tinder for

use with either sparks or flame. The bark contains naturally flammable oils which combust very easily and burn

 fiercely, The papery bark can be peeled away or small shavings and dust can bemade by scraping thicker pieces

of bark with the edge of a knife.

Rosebay Willow Herb (Chamerion angustifolium)

Rosebay Willow Herb is a perennial herbaceous plant that can be found throughout the UK and most of the northern hemisphere. It is commonly found around wetland areas. The fluffy down like material can be harvested towards the end of the summer and catches using a small spark.

Gorze, furze or whin (Ulex europaeus)

Whilst not so good at taking a spark, gorse is incredibly good at lighting from a small flame. It does, however burn very quickly so is not suitable as a fuel. The gorse can also be used for food, medicine and carving
Cramp balls

Also know as king Alfred's cakes, cramp balls are a fungus commonly found on fallen Ash trees, although it is not unusual to find it growing on other broad leaf species. It will take a spark with ease and burn very slowly unless you blow it into life. It was traditionally used to carry fire from place to place.

What is bushcraft???

I often get asked the question, "what is bushcraft?" In short it is the practice of using our environment and our natural surroundings to provide us with the necessary resources to survive. It is the practice of using ancient methods and skills to provide us with everything we need on a daily basis. These methods and skills include finding and cooking food, fire lighting, shelter building, rope making, wood carving flint knapping and hunting to name just a few. The most skilled bushcrafters can venture out into the wilderness with just the clothes on their back (which they could make out of natural materials if they wanted to) and provide everything they need using just the knowledge in the heads. Most modern bushcrafters, will however, take the basic equipment with them for ease an comfort. This equipment usually includes a knife, axe, fire-steel and a metal cooking pot. Bushcraft does not need to be so complicated though, many will just venture out for a few hours into their local woodland and practice their favoured skills. It is now common for young children to be taught bushcraft at school and through organised groups such as scouts and guides, through means of "forest schools" and other such organisations. they taught the fundamental skills such as fire lighting, outdoor cooking, shelter building and identification of flora and fauna.

here's what wikipedia has to say;

Bushcraft A popular term for wilderness skills in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the term was popularised in the southern hemisphere by Les Hiddins (The Bush Tucker Man) in Australia as well as in the northern hemisphere by Mors Kochanski and recently gained considerable currency in the United Kingdom due to the popularity of Ray Mears and his bushcraft and survival television programmes. It is also becoming popular in urban areas; areas where the average person is separated from nature.

Bushcraft is about thriving in the natural environment, and the acquisition of the skills and knowledge to do so. Bushcraft skills include; firecraft, tracking, hunting, fishing, shelter building, the use of tools such as knives and axes, foraging, hand-carving wood, container construction from natural materials, rope and twine-making, and many others. These are the kinds of skills well known to our ancestors, many of which are still practiced today as an everyday skill amongst aboriginal and native peoples around the world.

Lesson 3: Making the most of your firesteel (natural tinder)

        Once you have the hang of man made tinders, you will be ready to take on natural tinders. The advantage to using natural tinders is that you no longer have the need to carry your tinders with you, allowing you to stay out longer and reducing the weight in your pack.

         The best place to start, when choosing your natural tinders, is silver birch bark. The easiest way to recognise this tree is my looking for its distinct white bark and peeling a small piece off. the bark will be very thin, like paper. The thickness of this bark is one of the reasons it is so successful as a tinder, the other reason is the high sap content. The sap of the silver birch is extremely rich in natural oils which are highly combustible.

The technique for lighting a fire with natural tinders is similar to the method used in lighting man made tinder, the key difference is in the preparation.

Step 1. Shaving

Place your knife at 90 degrees to a thick piece of bark and scrape it towards you. Keep doing this until you have a small pile of fine shavings.

Step 2. cones

Take a large, thin piece of bark and make it into a cone. Pin it in place with a small sharpened twig. The cone

shape will focus all the sparks from your firesteel into the bottom, where your tinders will be waiting.... Place the shavings and a few small, very thin pieces of bark into the cone.

Step three. Light  a fire.

Using the methods learnt in lesson two. light the the tinders inside the cone. Scrape off plenty of shavings from the steel onto the scrapings, position your striker and pull the steel.

Hey presto...FIRE

A few more customer steels

This selection has been made for a customer who runs forest school sessions. A variety of sizes and styles to suit all needs

From left to right;
1) medium antler tine - 6mm steel
2) antler & mahogany section - 8.5mm steel
3) antler & spalted birch cross section - 6mm steel
4) micro antler tine - 3.5mm steel

Lesson 2: Making the most of your firesteel (man-made tinders)

welcome to lesson #2. I'm going to show you the easy way to use your firesteel using as little effort as possible. At this point I will be using man-made tinder (cotton wool) as it can be considerably easier to ignite, compared to natural tinders, when learning to use your firesteel.

Step 1: Fluff up your tinder
This refers to the first lesson, about applying fuel, ignition and oxygen. By fluffing up your tinder you are allowing the oxygen to move more freely and thus, making it easier to ignite.

Fluffy cotton wool!!!

Step 2: Get a grip!

Holding your firesteel and striker correctly will make a world of difference. If you hold them too loosely you will not be able to get enough pressure to create a strong spark. Hold the striker in your dominant hand and the steel in the other. i.e if you are right handed, place the fire steel in your left hand and visa versa. If necessary, hold the steel as well as the handle to apply steady pressure

I'm right handed!

Step 3;: Pepper

This step is fairly simple. Just scrape some shavings off of your firesteel using the striker, making sure they land on your tinder. It will look like you have sprinkled shiny pepper all over it. Don't worry if you create a few sparks when you do this, with luck they'll land on the tinder and create a flame.

sprinkles!

Step 4: Strike

This final step is the one that counts. Place the striker over the tinder and lock your hand, arm and wrist to stop it from moving. Place the firesteel under the striker and point it towards the base of the tinder. Apply pressure and draw the firesteel towards you fairly quickly.
If you did this correctly, you should have burning piece of cotton wool and a grin from ear to ear.
If you don't, fear not go back a few steps and try again.

Using this technique and a little practice, you will become a master of the firesteel in no time at all.


To demonstrate the whole thing from start to finish, i've made a little video for you. Enjoy

My latest creation

This is a Buffalo horn and Deer antler firesteel with an 8mm steel and suede lanyard. 

Custom made for Resnikov of the BCUK forum. Check out my second post to find out how to get your own custom made firesteel.

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