Cloth Roasting on an Open Fire: Creating Char-Cloth and Explaining the “Next Fire”Mentality

So, I made char-cloth. I went through a whole lot of trouble just to char some lousy bits of an old t-shirt. So here is my question to you guys: Is it worth it?

Let’s see what Dave Canterbury has to say on the matter. In his book, Bush Craft 101, on page 124 he says:

“By quick ignition of charred materials, you will have a guaranteed ember to provide needed heat for ignition of a bird’s nest.”

Remember when we talked about fuel in my last blog?  We talked about tinder or the material used to catch a spark, like the website. Tinder can take a flame very easily and even primitive fire methods like a bow/drill set can produce an ember to be placed into the tinder or bird’s nest. Then, provide oxygen and you should be good to go. However, using flint and steel can be difficult to get tinder started and a Ferro rod too if conditions are bad enough. The same goes for the magnifying glass. However, char-cloth can and will aid you in ember formation using a spark or the sun.

So let’s talk about how it’s made. When googling about what char is I get this phrase a lot: “The incomplete combustion of certain solids.” You can click here for where I saw it first. But incomplete is the key word here.

If you recall from my last blog, fire need three things: heat, oxygen, and fuel. If you take away the oxygen completely you have that incomplete fire. Now all we have to do is heat our fuel without any oxygen. However, oxygen is everywhere and you need this cloth for your next fire. Well we can fix that.

In one of my first blogs I showed you all my char tin. Now I’m not sure how in-depth I was about it, but the basics are a stainless steel container either with a stainless steel lid or cover to allow the gases to escape. You don’t want a 100% seal because then it could blow up. Some people even use their water bottles completely dried out and a flat rock to cover the hole.

The idea is the container will be heated and the fuel inside will heat up too. Without oxygen in its presence though, it won’t make a flame. A very important part is making sure that the fire doesn’t get into your container. This happened to my first ever batch and I got a pile of ash. A lot of people poke a hole in their tins to let out the gases, but something like an Altoids tin with hinges are enough. But enough of this, right? Let’s get to how I made it.
So about a year ago when I first started bushcraft, I took an old T-shirt that was more ragged than regale. I cut it up into squares about the width of my palm and length of my forearm. Then I just rolled them up to save space in the container. You can see a pretty good example on the left of what they looked like when rolled up. On the right, I unrolled one to show you the length. I know some people prefer them in squares, but I like to rip off what I need. Either way you do it I’m sure will be just fine.
I have made about 32 of these. I make about 6 at a time and keep them in my Char tin at all times. The ones that are waiting to be charred will remain in a plastic bag that I keep in the house until needed.
The next step is to get them into the tin for charring. Like I said I roll them up and place them at the bottom of the tin. It won’t matter if they are packed or not just be aware of how much is going into it. Normally, my
char cloth isn’t made under survival conditions. I will use my last piece of char cloth to make a more char cloth. If I didn’t have them with me then I would consider using a bandanna or the clothing I was wearing. It is all about the next fire mentality. Just like in chess, you need to plan and prepare ahead. The next part is pretty important because this will make or break your char cloth. You need some sort of cover. As I said before the cover needs to not be air tight, however it must not allow oxygen to get into the container. So what do you do?

Put a lid on it. No, I’m not telling you to shut up, just cover your mouth. Of the bottle, that is. By punching a hole on the top of your container you allow gases to escape during the carbonization process. Now something common that may happen is the gases catching fire as they escape.
This isn’t a big deal as long as the fire doesn’t go down into the container itself. If it does happen, use some fire-proof gloves or two sticks to move the char away and let the process stop. Now if something happens and all you end up with is just your stainless steel water bottle then you are still in the game. Just place it in the fire WITHOUT anything inside. This will allow any water to evaporate out and your bottle will be ready for charring. Next you would cut up or just rip some cotton fibers. You could find some different plants and fungi that'll char too.

 In Dave Canterbury’s book, “Advanced Bushcraft”, he says this:


“Char can be made from many things you find in the landscape, including punky, decaying wood or the inner pith from some plants like mullein.”

Now here on Backyard Bushcraft, we believe in working through levels. I haven’t gotten too much covered in “Advance Bushcraft”, however I would like to know how to do some even if I wasn’t ready to practice it just yet.
Back to the charring, it commonly take about 10 minute or until the fire burns out. this has been said by Dave Canterbury in multiple places. Another way to check is to wait till the smoke stops pouring out. Now one thing to remember is that you can’t overdo char. Once it is done however, do not let it get exposed to air. The char being so super heated will cause it to start to burn. Remember the 3 elements to fire. Heat, Fuel, and Oxygen. The char is already a great fuel, plus it is super heated with just a gentle blow and it will begin to consume. This is also how the char works. With the cloth itself as a fuel, the spark or sunrays provides heat, then blowing into the bundle will make the fire catch up. After the tin is cooled, it is perfectly fine to get out and examine what you have created. I find the best way is to use a solar method. To me it is the hardest method of ember creation and thus proves I have made great char. I hope you get out there and make some Char Cloth too. Next week I will be reviewing some gear I have collected. As always feel free to comment, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Sounds like a Digestion Issue: Construction and Usage of the Dakota Fire Hole

One of the first things I learned when I started bushcraft was making a fire. And as some people know doing it the right way and the easy way are vastly different.

Fire is as simple as three things but as difficult as 30 different ways to make it. A fire needs fuel, oxygen, and heat. Now fuel is you bigger logs for when it’s caught up to the little tinder bundle made of fluffy easy-to-catch-a-spark-on materials.

Next the oxygen. This is the air in the form of breath or wind. To heat the coals up and catch the next layer of fuel up. This is a lot of the time my problem if the fire fails. I don’t give them enough space and over crowd the pool. Fire doesn’t like that.

Finally the most important thing is heat. Quick! When I say fire what do you think of? If you say hotdogs or s’mores then you’re hungry; go eat. But really, have you ever had a cold fire? No. Heat is the “spark” that makes a fire grow. It eats the food and builds up by the wind and oxygen. And we usually carry a variety of instruments used to produce heat.

Like I said there are many different ways to make your fire. I’m just going to go over 4.

First is the teepee fire we are all familiar with. It layers your fuel with the tinder at the bottom and heavy sticks and split logs at the top using the fact that fire feed upwards. The layout’s design can allow for a funnel to let the air into its center and smoke out the top. At least in theory.

Second is the log cabin. Sometime turned into the upside down fire. It has the tinder at the top then kindling and finally fuel. This way you don’t have to worry about collapsing the fire. Also by arranging the sticks you can allow creation of air flow.

Third is the Swedish torch. I haven’t done one of these yet, but as I understand, you split roughly a 7 inch wide log into 8 section but stopping about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through. This is usually done with a chainsaw for speed and ease. Next making a tinder bundle at the top in the center of the cross section you light your fire. This will burn down through until it starts to use the log as fuel. Benefits are: cooking, self-feeding, and resource management(only need one log).

Finally the fourth one is the main point of this blog. The Dakota fire hole is known for its smokeless, stealth, low impact, low maintenance, and cooking. The only problem is it will not provide the user much heat.

WARNING: In a survival situation you do not want this fire lay. This will not give the user any warmth and is hard to see for signaling purposes. Using a larger fire for warmth and signaling is your best option.
Now let’s get to the construction.
The first step was to find some flat ground in my back yard. I wanted a place where I could prevent fire spreading to other areas. This method uses the winds more than other fire methods and because of this I take special care to control where the fire will spread. I took some time to kick some of the leaves back and gather up the small branches so I could use them later during the fire. Next I test for the wind direction, as I said this is method is nothing without the wind. I didn’t have any other method so I did it the old fashion way. Once found I placed a large stick it the direction of the wind. The wind blew from the bottom right of the picture to the upper left.

Next I began digging two holes about 10 to 12 inches apart.I began at first using my shovel, but quickly tried a large tablespoon instead. I found that as long as I didn’t rush or get greedy with my bite, or the amount of dirt you pick up at a time, it was simpler to get done. I felt more in control because of the smaller precision bites. Another benefit was the storage of a spoon as opposed to the larger shovel. In the end it’s all up to what works for you and until I upgrade I’m keeping my spoon.

  Here are the three different items I worked with while digging the hole. The left most is just a fist size chunk of flint. I like flint because it is more primitive tech than something machine made. Next option is also kinda harder to find but has a few more uses. It's either a railroad spike or some large nail. I am not 100% sure, but I’m guessing it is a spike. I like to use it as a dig stick just because I can have it on me and to try to wedge logs I’m splitting.However, these days a spoon is going to be cheaper and easier to find than flint or the railroad spike. I say cheaper because you can get them at Walmart or dollar stores. This came out of my kitchen drawer, enough said.

However unlikely it really did wonders during the process. While connecting the holes I couldn’t use my spoon without risking breaking the neck. The spike came through, literally. With it I could break through the wall between the holes and make them one. To make a hole, I ended up knocking it through with a dense bit of wood on hand. You want a reasonable sized hole so that the air flow will come into the first hole and flow into the other.

This is what I had done in about 10 minutes to 15 minutes. The picture on the left is the completed holes that are connected down below the soil line. To the right is the other hole that I dug out more and sloped it a bit upward to try and capture the air flow. The slope is very key to getting the amount of wind you need to feed this fire.

I had the hole deepened to about my forearm’s length, about 9 inches. I then stacked wood and sticks vertical in the burning hole until it was full. Next all I did was light my fire with the fire starters I made in the blog before. I did this right on top of the sticks to start the process of heating up my sticks to get my fire up and off the ground. Not long after, it was up and roaring. The only thing to do after that was to add a few more sticks.

Well I hope you enjoy joining me in my first of many adventures with the Dakota fire hole. Next week I will be showing you what I used it for. In this picture to the right, all the tools used are shown. From the left to right is the military folding shovel, my leather gloves, that big peace of flint and that log I used to knock in the spike (shown above), and my spoon. As always feel free to comment, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Burn, Baby Burn: Introducing the “MOCK Inferno” a Homemade Fire Starter

From emergency scenarios to simple camping and hiking treks in the woods, fire-making is understandably the most important skill you can have in the wild to prolong your survival. Now not all cases will require a fire for warming purposes. However, cooking and water purification in the simplest ways require fire to perform these tasks. Now as we talked about in the other blogs about fire kits and the different ways I have to make fire, we can move on to exploring how to improve our fires.

My goal every day is to either learn something completely new or improve on an existing skill I already have. This is why I unpacked my bag for you, and why I continue to test and update my equipment. The first improvement I am really keen on making to my bag is emergency fire starters.

Now there are many different types of these on the market. From a “Fire disc” made of sawdust to tinder bricks made from chemical mixtures that hold a flame for extended periods. To me even char-cloth can be considered one of these items, but we as a community have certain features or criteria we base these on.

Extended burn

Water proof

Spark ignition

Compact/small

Re-usability

High quantity for small space.

Now first off “High quantity for small space” and “Small/ compact” are just about the same, but could mean different things so I broke them up. The reason we look for this quality in fire starters, is to capitalize on the space in our packs. Too often you will find that providing an item for a small price and small size, no matter its functions people will buy it. The idea being, “It can’t hurt.” The small amount of space however can add up or over shadow the lack of replacement or improved set ups. Keep this in mind when judging the “little guy” and make sure to bring your grains of salt.

Next I believe the quickest seller is water proofing. Think about it, if it’s water proof and can make fire, it solves so many difficulties when making fire. Having the peace of mind that the little disc or brick you have can be used at any time is a great selling point when you are preparing for the worst. This is often accomplished by using some sort of flammable lipid, commonly wax, to coat the burnable material, wood or cotton. A lipid is known for expelling water. Think oil and water, they never mix. One reason oil cloth is used for rain protection. Waterproof items can be a very important quality for boat or kayak fire kits.

Extended burn is often the main feature of these items. They are selling the idea that either extending the burn time gives the fire extra heat to dry out the tinder and small sticks to build a giant roaring fire. This is one of the advantages of matches over lighters, the extended exposure of the open flame.

One of the most important, at least in my book is spark-able ignition. This means that either Ferro rod, empty light or flint and steel can light this starter. This gives you more methods of starting your fire. Instead of having to rely only on the lighter or a match, some source of open flame, you can have a sound mind knowing that your starter will work no matter what you have on you.

Lastly, re-usability. Now, often you won’t find this feature, but there is one item on the market that does do this. Here is why you want it. The one downside to a fire starter is often they are one and done. So make sure you only have one for emergency. This feature, however can give you more resources to help aid in your survivability.

  

After reading this I’m sure you are trying to figure how much money it will take to obtain a kind of fire starter that does all this, plus maybe Wi-Fi. Of the criteria that I used above, the mini inferno exclusively sold on the wildernessesoutfitters’ website does it all. It is a pathfinder product that Dave Canterbury loves and has used in a bunch of videos. It is a small disc that you can use pieces of if not the whole thing. When ripped opened it exposes tiny fibers. Places either on an open flame or a spark, probably sunlight though I have not seen that done, and it makes a flame. After the first fire is completed you can dig out the disc to find it has become charred cloth.

This was not a popular idea of its creator on survivalist forums. Many people feel that the idea is too simple to make it yourself and should not be sold. He felt that as many features as his product had, a small compensation wasn’t unheard of. I see points from both side, however he is right, HIS product does do a lot and is mostly worth its money, however if you want a cheaper copycat use this method of making your own. I have not directly seen a name for these so, for what it is and how it works, I call them the MOCK inferno.

The method I got came from “grierwolfe – theperfect fire starter” watch their video and follow them if you don’t like my recipe, but this is how I did it.

So first the materials I bought were a discount candle. If you have some laying around the house no one else will miss, get that. Next I used cotton circles. This is a beauty product and can be found at Walmart in that isle. About 3 dollars or maybe 2. Cheaper is better. Lastly I used old cooking oil. I use this to deep fry in, and though it looks like sludge, I swear it pours golden. I also had to buy a small cheap pot for wax only purposes. DON’T USE A GOOD POT. Wax melting kills cooking pots. Now that is it for the list of ingredients. Collect these however you like, remember the idea is to keep it cheap and the less money you spend on these the more you keep for other stuff.

So let’s get started. First get the wax out of the glass jar. I use a pocket knife and just take small bits, until I can remove a bigger chunk. Do this however you like, just make sure you practice proper knife safety. Afterwards melt your wax on a high setting until some liquid begins to form. Then drop it to the lowest setting on your stove, or a melting temp if you have that. Be careful, wax has a flash point, or the temperature at which a particular organic compound gives off sufficient vapor to ignite in air, wax’s is between 380F to 470F. If you are worried keep this on melt the entire time, it will take longer however you will not have to worry about the flash point.

Next while the wax is melting, pour a small amount of the oil into a container so you can soak the cotton circles in the oil. I use the pot I tend to deep fry in, DON’T ADD HEAT TO THE OIL. It only needs to be in a container so the circles can fully absorb all the oil it can. I did about 6 at a time. You can use other oils. The guy from the video recommend tiki or bug repelling oils to give it a two in one effect. The fact is that stuff cost about 10 to 12 dollars a bottle and we are trying to go cheap. The downside he said is that the used cooking oil may cause more smoke. I like to use smoke to repel bugs so to me it is a win win.

While I work with the oil and circles I prefer to use just regular latex or “hospital gloves”. Just to keep clean up a little simpler. Using 6 circles at a time, I place them into the oil. You really want these saturated with oil. I tend to sink them with my gloved hand then allow them to sit in the oil for about one minute. You’ll know you are good when they go from pearl white to deep yellow or gold. At this point you now want to squeeze the oil out of them. I know it sounds silly for getting them so saturated and then trying to squeeze it all out. The idea is that the saturating process gets oil in to every little fiber of the circle. Afterwards once you squeeze out most of it, the remaining will work like a wick in an oil lamp. It causes the burn to last without consuming the material so fast. These are made to burn for a while so you can start your fire. Even with damp or wet fire materials, this should be enough to light the tinder, dry out your kindling and even start to catch fire. But we will talk more about that later.

 Now while the squeezed circles are resting begin melting your wax. I would do it on low or if you have a melt or simmer setting that will work. After all the wax has melted take a pair of old tongs or even chop sticks if you can use them and you want to dip each circle in the wax and then let it drip then dry. This may take a couple of coats but I would freeze them between each dip. I did this by placing them on a sheet of aluminum foil and leaving it in the freezer for about 2 -5 minutes. This will harden each layer of the wax. Not only does this make them water proof, but also it extends the circles’ burn time. Again, just like a wick in a candle.

Now if you have ever seen a “mini inferno” in action then you know that it must be ripped open to expose the internal fibers, which is what catches fire and starts the burning process. Now to really put my creation through the test I tried different methods of creating fire to attempt to light it. I first started with my magnifying glass. Truly the only renewable resource when creating a fire. I could not get the fibers to catch so I moved on to trying a ferro-rod. This didn’t work. I. decided that sparks from my high carbon steel knife more than likely wouldn’t work either so I went straight to using my lighter. Now this is a downside to the homemade vs the mini inferno, however I still will be testing this to try and fix my mistake. I am quite sure it could work with both sun and spark.

The pictures above show all the items I tried, on the left, and the ones that actually work, on the right. I tried the magnifying lens and ferro first, then added the candle with the ferro rod; still nothing. Finally just a quick flick of the Bic and done. I used my last char cloth to help it start the ember. My hat came in handy to add extra oxygen to my fire.

Now I hope this blog has helped you decide to make some fire starters yourself. Like grierwolfe in “theperfect fire starter” said at 8:36 in his video.

“…try these things out, figure out which one work best for you, experiment with them, come up with your own. Don’t keep these things a secret. Don’t try and sell them. Just pass the knowledge on. This might save somebody this might help somebody. There is no reason that they need to be kept a secret…”

Remember whether you use your own you make or some off a store, or even buying some from a friend, try them, practice with them, and keep on learning.

Next week will we be going over my result with the Dakota fire-hole, first time ever. This was used to light the Dakota fire-hole but, that’s another blog. As always feel free to comment, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Where to Put the Kitchen Sink: Packing an Extended Stay Backpack for the Woods

So this will be the last blog on the pack concept. If you missed the other three about the theory of packing, the first 5 C’s, and the last 5 C’s you can find them here:

Here

Here

Here

Now that you’ve seen what is in my pack, let me show you how I plan to pack it.

Start with the food. Placed in the largest compartment and at the bottom. Won’t need access to very fast.

Next the aluminum foil in a pouch in the largest compartment. Protected from tearing against other items and reasonably accessible in a pinch.

Next are all my clothes except the sunglasses and face paint. This will cover my food and take up a lot of the room in the large compartment. These items will have quick access if need be. Finally I stash my trap, toothbrush, tape, and tent pegs here as well.

Next I will begin the smaller compartment with all these item reachable in a quick fashion. First my cords are placed around to use up as little as possible space. Then I layer in my cutting tools of the 5×5. Now in a real situation the belt knife would be on my belt, but this pack is made to store all my tools as well which is why it is in here and not seen on my hip. Finally my gloves are added. Gloves are very important and should be very easily accessed.

In one of my side pouches I have just bank line. Probably need to spool some off but for now this is it. Along with my canvas needles, balloon pump, and Neosporin. 

In my front outermost compartment I keep my SAK and Fire Kit. Plus a little hunting license with proof of identity never hurts. Plus my turkey call and fishing lure. I also store my wife’s knife and multi-tool here.

My other side pouch contains all the tool maintenance items from earlier. Along with my compass and compass binoculars and my Emergency blanket.

In my bottom compartment I have a little pouch. In it I keep my sunglasses, face cover, and face paint.

  

My cooking kit goes together like this:

Along with my other pair of binoculars that has my bottom compartment complete.

Next 2 water bottles in 2 water bottle holders.

These items below were not chosen to complete my pack either because I didn’t need their function, had others, or couldn’t fit.

A bullet mold, a lead ladle, 2 SAK like knives, a 10 Piece multi-tool, a hook knife, different sharpeners, a tobacco pipe, the other water bottle, and my knife with Ferro-rod.

I hope you have enjoyed these blog series about my pack and its contents. Remember what you take into the wilds is what you have in the wilds. With bushcraft we can learn what we need to actually take and of how much. I encourage you to try and build you own pack, if you haven’t already and go practice with your gear. Bushcraft isn’t just learning how to survive if something bad happens, it is about relaxing in the woods and being self-reliant on only your skills and what you pack has inside.

Please in the comments below tell me what is in your packs?

Is there something I should have in mine?

Would you like to know about other items in my pack in more detail?

Finally, why on earth do I still have those tent pegs?

Next week’s blog will be a little experiment and bushcraft crafting. We will be in the kitchen creating items to help out with those times, fire just alludes us. So don’t miss out. As always feel free to comment, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.