Natures Natural Fire Starter: Everything You Need to Know about Char, Flint and Steel, Natural Char

[@AOMartialArts]

"No good, you don't know what you're doing, that's why your watching a video..." Subbed.

[@michaelhutson6758]

An easy way to get all the char tins you need: buy a "safety" can opener, the kind that cut around the outside of a can rim instead of down through the top. What these do is give you a can with a close fitting lid that you can save. Makes any tuna or chicken can into a perfect char tin!

[@FT4Freedom]

Yes. Brilliant. Gives you a short section of tin pipe or a flat pieces of tin. Add bailing wire and a punch and you can build things from tin cans. My safety opener is in the truck.

[@AE-yt4lx]

Can we reuse the same tin can?

[@BUZZKILLJRJR]

​@@AE-yt4lxI've seen a bunch of videos were tons of people use the same thing over and over again as long as I don't get the tim glowing-hot each time just enough to cook the char

[@julesgardet659]

🤦🏻‍♂️🤮

[@robc.5745]

I love it when people explain things in a way the common person can understand, Thank you.

[@TheLeadEagle]

glad I saw this, He has the heart of a teacher,

[@jksurvivalbushcraft]

Like how animated and clear and concise you present

[@evanf1443]

Good vid. Personally, for rounded tins like that, I like putting the holes on the sides of the lid and through the tin itself. That way I can char in it or I can twist the lid a little and use it to smother smoldering char

[@donaldstrader7241]

That is the way my round 3.5 x 1.25 inch tin is set up, with matching holes on the side of the lid and the tin. That way I can twist the lid so the holes go out of alignment to close it or vice versa to use it to char material. It is tight though, so if I want to block air after the char is finished, it would probably be easier initially to use a small nail or twig to seal the hole until the tin cools. Dan did not seal his hole so I suppose that is not immediately critical. My tin came from a bulk roll of 35mm photographic film. IIRC correctly it was somewhere around 100 feet or 30 meters (98.5 ft) which looking it up made about 18 rolls of 36 exposures. I remember sometimes loading shorter rolls if we only needed a few pictures and wanted to develop them right away. A long time ago. LOL.

[@BUZZKILLJRJR]

​@@donaldstrader7241the hole is so tiny there's no way that the cooling of the kin would allow oxygen into burn the flaming wood just not enough air too much heat and gas escaping through the tiny pin hole.

[@geraldkim4801]

If you can't find punky wood in your area, dried rabbit poop is another alternative source.

[@liztowers2058]

Oh really? Nice I got about 304049499449 rabbits here. It's almost all poop no grass .lol

[@mark002228]

I’m so out of the loop. I haven’t seen anyone make/use char for 50 years. My dad started teaching me this when I was in Single digits and we would camp. 👍🏼

[@HarshmanHills]

Fire is life. BTW, Townsends posted about you the other day and I told them you need to do more videos with them.

[@RyanLoken]

Seconded thirded and unanimously passed

[@jeffczochara142]

Coalcracker and Townsends is a fantastic merge of modern and historic! I would love it!

[@remowilliams8118]

Pppppppo

[@aaronwilliams007]

Yes!

[@JesusSaves86AB]

Two excellent channels offering real content.

[@timterrill6318]

Your videos are awesome! And your Humor is great! I really enjoy watching and learning from your videos. And a fellow pennsylvanian

[@ogi22]

Remember when i was a kid and we had a few beehives in our garden, i was always responsible for preparing a bee smoker. It was using punk wood to make a lot of smoke to keep those busy bees away from hungry beekeepers trying to get to that honey :D

[@clintonm2357]

I was curious about "char material" when I saw this video. I'm a blacksmith and use a homemade retort to make hardwood lump charcoal out of the oak and locust deadfall around my house. I like the idea of doing the same thing on a smaller scale and carrying that into the woods. Once it's carbon, it's carbon, even if it gets wet!

[@nathanvalentine8136]

I've seen plenty of flint/steel videos and I'm always learning something new or refreshing my 2 brain cells.

[@tombeckett4340]

Cool Dan . Thanks 👍🇨🇦

[@JD-gn6du]

I carry an ample supply of char cloth as well as fresh material for making more. My favorite cloth to use is 100% cotton gun cleaning patches.

[@JugglesGrenades]

In colonial times through the mountain man era (1840's) they always had a backup fire starting method. The flintlock on their musket/rifle, and a horn of black powder.

[@Carterironworks]

My favorite char so far it's a shelf fungus I pulled off a quakie and charred. Held together real well and took sparks fast.

[@AE-yt4lx]

Translation, please. Thx

[@Carterironworks]

@@AE-yt4lx I don't know what you have questions about. Many people start with char cloth which is a natural fiber usually 100% cotton cloth cooked in a metal container without oxygen, the end result being char or char cloth. My favorite char so far is a shelf fungus I believe it's scientific name is Phellinus tremulae that grows on some Quaking Aspen trees (quakies). I cut the shelf mushroom of the tree slice it up like bread and stick it in a tin, often a Altoids tin, closed and stick it in a fire. You will see smoke then flame come out of the tin, leave it in the fire till the flame coming out of the tin goes out( you can always leave it in longer) then pull it out, let it cool off and you basically have charcoal made from a type of mushroom. It has always caught sparks really well for me, better than any of the cloth I have tried. If you don't have Aspen trees where you live you can also find similar mushrooms on the side of other trees. Let me know if you need any more help.

[@SageToSawtoothBushcraft]

Love the entertainment value of your videos which is, of course, always combined with incredible content. I always learn something watching you and do it with a smile on my face

[@quietlife4me]

Someone check the local newspaper and see if Dan was just murdered by his wife over stolen towels.

[@trudiswanson9855]

🤣🤣🤣👍

[@liztowers2058]

Hahahaha

[@robmarshallofficial]

Lol 😂

[@TamJ486]

😂

[@gabeslife1966]

This was cool. I have watched and read tons of things about fire craft but never saw this. I love the way you do videos and they give me some great ideas for better ways to do mine.

[@Mr.Pennington]

"When you're getting away from matches and lighters and you're really evolved into the flint-n-steel" The past is the future.

[@FT4Freedom]

I bought a $5 child bluejeans from the thrift. Worked great. Natural char is awesome too. Best thing is go out and have fun testing it.

[@modemode3663]

The word your looking for Dan is pyro🔥

[@foodforthought2374]

This is awesome. Humor and skill ...Bravo!

[@milesfromnowhere1985]

I'm actually kind of stunned right now: I picked up my new flint and steel for the first time today, and about four hours later I had a fire, thanks to a couple of your videos.

[@1bguyl]

My favorite natural char is the pith from dead standing mullein stalks

[@LordKenyonII]

I love using the char tin (punkwood). My flint and steel kit has a ton of fun stuff in there. The char rope, lamp wicks, char cloth, char natural material. The hardest part of using the char tin is re-learning how to strike. I'm primarily a steel hits flint person, so the flint hits steel was awkward at first. Great video!

[@ravenssageofbushcraftsurvi599]

Top notch explanation of what punk wood is with showing it. Game changer for me cause I'm homeless living near primitive. Ty

[@leonardmettlach2614]

Great video 👍

[@terenceneuhoff6461]

Great video! I personally wait till there is no more smoke coming out of the tin's hole, then I give it another 5 minutes or so before I take it out or off of the fire. Because of my previous work I used to go through 10 pairs of jeans a year. They make excellent charcloth too..... so no shortage of material here lol.

[@ladyofthemasque]

"...sometimes you steal your wife's good towels..." No wonder you're living in the wilderness at the moment...!

[@wayneeddy3261]

If that's what it takes, then I'll do it too..👍😂👍

[@endeckerBM]

These videos are what you get when the Venn diagram of enthusiasm, charisma, and subject knowledge overlap.

[@robertfox1401]

Thank you for this video. I've been using charcloth for years now and I never knew I could dry it out in the fire

[@frh-freerangehuman]

another highly entertaining episode. And I believe the first reference of a thong in bush crafting history. Awesome video

[@CredibleHulk10]

Solid response and suggestion in advance of the sarcastic comments that were sure to come à la "No fire making material? Step one: start a fire." 👍

[@troybranaman316]

Learning more every new video from you !!! Thank you so much for posting!!! Take care and stay safe my friend !!

[@OverOnTheWildSide]

This is good! I made a video of my elk camp recently and was low on char cloth. I looked at punk wood and thought “I’m pretty sure there’s a way to use that” but had no idea I could’ve replenished my char material! Good stuff, thanks!

[@sn1peron33]

As I train myself for what comes,I use the spark down into my tins separate lid. Eliminate for when times may have you confused. Becomes muscles memory or a habit if one prefers. Good skills never forgotten.

[@alainlefebvre9860]

I worked on this stuff a few years ago. Really struggled with getting sparks from a steel I bought online. Eventually made one from a ground down old file. High carbon steel? Anyway, night and day in the sparking department. Truly a great fire making technique!! Thank you for the great video!

[@craigdavis9035]

this is the comment i was looking for! thanks for the idea. where did you acquire the flint? I used to live in Missouri and it was pretty much to found everywhere. I'm now in an area with zero natural flint. suggestion?

[@alainlefebvre9860]

@@craigdavis9035 I don't use flint, there is none around this area, that I'm aware of. I use quartz, which is fairly easy to come by. I tend to have to break chunks in order to get sharp edges off the pieces I find. I carry a few pieces in case the edges wear (they don't work well when "dull"). The hard, sharp edge of the rock needs to shave off bits of the metal, which creates the sparks. Hope this helps.

[@shaunbryan3421]

I recently picked up a rope lighter and although I have had a chance to light any fires with it yet, I'm confident it will work every time. For anyone wondering what it is just think of it as char zippo. It's a 3/8 inch cotton rope that feeds into a small tube with a flint wheel at the top. Mine came with 2 wicks and I'm sure you can light 100s of fires on a single wick.

[@liztowers2058]

Oh cool!!

[@donaldstrader7241]

While reading I did find a reference to a shepherd's lighter. It is, from page 33 of Ash Child by Peter Bowen ©2002, starring the Métis detective Gabriel Du Pré. "...and lit it with the shepherd's lighter his daughter Maria had brought him from Spain. Just a flint and a steel wheel and a length of cotton rope. It worked well and he didn't have to buy lighter fluid." Mine came from Spain also--someone with outdoor interests kindly purchased it for me there and sent it to me. I don't recall paying too much, but that was a long time ago. My late father-in-law had a very fine one, but no one knows what happened to it.

[@marjiecleveland]

I didn't know about punk wood, so thanks for sharing!

[@shelby776]

The way you do your videos (fantastic btw) 💥really makes people pay attention to what you’re teaching👍 at least I did !!!!THANKS 👍 from ky

[@ronaldrose7593]

Hello my Outdoors friend, thank you for sharing another very informative video. All the best to you and your family. Stay safe out there. 🤗

[@kathylewis7543]

Never thought of that thanks great broadcast!

[@petersymons7817]

Thank you

[@ericdee6802]

I love char cloth so much, I wear long johns woven from it.👍🔥

[@GeorgeVanAken]

My preferred material, is my old Levis. Excellent char cloth. Just stumbled onto your channel. Very well done, sir.

[@billytwoknives6495]

Excellent information. It had never crossed my mind to use punkwood to make char.

[@nautilusnauticus8853]

Punk is my favorite choice. It's like" super char"! Burns white it's so hot once punk is charred .

[@jasonschau4218]

What comes to my mind is the song "fire starter."

[@MrMann703]

The way i learned is that the escaping gas is flamable, when the escaping gas doesnt hold a flame any longer your char is done. Good video.

[@GraphiteandCigars]

I use flint and steel all the time. Always keep a tinder bundle from a palm tree (monkey fuzz) in a zip lock in my fire kit. Favorite method for fire starting.

[@todd4480]

That did answer all my questions about char material. Thank you

[@LifeInMontana]

I have an metal band aid tin. Thank you for the most knowledgeable articulate video. PS. Alan Alda sounds like you. Nice!

[@angieconley6501]

Last weekend I made char cloth for the first time. It turned out perfect and worked perfectly. I’ll try punk wood next time.

[@dannyh9010]

Coalcraker: “I’m not making this stuff up.” Is this the first ever infomercial for punk wood? 😀

[@joefrank7159]

Yes, please. What else can you turn into char? That will be a great video!

[@mattivirta]

normal men use jeans best material, t-shirt, good but thin, old wood, rotten wood, fleece maybe i not has tyest yet,, many material can use but not nylon or other plastic clothes. genuine natural material best.

[@BBQDad463]

Thank you for this video. Great tips and techniques, as always!

[@anthonybarker2087]

Good deal. You answered several questions I had about char. Thank you so much.

[@redfaux74]

I use a lot of dryer lint in my bag. It is compactable, lights easy, light weight and is free. I also tear up my old clothing, jeans and add it to my bags. Zipper areas and the join area where the stitching is are perfect.

[@Tuxdaddy]

I usually just put my punk wood on the end of a stick and hold it over the fire. Once it catches and going pretty good, I blow out the flame and stored it in a metal container(with no holes). When I need it, I throw sparks into the can and i'm good to go. I do practice doing full charring just so I'm not rusty with it.. Keep up the great vids Sir !!

[@dmtnw4480]

When you find extra punk wood put some in pouch for time you need it or when nothing else will work make extra char and keep extra tins keep filled tins in 1 area keep empty tins in a bag or pouch until they have something in them here are tons sold in store - altoids, breath fresheners or cookies at Dollar General until needed

[@AYoung-rt9ij]

Smart you! Many Thanks!

[@learningoutwild9844]

10:34 should have said Firebender lmao. I used old blue jeans to make my char cloth. But this video has given me quite a few ideas, thanks.

[@mramirez5239]

Love that intro beat. Great channel

[@dalefourroux6402]

Hey you did a good job thank you nothing wrong with Bushcraft and knowing how to do it. 👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@raulmancha6893]

Versatility at its best!

[@dieterwagner1422]

You are on of the best. love your videos. Great. Thank you 👍🏻

[@MrAdamNTProtester]

Altoids Tins make good char tins & when cool- back to the EDC instruments storage... so that's my fav

[@paulcleghorn2279]

Punk wood is my go to for char material first time every time lol

[@opopopop6286]

this was good, now I just have to watch the flint n steel one and I will have it all down pretty much!

[@rickkerans8485]

Really liked the video. I need to expand into flint and steel. It would be a great tool for the toolbox. Benefit is can cut up materials thar are worn out and use them rather than throwing away. Plus flint should be in just about every creek.

[@randysoutdoorgearopinions9748]

Thanks for a great video! I am learning the basics of bushcrafting and appreciate all of your tips! Thank you!

[@sharpie249]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I haven't tried flint and steel yet, so I'm a newbie. If everything is wet when I go to make a birdsnest, how do I go about drying it so it will light up from the ember? Thanks Dan and everyone else.

[@mattivirta]

not need idiot old flint steel set, only ferrorod and have lot similar and better use, and sure if swimming can make fire after.

[@krisgoodgroves2654]

Thank you :)

[@paulwebb9464]

Nice addition to our tool box !

[@bjellison905]

Are you in the appalachians? So far I've known most of what I watched, I did get some pointers on traps that helped. For those that are just beginning. Your videos are extremely well made. In depth, explaining not only how,but why as well. A lot of times knowing why you're doing a certain actions, ensures you wont forget that step. Looking forward to watching more of your videos.

[@Ozarkwonderer]

Very good. One of the best char how toos ive seen. I bake my char for 5-10 minutes as a rule of thumb. Works for cotton materials. I use cheap bandana peaces but realy like tee shirt material better. I need to try punk woods. Just never got around to it

[@thematdog1]

Great information, tried with punky wood and it worked, thanks

[@tylersmithspdc4918]

"You don't know what you're doing, that's why you're watching a video" 🤣🤣🤣 loved that

[@annpeet4334]

Works well. At WITS with Art Dawes we took all sorts of natural material and made char. One person even had an acorn in the tin, and it worked! Thanks for all your videos.

[@sosteve9113]

Just came back from harvesting acorns,going to try one

[@annpeet4334]

So Steve... I think it has to be old and dried. Good luck.

[@sosteve9113]

@@annpeet4334 thanks,never thought of that to be honest,I use all kind of things but never a acorn. Stay safe Ann and thanks for the tip

[@bigred35089]

Thank you for going into do much detail. I have heard of using punk wood but I had no idea what that was. I thought it was the mushy stuff available I could never get it to work. Thanks again

[@SandybackOutdoors]

Top drawer as always Dan. Amusing and informative. Cheers, J 👍.

[@liztowers2058]

Another good vid! At this rate if I watch them all, I'll be able to live in the wild with a tarp, knife and a black tin for decades. Lol

[@garyprice8330]

I love ur show its informative and interesting keep up the great work brother

[@BartonThom]

This is a nice teaching video, Thank you.

[@yearofthegarden]

Overhanging logs with a soft underside are my favorite. In WA it has to be hanging otherwise it is mega wet, luckily we have old growth here, and trees are always feet off the ground all around you

[@Flashahol]

BTW, traditional kitchen sponges are made of cellulose, or... trees in plain language (no B.S.). That's why punk wood feels the same. Doing dishes trains you to do bushcrafting! (no, really, it trains you on recognizing this texture only, but it's useful for real!.)

[@sherryrileys9178]

Awsome job at explaining this process..thank you.

[@alangrossheim2582]

On the topic of char cloth. Try using pillow ticking, or mattress ticking. That's what we use at rendezvous. It works really well in our black powder rifles.

[@raywetzel3535]

Will try this ,thanks Dave

[@joes6319]

New sub. 2nd vid. Lends new meaning to, "You're Fired".

[@TonyTooTuff]

I can tell you had fun with this one.

[@anthonylopez4998]

Awesome video! I’ve been curious about making char cloth and what works beside regular cloth. Thanks for the insight! I just subscribed.

[@beebob1279]

This is the third video that I've watched of yours. Just subscribed. I'm moving on to making a flint and steel fire starter kit

[@GaryMosesRealEstate1]

Great, keep up the good work

[@jamescrosby4615]

Awesome info.. thank you.. great video

[@willybee3056]

Char bracket mushrooms, ,, Works for me.. Tnx 4 sharing your videos. . Always good 2 c...🤓

[@RickCarter1776]

Personally,I find that a larger tin works better with charred punkwood. Also rather than charting the wood and using it up just add more uncharred punkwood to the container and as you use the container by placing your bird's-nest material over it the uncharred punkwood becomes charred and voilé your tin is constantly replenished with material for fire making. So 1 larger container, 2 use the entire container for fire starting, 3 add additional punkwood (uncharred) as you come across it, and 4 after use just close the container to extinguish the glowing embers in the tin and the entire process rejuvenates itself on an ongoing basis as you as more found punkwood while you're out in the woods doing whatever you may find yourself doing.

[@mountaingator001]

SUPER..THANKS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

[@gowman813]

Very good, Dan. I’ve made / used the char cloth. 100% cotton 4”X4” squares, wrapped in tinfoil. Nice to see another version. Will definitely try next time out. Currently colder than Wit€hes t!t up here in Canada, but it’ll pass. Thanks, again. Cheers 👍🏻☺️✌🏻