LastDitch FireStarting Tools
Once you’ve exhausted the primary tools of starting a fire, you now have to
turn to what I call the lastditch efforts. Other books and survival instruc
tors call these primitive tools: they were used by our ancestors thousands of
years ago. If you have no choice but to make a fire by one of these meth
ods, rest assured that they do work, although you may pay for your flame
in blood, sweat, and tears.
Charred Cloth
One of my favorite ways to make fire is to char cloth. Making charred
cloth is a bit of a chickenandegg exercise, because you actually need
fire first. But once you have created charred cloth, it will go a long way
toward saving your matches or lighter fluid, as you need only a single
spark to reignite it.
As the name indicates, you need cloth to make charred cloth. Linen
is the traditional fabric of choice, but I use 100percent cotton and it works
well. Punky wood or bark can be used instead of cloth. Either way, your
fabric must be natural; synthetics won’t work. Your piece should be a few
inches square.
Take a can with a tightfitting lid and punch a small hole in each end.
Put the cloth inside the can and place the can in the coals of a fire. Make
sure the cloth inside does not ignite, or you’ll be left with nothing in the
can but a small pile of ashes. As the cloth begins to heat up, it emits gases
that fill the interior of the can, driving out the air. These gases are vented
through the holes, appearing as small jets of flame. This will be followed,
eventually, by smoke.
When the smoke subsides, turn the can over to ensure even charring
of the cloth (this momentarily increases the amount of smoke coming out
of the holes in the can). When the smoke again dies down, the process is
finished and the can should be removed from the fire. At this point, plug
the holes with twigs to create a tightfitting seal. If air gets into the can
while it is still hot, your cloth will ignite and burn.
After the can has cooled (wait at least 10 minutes), open it and remove
the charred cloth. If properly charred, it should be uniformly black.
Fire (^) | 117