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I am just out of practice with the whole mind-fire thing.

Gordon

This is what I use in my bag: http://www.amazon.com/Light-Fire-Swedis ... tag=01u-20

I have the Scout and Army models of the Swedish Fire Steels and they really are some of the most effective ferrocerium rods out there. Hotter than a two-dollar pistol!

I've got all sorts of fire methods, but the one I need to practice is the flint and steel.

I've made fire with it only a few times in my life, but I have a question about the charred cloth....
I made some years ago and kept it in a sealed bag. Now, I tried using my flint and steel to light up some char cloth a couple weeks ago and couldn't get the bugger to catch a spark. I had a tinder bundle ready to light but I just ripped up several squares of char cloth without a single spark catching. I don't mean to brag but it was really easy last time I used the flint and steel.

I guess there is a lifespan limit on char cloth, anyone know of this problem?

The only reason I wanted to learn to use flint and steel is because I thought with flint and steel and char cloth in a sealed bag I could light off anywhere.

I always got flak for carrying lighters, but they are cheap and simple and reliable.

It was probably a moisture issue. The bag wasn't sealed as well as you thought or something along those lines.

Real "flint and steel" is harder to do than a ferrocerium or misch metal rod. The sparks are smaller and not has hot and don't last as long so your tinder has to be perfect. I'm betting it was a humidity issue with the char cloth.

One of the storage containers I use for tinder are the 2-liter bottle "pre-forms" that some people call 2-liter baby bottles or tube vaults, etc. They are excellent for storing fire making materials.

For we old-timers who remember, and in some instances, still do use camera with this stuff called film, it came for years in small, well sealed, plastic containers that keep tinder dry. If you can get film, you have the perfect holder for tinder.

Bird nests also make good tinder. The inner part is light and fluffy, and gets larger and heavier further out. Takes care of the first two stages of fire making material.

Gordon

Gordon,

That's true about bird nests, if you are lucky enough to find one to use or to save for later use. Also true about the 35mm film canisters, which I still have a few lying around. They are water-resistant, that much is true, but if they get side pressure exerted on them, the lid can (and oftentimes does) pop off. So, they are water resistant but quite fragile.

Back in the 70s and 80s when I was growing up, you could walk into a Sunny's Surplus and get a genuine U.S.G.I. Matchsafe for .50 cents and later on a buck. Great deal, threaded cap and very robust.

@ DR2: I've been meaning to say the preform idea is awesome. Have you ever expanded these before?
@Libertyclicks: Sounds like moisture to me, too. Have you thought of including strips of steel wool in with the charcloth? It will assist fire starting and be a moisture indicator as well if it rusts.

I knew a guy that would carry his mini-survival-kit in a medicine bottle because they were waterproof if you put candle wax at the lip and a pretty suitable size.