Frugal fellow tip: a great source for cotton rope is a mop head. You can either cut a few loops off a mop you already have and use, or source replacement mop heads at Dollar Stores, hardware stores, and often in the cleaning section of grocery stores. One mop head yields a surprising amount of rope. If you want it continuous rather than cutting shorter loops, just pick out the stitching and it will uncoil.
I have found my mop heads at thrift stores, back in the day, doll like decorations using mop heads were big, now they are at thrift stores for like fifty cents, at least where I live.
the only problem with mop heads is the quality of the cotton, I have found many aren't 100% cotton any more and don't take a spark very well. To get the quality 100% cotton mops I had to spend money defeating the purpose. I tried this route when I was building tonteldoos as they traditionally used mop heads as their 'wick' component.
Excellent idea. I actually have a kind of "lighter" that is basically like a cross between lighter and this device. (it looks like a brass lighter with a bit of cordage running through where the tank would be). I found the cheapest replacement cord was a dollar store "natural" clothes line. Its basically made of the cheapest non-synthetic fibre rope money can buy and it lights up brilliantly. (Fyi tampons are probably the most flammable material Ive ever used but people dont want to hear it. Seriously, slice a few mm off the end of a tampon and fluff it up, and you can light that with a spark from across the room)
For those that can't find a bullet shell, I recently made a few of these using metal drinking straws. One straw made three lighters. I made some with waxed jute and some with cotton. I'm just a beginner with this stuff so I'm loving all this channel and all the valuable info thanks ❤
Great idea! I've made something similar in the past. Braid jute twine. Dip the braided jute in liquid candle wax. Insert thru 223rem case and use a ferro rod to light it. Burns like a candle. Water resistant fire starter.
Why not just carry a couple of birthday candles or a squeeze bottle you filled with alcohol, or a cotton ball saturated with Vaseline? A votive candle can really get a fire going.
@@dwightehowell8179Everything you suggested could work fine as well. I'm not telling you what you should do. I was explaining what I had done in the past. In reality I use birch bark, fat wood and a ferro rod. Or a bic lighter when I'm lazy. 👍🏻
My late uncle showed me a lighter much like this that he used to use in the Navy. It had a flint and wheel attached for a spark source, and the ocean breeze actually made it work better. His was all brass and very cool looking. Haven't seen another like it.
One handy addition to one of these would be a long-shank fishhook with a big split sinker pinched over the eye. Hook the rope behind the charred end, and the sinker keeps you from pulling the rope too far out of the tube when extinguishing, and helps snuff the ember when you're done. It also provides a bit of a handle to expose the charred end when you need to use it again. Re-hook the rope further down as you consume the cotton. Plus, now you've got a handy fishhook and sinker stashed in your kit.
Good informative video. A little helper is to use a paper clip bent on each end. One to pull up the rope and the other to keep the paper clip from being pulled in the cartridge. 😉👍
I keep a Tonteldoos (south African tinderbox) with my kit. Works much the same way but has a cap at both ends to keep out moisture and smother the ember when you're done. Made mine from 3/4" copper pipe to give me a lot of exposed char for sparks
I experimented with stainless tubing and carbon plumber's felt. I always carry alcohol as fuel for my stove, so I figured I'd cut a strip from the plumber's felt and stuff it into the tube. If I want to start a wood fire, especially if it's damp, I simply dip the end of the tube and felt into my alcohol and spark it up. You get a long burning alcohol flame. Dumping alcohol on a pile of sticks uses way too much fuel. If you don't mind carrying extra weight, you can use a long piece of tubing and use it as a fire bellows. Oh, a broken antenna from a portable radio makes a good telescopic bellows! Good tips here, thanks, Dan. 👍
I used a piece of copper tubing an old denim pants that are hundred percent cotton if you can't find the cotton rope cuz sometimes it's hard to find but the denim material works just fine hope you are having a great day
I bought an 18 inch copper tube at a hobby store, $2.00. I then bought a package of 6 foot long cotton sash cord(that would be a nice tight fit in the tube) at a fabric store, $3.00. Cut the tube into 2 inch lengths, twisted one end of the cord into the tube until it came out the other side, then cut the cord about 6 inches long. For 5 bucks I made EIGHT tubes(in buckskinner's catalogs, they go for about 2-3 dollars each).
I had been using these for years using a copper tube, did not know what it was called, thanks, and I like the idea of utilizing an old bullet casing. Thanks for this video. Really enjoy your channel!
Nice idea Dan. I definitely wouldn’t waste my money on the Uberleban brand. But was thinking about using a tent pole repair piece & pulling jute through it… cut to the size of my fire Kit tin. Nice video though & always enjoy the channel. 😁👍👍🇺🇸
What you are looking at is an 18th century BIC lighter. When voyagers or workmen took a smoke break someone would strike a spark on one of these and light his pipe with it. He would then pass it around so the other men could light their pipes. The French voyagers worked for the fur company and were allowed a smoke break every two hours. This was much faster and more efficient than starting a fire and picked up an ember with tongs and placing it in the pipe. This was often done in the evening for the after supper smoke around the camp-fire. An eight inch piece of cord would light hundreds of pipes and last for several months.
I have to say I used a 22 Winchester Magnum rimfire casing and paired it up with hemp cordage and I have made a similarly effective tool. Cotton isn’t the only fiber you can use.
Very cool Brother, I love it, I like using oil lamp wicks, or anything 100% cotton, that's belts ect. Great idea Thank you, I just subscribed to your channel. Sincerely your freind from Mo Rick and God bless you and your family 👪
in "wah-to-ya and the taos-trail" there's a chapter where the author, only accustomes to pipes, describes his experiences with the shuck-cigarillo. more than the cigarillo, though, he talks about the curious lighting device everybody in taos seems to carry, though himself never saw it before. here, you have a nice demostration of exactlyy that.
The slow matches used on old type of matchlock weapons that the trigger lowered into the flash pan was soaked in lead acetate and dried. It would smoulder slow and consistantly with uncharred natural fiber. Charring itself along the way, no need to pre char a new or damp cord on a dewey/misty morning. Back in the day, Lead acetate was basically procured by lead shavings boiled in vinegar then strained for the liquid. Evidently, it was considered slower than saltpeter soaked into the slow match but kept it lit in damp air. But hey... lead warning nowadays.
I love these things, the most know name I’ve seen for them is a sheperds lighter. Perfect if it’s too windy for a flame and you just need an ember to ignite material. Sailors and pirates used to use these a bunch to light their tobacco pipes because it was so windy on the open sea.
Came out of spanish America known at least back to 1800. River cane works, and copper water tubing. Hemp cord got at a craft store seems to catch spark a little easier for me then cotton. First ran in to one in the 1970s called a primitive cigar lighters works great on a pipe.... especially a clay ‘Cutty’ pipe.😊
Super cool!! It's really similar to an Old Navy lighter. They used to use them in the Crow's Nest since the wind was so bad it was hard to keep a flame when trying to light a cigarette the semen wood light their rope lighters. ( a brass tube with rope through the middle and a spark wheel at the top with a snuff cap ) this method would smolder instead of flame allowing them to light their smoke without the Amber going out the more wind the stronger the Amber would burn. They are pretty neat you can get them on online for around 7 to $12 but this looks like a way cheaper option, not to mention it looks a lot more fun to make then to buy 😃
Very cool! I just carry lamp wick for this method. Cool part is if you look hard enough you can actually find these with the zippo type striker on the end of them
A bunch of cotton balls soaked in paraffin is waterproof, smaller, easier to light with flint and steel (or even wood friction), produces a flame not just an ember, and is cheaper. Just store them in an old tin or a small container.
Similar to slow match or sailor’s match I think, though I believe slow match was impregnated with saltpeter. I’ve made and have carried something similar to this, I braided some jute twine over itself and impregnated it with tallow. Instead of a shell casing because I didn’t have any tools to cut it with, I used the thinner metal from a soda can. I cut a strip, rolled it into a cylinder, and held it’s shape with duct tape.
I was just going to write this. I made such slow match with jute dipped in wax :D But i love that idea with a char and i will make that... chuck knuck? Lol, sorry not a native english speaker.
ogi22 I’ve found that the charred end of the version I carry can be used as char with a ferro rod or even flint and steel if I fluff out the fibers a little. From there my thought is that I can blow it into open flame, though I’ve yet to personally try it that way and usually use it to save fuel from my lighter. I’ve never heard it called a chuck nuck though.
the slow match is superior to these IMHO and easy enough to buy. Plus you don't have to worry about the shell casing (or snuffer) with the slow match, I just use a piece of flint and my striker to put my slow matches out (you just squeeze the ember out between the flint and striker)
Orion theoretically you don’t need the snuffer for this either. It’s for protection as much as anything. Plus I like experimenting with things I can create myself rather than purchasing new materials
@@evanf1443 I've fooled around with these a fair bit and quite often they fail, and the charred end won't take a spark consistently. For it to work consistently I think you should treat it like a a true slow match and you should treat the cotton rope with potassium nitrate though that is often difficult to get being one of the primary ingredients of gun powder (and thus regulated by governments agencies) You can buy proper treated slow matches though and I use them for this application rather than normal untreated cotton rope.
Awesome Video. Thank you for this information. I did not ever know about these Tinder Tubes until now, but I can see how they would be an excellent addition to my survival knowledge.
I made mine with cut down aluminum arrow sections(left over after my arrows were cut to my draw length) and braided 3 strand jute rope I made from twine.
Just found your channel today, and I’m enjoying your content man. The name “coalcracker” leads me to believe we’re in the same neck of the woods. I live in West Virginia, the heart of coal country lol. Keep up the cool stuff though, subbed.
Thank you for reminding me of "rope lighters". Had one, but lost it. Been wanting to replace it for ages, but .. you know .. inertia 😒 Just ordered one on ebay for $5, including shipping.
