Flint and Steel Char Cloth Tin - Does It Really Need a Hole? 

Awesome! Brought back memories of my father, a child of WW2, and his charcloth hand warmer. Afte making char cloth he would put it in a tin, usually a tobacco tin with a fine hole in the top. Used a fine pin nail.. he would light the chat cloth get it to burn then close the lid. If the hole is right the chat cloth will glow and get hot. For hours, it was a way to keep warm in an air raid shelter. It works.

I always poke a hole not just to permit the gasses from escaping, but to use as a guide to gauge proper burn time. When the flame coming out of the hole disappears, your char material is done. This takes all the guess work out of the process, saving you time and producing the highest quality material.

I tried making char cloth for the first time this past weekend. Tossed a bunch of denim squares into a coffee can and covered it with 4 layers of alum foil and pressed it down tightly. tossed it into the gas grill on high and let her cook. When the smoke stopped, I took it out and let it cool well. It made PERFECT char cloth. Denim material rocks! I used a magnifier glass. As soon as the sun spot hit the cloth, poof, I had smoke coming off and accidently burnt my finger tip! I was surprised just how flammable the stuff is. Good vid Brian!

I have always suspected that the small openings around Altoids tin hinges would be enough to vent gases when making char. I’m a little surprised that even the candy tin, with no visible gaps, still had a loose enough cover to vent gases. Good demonstration.

Interesting video SOP. It made me curious, I asked AlfieAesthetics what he thought about char tins having holes as hes pretty knowledgable, he seems to like his char a lot and this was his answer: “It largely depends on the quantity and density of the matter you’re planning to char. If you plan to only char a couple pieces of cloth or a small section of fungus, then a ventilation hole is not an absolute necessity - the gases produced in the charring process will escape through the threads and/or hinges of your tin. But if you’re planning to char a substantial amount of material, for example - packing your tin with lots of Fomes Fomentarius or Denim, then a ventilation hole is a necessity. If the gases released in the charring process can not escape faster than they are produced, then the pressure exerted by particle collisions inside your container will accumulate to the point where the tin may explode (or at-least pop the lid off), either way - that will rapidly expose your piping hot char products to oxygen and fire debris which will most certainly cause your char products to begin smoldering. Big waste of time. Bad times. However, this is assuming that the container in question is not airtight in the true sense of the word. Many common charring tins are mint tins or tobacco tins - they’re not air tight, they have loose fitting threads and hinges that allow gases to escape through. You don’t necessarily need to poke a hole in those containers unless you are charring a lot of dense matter. But if the char tin in question is infact airtight, then a ventilation hole is absolutely essential. The reason I have a hole in my char tin is because it is a true airtight container with a screwcap locking mechanism, it needs a vent or it will explode. That’s not a lesson you want to learn the hard way! So yeah, the reason why many people put holes in their char tin is the same reason as why vehicles have exhausts. Prevents kaboom.”

I don't think you need the hole in an Altoids tin, but if you do want to punch a hole, do this: Open the can and place the lid upside down on the stump and punch through from the inside. This way the container will not collapse. Keep the great videos coming!

For an Altoids tin, I have never punched a hole in the lid. It breathes well enough at the hinge and around the corners. If I had a screw top or other tin that sealed better, I would punch a small hole.

I was talking to David Wescott about this and I’ve always used a hole and he never even heard of using a hole for it. So we tried it out and it works both ways. Glad you put this out there for everyone. Cheers.

This is an expert demonstration and life lesson. Your wisdom is much appreciated. Thank you, sir.

I believe the hole is just easier to see when the flame and smoke stops coming out of the hole, so you know the char cloth is done before you take it off the heat source, Nice video i enjoyed watching your test.

Brian: ran a test. Used 2x2 rifle cleaning patches that appeared to be cotton flannel. Put them in a ROUND Altoid tin. Apparently tight seal. No apparent escape of gasses while cooking. 16 minutes. Char cloth surprisingly strong. Caught several hearty embers easily off a cheap ferro rod. Long burn time. Color me happy!

Finally!!! A survival show with no BS. Thank you sir for plain talking and very informative videos. I have subscribed and look forward to more awesome videos.

Great video, my son and I made char cloth a few months ago for our fire kits he is eight yrs.old and enjoys learning the camping and survival skills. ..thanks again we always enjoy the videos...

I've always poked a hole regardless of what I'm charing, I like to keep up with my burn with it. Great video, thanks for taking the time to do this! Have a great one!

Well said. I am a new scoutmaster and my 13-year-old senior patrol leader and I did this for the first time after watching your video. Really like your philosophy and we are building our skill because of you. Thank you

That was great. Well done. Makes perfect sense!

Glad to see it took you several to many strikes with the flint and steel. It also takes me many strikes. Like you say, practice develops the skill. Thank you.

Old video and still extremely relevant. I was making char for the first time this weekend, and this answered several questions I was pondering. Thanks.

depends on how well the tin seals. a tight seal will cause the lid to pop off when the gas expands.

Thanks for posting. I’m going to give this a try for the first time. This was very helpful.

Nice job on the comparison. Easy to go through life coasting on assumptions or received "knowledge." Thanks for putting a simple question to the test.

I was expecting the round tin to pop from pressure. Not explode or launch the lid in the air, but thought it'd kind of come open. Learn something new every day.

Thank you once again Bryan for another great and informative video. I never really understood this flint, steel and char cloth technique before this video, but you made it extremely clear. I will be trying this out real soon. God bless always

Thank you very much for your good tutorial and comparison video

Nice demo! Thanks! been having some issues making char right now, and your vid I think may help.

Nice, straight up review. Results don’t lie. If it vents it works. 👍🇦🇺

I've never poked a hole in mine, an it has always worked great.

Great video. You never know what will work unless you try. Keep up the good work.

Simple instructions. They didn't teach us this in Boyscouts (Beirut-Lebanon) as we were marine scouts. I'm 76+ and willing to challenge myself learning new trics.

Thanx Brian. I was taught with a tin that had a very tight lid; no hole. The NA elder said you would hear it when it's done. Haha, he was right. The lid pops. I push it back on with an antler and move it out of the direct heat. The char jean is the same as yours. This is a skill I will never forget and am thrilled to teach others.

Great video! Very informative

Nice to know the container with no hole works too. Great information

You answered a question i had and satisfied my curiosities. Thank you Sir!

When trying to strike a spark with the flint & steel when the charcloth is on the ground then strike the steel with the flint. When you hold the charcloth on the top of the flint, strike the flint with the steel. Striking the flint with the steel makes the sparks shoot upwards, striking the steel with the flint makes the sparks go downward.

Great video!

Thanks for the demo, and the reminder that I need to make some char cloth.

Already has holes in the back, I've never put a hole in the tin.

That was a good demonstration you did, just proves a point.

Always interesting and informative content. Thank you.

I agree. Knowledge and skill are important to survival as much as anything. Good video! Thanks

Great video and great test. Thanks so much for doing this!

Good no nonsense video. Thanks bud David UK

Well Done!

When I first went to make char cloth, I forgot about the hole part. I made my container out of two beer cans cut in half and the two bottoms stuck together so that was never going to be a super tight fit. It worked just fine and I managed to start a fire with my fire steel for the first time. It's very true that a person needs practice to do these things and it's not enough to just theoretically know how to do it. Practice makes better.

Awesome video! Thanks for the info. I was wondering if i needed to poke a hole in my char tin or not. Thanks for clearing that up.

I'm impressed and NEED to make this for my bug out/bug in supplies. Thanks.

Really good stuff man, controls all roughly the same, to keep it even. You did a good job on that video front to back. Very well done, good facts and camera work and explanations. Thx. Bryan

Impressive Experiment ...thank you

Thanks for sharing your lab results.☺ I'm going to try the no-hole-altoids method.

Thanks for the comparison video. I have made char cloth multiple times in an Altoid tin without poking a hole in the lid.

Man am I glad you shot this video. I have just started getting into making char and I was under the misunderstanding a hole in the container was mandatory. So thank you. Really appreciate you doing this.

Great vid. Thanks.

+Matthew Lanaway Makes sense to me and Alfie knows his stuff for sure. Again, I'm not saying this is the definitive word on the subject, I really just wanted to emphasize the importance of trying things out for yourself and not just accepting whatever you hear or see (especially from me). And I certainly don't want anyone to get hurt trying something they see me do. With that said, you know I'm going to have to try to blow up a char tin now, right? Purely as a safety alert to others of course ;-) Be watching for that one soon. - Bryan

I have always found all of your videos to be very unique and fun to watch.

Another great video there Brian. I always enjoy your common sense, easy going way of describing things. Something else I appreciate from you is your willingness to admit you're not an expert. Well, if we're honest, all of us can learn a thing or two from someone else, and there truth be told, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Your videos are always informative and I want to thank you for posting this video as well.

Good video, in all cases you've demonstrated that oxygen flow was restricted enough to keep the cloth from flaming out to dust. Thanks for sharing.

looks like it got the job done with out the vent hole. I always put a hole in a tin. thanks now I dont need to ruin the tin to make my char cloth. Thanks.

Nicely done

I enjoy your content more & more! Thanks! 👏

I think it proved it's more personal preference than anything. They both yielded the same results. It just one of those things maybe that come down to personal preference and not actual fact. Thanks for the video, i also planned on making some charcoal today and ran into the dilemma of whether I should make a make hole or not and since I've never done it before I was really unsure what would yield the best results but this help me out so thanks again.

Well done!

Realy like your videos. Very educational. I dont use char at all, never have never will do i think but still i watch:)

I learned to do this many moons ago in the Boy Scouts. We used shoe polish tins with a hole in it.

I just used your Altoid tin technique(top load-no hole) to make char cloth. I just made a fire with the first strike using driveway gravel (chert) and a steel striker from Townsends. Thank you for the info on making char.

Thank you for the demo. As long as you have an anaerobic environment it should work as you demonstrated.

WELL DONE, WELL SAID. Thank you once again.

Thanks for the info

Excellent video Bryan. Nice, clear yes; tempered with experience / wisdom. ATB...ken

You're set for charclith for a good bit, I'd say. Good test and you answered a question I've had for quite a while. Thx. Laura

You’re doing a fine job I’m watching closely because I need to learn and I can’t travel to get to a brushcraft school! 👏👏😃😃🇺🇸🇺🇸👍👍

The hole is definatly not needed as long as the lid is not sealed tightly. You just need to let the smoke escape. I never had any fire coming from the can. I made several bunches of char cloth easily. Make sure to let it cool well before opening!!

Very nice experiment! Thanks! I have been wondering that too!

I watched a video today where the guy used steel wool instead. That can't be made out in the field but it did work. Great video as usual Brian. I am glad it is that easy to make char cloth. I think I will make some and buy some steel wool.

well done

Very interresting fussy test. It shows me that a quartz stone is as good as a flint-stone and that a no hole-tin can is good for two things. It can make good charcloth and it can keep them dry too. Now I dont need to buy a flintstone and a extra airtight container for the charcloth! Thank you very much for that!

Very nice you're the man

Another great video. Thanks

I havent had that candy in so long!! It is indeed delicious.

Nice educational video thanks

If the lid of the tin fits tightly you will probably need to poke a hole in the lid. The air that is trapped in the tin, as it heats up will expand and pop the lid off. ( It happened to me.) So it depends on how well the lids fits the can.

Good informative video, good technique, I subbed :)

Nice information thanks for your videos there good

Nice! I was tempted to try the same test. Subscribed...

Thanks, again! Teaching wife how to use ferro rod. Wish me luck.

Just uploaded a video about this That hole showed me that the Char cloth is done and saved me time and material

Very well done, good to know that you can do it without holes too. Atb, Marc

Thanks Bran juat what I need

great vid !

Great video! Consider using a can of Sterno as a heat source. You can get cans of them at your local “Dollar Tree” for $1.00

Thanks for the education

Great video bud.

Good video sir nice I make it always when I get a chance at it but with holes is right to do cause of the tar in Jean materials

I love easy crafts!

another good video. I will have to make some char cloth now.

I like the video. It is as scientific as any. Both ways work. I have used denim but prefer wash cloth (terry). It leaves a fuzzy surface to catch the spark.

This was fantastic to see. I like the center hole in my tin because the long gas jet is very visible amid the fire, but I was expecting the round tin to pop open when the gas pressure became to unequal. On a note unrelated to the cloth, I've got to throw something out there, man- when you're striking your steel, using the steel to strike the flint throws your sparks upward. It's the best way to strike when you're holding your char or other tinder atop the flint, but it gives you a rough time if you're trying to throw sparks downward. Sparking down, you'll get a better result swinging the flint down against the steel, and you're going to chip your flint a lot less.

the CHAR KING strikes again. great info great job Bryan

The hole is the low pressure area that allows the gas to escape and be observed either smoking or catching.

Great video on showing what anyone making char cloth already should have noticed....gas escapes from just the hole. I myself noticed this and then did what you did, checking to see if it worked without the hole. One thing I learned though is that you can over cook char cloth. You can tell this by it looking more like a screen than cloth still. :) And it falling apart into ash/dust. Also, the reason you have to let it cool down? Because if you open the tin right away, its hot enough inside and any breeze on the cloth causes embers on it immediately. :) Lessons learned. Thanks for the video!

Thank you