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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!
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-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
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. 👍🏼
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
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
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.
@@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.
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!
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.
@@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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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 👍🏻☺️✌🏻
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!
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?
@@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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
