Survival UK Forums

Fire is the thing that separates Humans from all other animals and is so important to us that without it we simply can't survive in a survival situation, it's also something that we take for granted. We have to thank our ancestor Homo Erectus as the first of our species circa 500,000 years ago to gain control of this elemental force, enabling us to rule the world, and spend the lonely nights in safety, rather than cowering in the dark afraid of the night and the predators that ruled it, I tip my hat in respect.
Modern man Homo sapiens uses a variety of ways to make fire but the essence involves using a form of tinder that enables a hot ember/coal to be coaxed into a flame. The majority of fire lighting techniques use modern materials like Char cloth, Cotton buds coated with Vaseline, and Hexi blocks etc. All these materials are man made and don't exist in nature in a natural form. In the abscence of these we have to rely on what Mother nature gives us, so what can we use as a form of tinder?
In the UK we have a few options that are readily available and can be found almost anywhere.
1-- Dried grass- This is the most common and can be found everywhere and is very good if dried and processed correctly, and takes a spark easily.
2-- Fungus- Bracket Fungus- Birch Fungus hold a spark very well giving you time to to make a glowing ember, but it doesn't ignite as fast as dried grass etc, it does give you the ability to carry an ember as it keeps one smouldering for a long time enabling you to carry fire.
3--Bullrush/cat tails are an excellent source of tinder, and one flower head will provide a lot of material for numerous fires.
4--Pine resin-- Superb material and can be found where damage occurs on Pine trees. Don't use it in "block form" scrape it into shavings, this gives you a large surface area and will light even in rain.
5--Burdock seed heads-- I use these a lot as they are very common in my part of the Shire. The seeds have Oil in them and burst into flame with a good spark. You have to be careful processing these as they have sharp barbs protecting the seed heads. Smash the heads up teasing out the fluffy interior.
6--Nettles--gather the stalks when dry and pound till the fibres seperate, leaving you with a mass of string type material, a bit like Hemp and Flax. Takes a spark very well.
7--Dandelion, French for (teeth of the Lion) thank the Normans for the name. Surprisingly good although you only use the fluffy flower head and need quite a few to get any amount, best used in conjunction with other materials. Burns fast so you have to be quick getting it to your kindling.
I tend to use a composite tinder made from a few different species rather than rely on just one. For instance I will gather Burdock Heads, selected dried grasses, resin etc and mix it into a composite mixture and keep it in a pouch. When out walking you can gather these materials and make your tinder mixture at your own leisure when you get home ensuring you have an unlimited supply.
Char cloth, Cotton, Maya dust and Vaseline are superb but they don't occur naturally in the UK and once they run out in a SHTF situation you are up shit creek without a paddle if you don't know what to use in their abscence.
If you want to try a "modern" tinder source there is no better than the material found in your Tumble dryer filter, it ignites with the smallest spark.

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Cotton obviously is a natural material, but not in the UK.

I have read that birch bark will burn even when wet. Not tried it myself yet. Has anyone else tried it?

I'm told Duraglit and wire wool take a good spark but I haven't actually tried it myself.

(26 September 2014, 20:34)Dorset Lad Wrote: [ -> ]I have read that birch bark will burn even when wet. Not tried it myself yet. Has anyone else tried it?

Birch bark will burn when slightly wet but one can not just lay a piece of bark down and start a fire by sparking with a ferro rod. One must fuzz the bark up to a very ragged state, them aim the sparks into the prepared area.

Steel wool, or iron wool, as you call it, will provide an ember for starting a fire but will not burst into flame on its own. The wool glows and can be used with proper tinder to get a flame.

Of all the emergency fire started available iron wool is my favorite by far.

You can take the battery out of any torch, walkie talkie, car battery or cell phone and short out the poles with a strand of iron wool and get a fire. You can catch sparks from the spine of a carbon steel knife blade struck by a piece of flint, catch the focused rays of the sun from a polished aluminum can bottom or dump the weakest coal from a fire spindle into it and it will glow until you bring a flame.

Even the weakest spark will catch on iron wool.

In fact, around the shop I have to be careful about accidentally starting a fire in iron wool because I use it to polish metal and it is often near the grinder, where sparks abound.

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I am often amazed at all the things people here have "heard but never tried themselves" when they are available, cheap and very much worth the feeble effort.

Cotton wool impregnated with vaseline ( petroleum jelly ) takes a spark really easily. It's dual purpose as it can be used to clean a wound.

That's cool TH, thank you. I didn't know about dandelions, makes sense though. I was thinking of joining a few of these together, and then you said about how you like to join them as a more effective system. Great minds think alike.

One thing worth thinking of in regards to TH's post...why did he write it? I think it's because he recognises that all the other materials, e.g. cotton wool, wire wool, and the alike, might not be around if an event goes on long enough.

Personally, one of the easiest and one of my preferred materials to use for starting a fire is a tampon, fresh out the packet. Just fluff up one end and send a spark into it. The compressed part will burn more slowly, and it's easy enough to hold the compressed part to carry/move the fire to your prepared wood or to your fire-pit. It's even easier if you just light it next to the fire location and then just throw it in. The thing is, if an event goes on long enough, tampons will run out, cotton wool will run out, wire wool will run out, etc etc. This is why TH's post is so important.

Thanks for the info TH, very helpful.

Not all tampons and cotton wool will burn. Test a sample before you depend on it, just as you should test drive all of your equipment and materials.

Another great natural material for fire building is the humble Gorse bush.

The wood branches and stems are usually very dry and a pencil sharpener or knife will quickly produce fine kindling and tinder.

Even the green parts of the bush are rich in oils and resins which are highly flammable and the reason why so many moorland fire occurs which spread rapidly across large areas.