tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post2130973952577359599..comments2024-03-28T13:36:34.479-07:00Comments on Rural Revolution: A question of tinderPatrice Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06012022335047974670noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-8344672001909208892015-10-27T20:44:57.973-07:002015-10-27T20:44:57.973-07:00I only know papers and leaves. I couldnt imagine a...I only know papers and leaves. I couldnt imagine anymore ways to use, until I get to your post. Its informative.Kellyhttp://www.owenenterprises.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-54581285010503697252014-12-11T18:55:19.807-08:002014-12-11T18:55:19.807-08:00How do you come across pine pitch and gather it up...How do you come across pine pitch and gather it up? I didn't expect you could stumble into and find it in sufficient quantities. Silly... I guess that IS how you'd do it.Representativehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05811793207369399757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-50135446096388813982014-12-11T18:42:21.849-08:002014-12-11T18:42:21.849-08:00How do you come across pine pitch and gather it up...How do you come across pine pitch and gather it up? I didn't expect you could stumble into and find it in sufficient quantities. Silly... I guess that IS how you'd do it.Representativehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05811793207369399757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-23448032072569627802014-12-07T13:17:52.922-08:002014-12-07T13:17:52.922-08:00Pine nots come from where a branch comes off the t...Pine nots come from where a branch comes off the trunk or an old pine stump,very rich in pine tar, shave it off with a hatchet good fire starter doesn't take much. Because it creates creosote.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-74917769180038304592014-12-07T08:38:22.315-08:002014-12-07T08:38:22.315-08:00We put our cub scout grandkids to work making feat...We put our cub scout grandkids to work making feathersticks for fire starting in the grill. They had to cook their hot dogs and marshmallows on wood that they gathered themselves. SwampWomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08395051552137680646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-46827258832000066152014-12-06T10:18:45.902-08:002014-12-06T10:18:45.902-08:00I found this to be an interesting video on making ...I found this to be an interesting video on making charcoal from agricultural waste and thought you might also like it...<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqI63IEg3MM<br /><br />As for lighting material, we like to make a batch of char cloth or char paper (depending on what we have on hand) whenever we have an outdoor fire. We keep this in a sealed container to assist in lighting our fires. Old scraps of 100% cotton jeans makes awesome char cloth. We can typically buy tattered jeans for pennies at our local secondhand store.<br /><br />Southern GalAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-46237714632214614942014-12-05T14:41:58.470-08:002014-12-05T14:41:58.470-08:00We scoop the chainsaw sawdust into a heap as we...We scoop the chainsaw sawdust into a heap as we're cutting logs, then add a little diesel or used motor oil. This is stored in a 5 gallon bucket (with a lid for the smell) next to the wood box near the stove. One scoop (about a cup) works great.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-61557682620149195452014-12-05T11:13:38.669-08:002014-12-05T11:13:38.669-08:00We have been heating our home with wood for 34 yrs...We have been heating our home with wood for 34 yrs. For most of those years we used newspaper for kindling. The kids, now all adults had paper routes. When they stopped the routes, we still had newspapers, but then we stopped our subscription years ago. Husbands dad, a voracious newspaper reader, would save them for us, but alas, he has since passed away. Currently, my husband scavenges newspapers where he can. We have used twigs, pine cones and other such flammables. My list of what *not* to use, however is a bit longer. Paper isn't just "paper" any more. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-66285358340614918772014-12-04T20:59:35.008-08:002014-12-04T20:59:35.008-08:00Paper egg cartons work well, too, and you can also...Paper egg cartons work well, too, and you can also use 70%rubbing alcohol on cotton, dryer lint, or a used paper towel. They are not too combustible, but will light the fire. Oh, and you can brush your cats and dogs and pop that fur right in there to get a fire started as well! Lydia looks as though she could supply quite a lot of fire-starting material!<br /><br />Catalytic woodstoves versus non-catalytic: We bought the non-catalytic for the reason that the converter must be replaced every few years, and it is not good for them to receive paper, cardboard, etc., and so are limited in that regard.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-18470557937167601812014-12-04T18:54:30.675-08:002014-12-04T18:54:30.675-08:00I hang mine over the shower rack before we go to b...I hang mine over the shower rack before we go to bed.They are usually dry by morningAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-1151026472652956652014-12-04T18:48:50.880-08:002014-12-04T18:48:50.880-08:00Cattail fluff.Cattail fluff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-45533295926219004542014-12-04T15:30:44.715-08:002014-12-04T15:30:44.715-08:00Catalpa? Good idea. I always thought these annoy...Catalpa? Good idea. I always thought these annoying pods would be good for something one day. My neighbor has a Catalpa tree, and my sister-in-law does as well. I will see about snagging a large batch for the future. I don't burn at home but I am now looking for ways to start a rocket stove out back when we are grid down. Lots of applications here! Think outside the wood burning stove. ;-)<br /><br />God Bless,<br />Janet in MAAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-57083272351989844172014-12-04T15:14:10.712-08:002014-12-04T15:14:10.712-08:00As a couple of people have posted wood shavings. B...As a couple of people have posted wood shavings. But if you can look out foor and old wooden plane. It looks like a wooden rebate plane but the blade is skewed. These planes here in the UK were called a spill plane. The angle of the blade creates long tubes of shavings that not only can be used for tinder but also as lighted tapers to light candles and lamos without using matches.Rohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03804288884191121969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-72258589904718464242014-12-04T11:43:49.197-08:002014-12-04T11:43:49.197-08:00Dried and tight wrapped grass has always been a go...Dried and tight wrapped grass has always been a good fire starter.Brian Keithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-14791091952282315192014-12-04T11:34:03.140-08:002014-12-04T11:34:03.140-08:00Great ideas from all you folks! Love this site!
W...Great ideas from all you folks! Love this site!<br /><br />Where I live we still (?) get three or four "phone books" each spring. I've often thought of saving these and drilling a hole in one corner to hang nearby and use a page or two for kindling (or use them as the old folks did with the Sears catalog!!) Eventually, of course, the "phone book" people will realize how antiquated the technology is, but they are compact sources of fairly soft newsprint.<br />Also go find the Grant Thompson channel on YouTube and search for "char cloth". He shows you just how to make it using a tuna can and also why it works. He also has other fire-starting methods on his channel. Plus some cool camping/survival hints.<br /><br />I find that one wrapper from my butter cubes will torch any kind of kindling I have laying around. My hubby took down and replaced an old cedar fence last year and we have enough cedar kindling to last almost as long as those cedar shakes on the chicken coop!<br /><br />Also, I've made the firestarters with sawdust or cardboard, wax, grease, beeswax, pitch, cooking oil--whatever will burn. Don't need much. But sometimes, if the fire is "banked" correctly, I don't need to start over. Just find the embers glowing under the ashes, sprinkle with finely shredded dry cedar and add a little air by blowing gently. Keep Warm and Carry On!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-36313665801456879832014-12-04T08:41:07.721-08:002014-12-04T08:41:07.721-08:00oh, I noticed one here... dried cow patties. that ...oh, I noticed one here... dried cow patties. that is what the Pioneers used to start their fires. I just took a peek in our paper stash and this is what I found: junk mail, cardboard cereal boxes, toilet paper rolls, crushed Kleenex boxes. Through out the year, we save odd sticks from the yard, small pieces of cut wood after my husband does a construction project, and our mainstay that really starts a fire is dried pine cones that drop from our monster-sized pine tree. We soak them in diesel fuel and keep them in an ice cream bucket (outside of course). We don't get the newspaper either, so we accept old newspapers. If we lose our normal resources for paper, I am sure a person could start burning personal papers they need to shred, books, your furniture... hope it doesn't come to that. Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15471639876072617577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-33445216350517237242014-12-04T08:35:24.829-08:002014-12-04T08:35:24.829-08:00Bacon and hamburger grease pluss moss work pretty ...Bacon and hamburger grease pluss moss work pretty well. (Mmm..bacon...). We use our bacon grease for cooking but we usually have an excess. We go through about 10-15 lbs of bacon a month, and we get the culls in bulk 10# boxes from our local butcher for about 50% (or less) the going rate for bacon.<br /><br />We don't use our hamburger grease for cooking, but I save all of that as well, boil it down, strain it, then store it in pint jars. It makes a great emergency heavy grease in cooler weather, and it actually makes a pretty good emergency lubricant during the summer. One down side is that after boiling and straining it doesn't really have much smell (to us), however the dogs and cats absolutely love it. One time I found our son's black lab licking the wheelbarrow axle and having a grand old time of it. And if you happen to spill some in the garage or shop you'll have to work around the animals for days licking the floor.<br /><br />As an experiment some time ago after having this same discussion with my wife about firestarters, I collected a bunch of moss and dried it in the garage for a couple weeks. I collected three kinds. The type of hanging moss you get on trees that looks vaguely spiderwebby, the thick heavy type of moss you get in your gutters or yard, and the other kind of thicker, heavier tree moss. Take a handful of moss, roll it roughly into a cylinder, dip it into warmed (liquid) grease (best), or smear it with non-liquid grease (okay - and messy).<br /><br />The spiderwebby kind lit easier but wouldn't retain enough grease to keep burning. Both of the thicker mosses worked about the same. It lights okay, and if you were using this in an emergency situation it also leaves you with a fire that was started with non-chemical means and wouldn't have any potentially toxic byproducts if you were also needing to use it as a cooking fire.<br /><br />If you want to make it light great, simply dip it in a pot of kerosene just before you light it. The grease will keep much of the kerosene from absorbing (this also saves on kerosene) but what remains on the surface pretty much guarantees you'll get a quick hot light with a fairly long burn time. Usual caveats about having good dry kindling apply. ;)Corwinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-75465365564985817602014-12-04T08:32:39.304-08:002014-12-04T08:32:39.304-08:00If you have a copy of the Boy Scout Handbook (and...If you have a copy of the Boy Scout Handbook (and you defiinitely should), there is a section on how to start fires. Having been on hundreds of camping trips as a leader, I can tell you that the handbook suggestions really work. We never let the boys use lighter fluid or anything else except for what was found in the woods (pine needles, tiny sticks, etc).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-64874481349452168942014-12-04T08:15:58.588-08:002014-12-04T08:15:58.588-08:00Hubby & I make firestarters using paraffin wax...Hubby & I make firestarters using paraffin wax and the shredded paper from his shred bin. Spray several ice cube trays with Pam, fill with shredded paper. Melt wax in a double boiler, pour into trays. Make sure there's paper sticking out to light. They work great. Beckybeqnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-22212165606660429142014-12-04T00:37:19.699-08:002014-12-04T00:37:19.699-08:00Patrice, all my suggestions were already offered b...Patrice, all my suggestions were already offered by others, so I thought I'd try to come up with a new (to me) idea. We have planted quite a number of shrubs in our yard, some of which grow a few feet each season. Some need to be trimmed back hard every year. If we bundled all the trimmings from each shrub and stacked them in our garage (or in your case any outbuilding that would keep them dry) there'd be a nice supply drying out, renewable every year. That doesn't even count the wild, unidentified vegetation out in the wooded areas behind our house. I suppose there are a few plants that shouldn't be burned inside. I've been thinking along the same lines as you and have been saving dryer lint and medicine bottle cotton balls for a couple of years at least. CentennielMagnoliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04256656771993531467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-39607436207280255432014-12-03T21:53:15.364-08:002014-12-03T21:53:15.364-08:00When I have no newspaper around, I use my old stan...When I have no newspaper around, I use my old standby: Take makeup remover pads (about two inches round) and dip them in hot wax just up to where you hold them with the tweezers to dip them, leaving a small bit un-dipped. just melt up some old candle shorts. They burn nicely for about four minutes and will start a fire no sweat. I buy the cheapie pads at the dollar store, and keep the dipped pads in a Pringles can. By the by, I don't think there will be any printed newspapers around in ten more years, give or take. NYT is in trouble, LAT is struggling and now the Orange County Register is bleeding out. -- DLAAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-60139853409686567872014-12-03T21:48:39.603-08:002014-12-03T21:48:39.603-08:00Frank and Fern have it right: meadow muffins.
Al...Frank and Fern have it right: meadow muffins. <br /><br />Also char cloth. It's easy to make from scraps of cotton fabric and can be stored.<br /><br />I never put anything in my fireplace that has glue, colored inks or wax, as these materials can cause buildup in your chimney.<br /><br />I also use paper sacks after they've been reused or if they're torn.<br /><br />Being in the construction business, we get a steady supply of cedar shingles that can be split very fine and lit with a match. It's some of the best kindling ever.<br /><br />A. McSp<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-67745317548460326192014-12-03T21:37:44.347-08:002014-12-03T21:37:44.347-08:00Keep your fire hotter and make sure you're usi...Keep your fire hotter and make sure you're using good, dry, seasoned wood. Also make sure you're not using cottonwood. It's nasty stuff that just smolders and puts out very little heat. Also be sure your chimney is clean and drawing properly.<br /><br />A. McSpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-76204587351836111522014-12-03T21:19:19.212-08:002014-12-03T21:19:19.212-08:00We would use pine cones shoved into the old-fashio...We would use pine cones shoved into the old-fashioned paper cups. The wax from the cup would burn long enough to light the pine cone. Once the cone was lit, it would burn for a good long time. Worked like a charm. My mom, who can't build a fire to save her life, would always use that to get a fire going.Ragin' Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04421198497767878287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526768924178592295.post-17192001925780856052014-12-03T21:08:39.087-08:002014-12-03T21:08:39.087-08:00My favorite fire starter is the leftovers from a M...My favorite fire starter is the leftovers from a McDonalds meal. Bag, fry container and burger box. All put back into the bag and scrunched up. My second favorite is taking a quart half and half waxed cardboard container and cutting it up into 2"x4" pieces. Fold one in half and light the end and it burns for a couple minutes. Lastly is simple red cedar. Don't need paper or anything just split a small amount into pencil sized pieces or smaller and light.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com