The fact is if you have fuel for a fire, you have tinder and kindling. It just takes knowledge, experience and confidence to find the tinder and kindling.

Traditionally tinder was carried to save time and energy, as it still is. But, kindling is so easily bought nowadays that it has become the norm to carry it and use for every fire one starts.

It seems that the art of finding and preparing tinder is a dying one. And, there seems to be a misnomer on the internet that gives the impression that tinder should be carried because it can’t be found or very difficult to find.

The tinder I personally don’t like are those that are manufactured specifically for the propose. I don’t like spending money to burn even if it is a couple of £/$. Many of them have a short shelf life and often fail to work. I much prefer to collect natural tinder’s on my travels.

I light my fires using a spark so cotton wool is perfect for times when I just want a fire quickly. If it is a real emergency, the weather is crap and I don’t have time to mess around then the match case and a strip of inner tube comes out.