Char Cloth Making Results

Cut up pieces of cotton ready to char in a shiny new Altoids tin:



Aloids tin on the gas range:



60/40 cotton/poly blend means melty bits:



100% cotton works best, but brown not black means it's not quite cooked enough:



Just about perfect:



It took a spark from a ferro rod right away:

I guy I knew who made his own char cloth threw 100% cotton flannel or that blue and white pillow ticking into a coffee can. Then crimped down the opening and folded it over - like a brown paper lunch bag. I think he set the oven on 200 degrees and let it bake. I cannot remember how long he left it in there. I can contact him and find out if you want.

My $.02

if you can find a naturally occurring chert or flint outcropping, or pick up pieces along the edges of waterway... identifying them to your Scouts might set up a fun project... have a fire building challenge... a fire the way the natives did prior to a ferro rod... there are some large chert deposits, that have now been taken over by an oyster bed, just off shore where I grew up... and as Scouts we were on the lookout for the shiny black or gray pieces...using a piece of char cloth, and the back spine of a carbon steel pocketknife was one of the "extra" skills our Scoutmaster worked with us on... I was lucky to have a couple of dedicated gentlemen in that position...if I remember correctly, we used a shoe polish can with a tiny hole in the top to make and transport the char cloth...the pocket knife and stone in our pocket...probably not politically correct today...

That's the plan, Les. Using quartz/chert will be new for me too. I've always wanted to try it. Almost went to the science store yesterday and bought a piece, to tell the truth. It just seems wrong to buy quartz when it's pretty plentiful around here. The weather will let up soon enough and we'll be able to hit the trails. It'll be way more fun to experiment with finding in nature.

I'd love some tips on using the oven, MoBob. This is my first try using an Altoid's indoors. I started with the oven but was stumped by temp and time So skipped it and went for the stove I stead. You could likely cook way more in the oven if you used a container bigger than an Altoids tin.

Mine are mostly learning, & planning outings

So, is char cloth just for fun? I ask that in all sincerity. I could see improvising it if there were few other options, but if I'm packing my stuff in I could think of things that are a lot better tinder than that. Again, just curious.

As with all bushcrafty stuff, it's a learning opportunity for both of us. A ferro rod or lighter + cotton ball is my default fire starting method but options are good to understand. Char cloth (or other charred material) is something you can improvise in the field to extend one fire into many. Add in learning to identify and use natural flint/quartz/chert/etc. and steel, and you've just upped your self reliance factor.

Understanding the theory is one thing, but I need hands-on experience to really learn something, especially if it's something I want to be able to rely on in a high pressure situation. Read/hear it, watch it and then try it and try it again. My son learns best the same way.

It might only need heat + fuel + oxygen, but fire starting is something that can have many variables. Even perfect practice doesn't mean perfect next time. The more practice the better!

Ah, a good idea from that perspective. At any rate I was just wondering.

It's a known good solution. It was relied on historically. See, for example, http://quikonnex.com/channel/item/33298. Most better solutions are more modern.

I think its main drawback is that it needs to be kept dry. There are modern tinders that don't. And of course cigarette lighters that have the benefit of being easier to use one-handed.