For what it's worth, the toilet paper I use in the video is charmen which is pretty thick, soft stuff and it's not too hard to get some loose fibers hanging off of it when you tear off a small piece of a corner like I did in the video. I know the video isn't accessible right now. My computer at home is turned off because I'm upgrading the CPU, RAM and video card. I really need to find a permanant location to host those files.

Seen it at MEC yesterday.

Thanks to all who protested for it. The price was not posted however hmmm should of asked <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />.

Flip

Make 'char-cloth' out of the teeshirts before using them.
To make it:
Cut cloth up into small one to two inch squares.
Put them in a sealed metal container(like an Altods' tin.
Punch a SMALL hole in the container.
Put it on a fire OUTSIDE(unless you have a REALLY GOOD vent hood!)
When black smoke STOPS coming out of hole, take it out of fire.
Let cool COMPLETELY(if you do not, when you open the tin, the char-cloth can burst into flame!)
Carefully remove cloth from tin.
Store in airtight(well moisture tight any way) container.
When you need fire, take a piece out, put it in among your tinder(toothpick sized twigs, surrounded by larger twigs, etc.) and just look at it wrong with a spark, and you will have fire!

The Blast match is great....Just be VERY careful with it!
I was showing someone how it worked and it ignited a piece of copy paper I used to protect the plate I was using it against!
Nearly set his apartment on fire <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />
You could easily start a forest fire with the sparks that thing puts out. Some of the sparks last two or three seconds!

Cutting them up into small squares is a waste of time - the stuff is so brittle you can easily pull it apart afterward. Just make sure it's pure cotton; if there's any synthetic material in them it won't be nearly as effective, if it works at all.

I could be wrong, but I believe you can actually set fire to the smoke as it comes out the hole; when there isn't enough smoke left to burn, the char cloth is done. (I could be wrong; I remember making charcoal and coke this way as a science experiment when I was a kid, using one of those old Tate & Lyle syrup tins. Probably can't get them anymore but they were perfect - had a large round lid in the middle that you pried off with a knife, similar to opening a can of paint.) I used an electric stove in the kitchen, btw. Just put the burner on low heat. I suppose you might be able to get away with a Mason jar, even, but I would definitely do that out of doors in case the glass cracked and the contents caught fire. (Now THAT would be fun trying to explain to the insurance company <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> )

I have an old pair of blue jeans that the crotch is ripped out of; I think I will turn the pant legs into some sort of carry sacks or padding for something and turn the rest of the pants into char cloth.

Maybe I shouldn't ask.... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Small squares of cotton... Hmmmm. I wonder what gun-cleaning patches are made out of? Bear

I'm lazy - that's what I've been making char cloth from for quite some time. Cotton flannel gun cleaning patches - I buy them in large enough bags... they work great.

Cotton squares: Check out a department store cosmetics area. I was at Target the other day with my daughters and while in the cosmetics aisle, I came across a package of 100% cotton cosmetic squares (actually slightly rectangular). They are very compress with 5 thicken ovals to each sheet. I picked up a package of 25 for less than $1.00. I have not checkout their tinder/spark catching abilities, but see no reason once teased apart, that they would not work. Pete

We made a Coke Can alcohol stove at work last Friday that we used to make Char Cloth with...We tried both 70% and 90% rubbing alcohol(we had no isopropal stove alcohol at the time...) We cut up an old cotton t-shirt and wrapped the pieces in aluminum foil and stabbed a hole in the foil with my knife. Got a nice big flame blowing out of the cut!

Char Cloth is strange stuff...
made a small spark and it caught instantly...
The 1.5 inch squares we made urned very slowly with almost no heat, if left to themselves...
BUT....
When you blew on one of them, they produced so much heat that you had to move your hands and face away!