Hey everyone! It seems no matter what site I visit (retail or forum) they have their own or different brand of tender. Some people on forums make their own and store that as well. I want to do a test of all the different types of tender out there (purchased and made).

So if everyone could post up what they use, and if purchased WHERE they purchased it from. (Website) And any details regarding it (likes, dislikes, burn time, etc.)

I`ll report back after conducting multiple tests.

-Todd

i use:
cotonwol ( for sale everywhere)
cotonwol + vaseline
steelwool (rarely) (hardware store)
charcloth (homemade)
fatwood (can be found in nature, but not locally for me)

the rest are natural tinder, like dry birch bark, cattill, etc.

Cotton Balls mixed with vasoline - from the bathroom cabinet
Bicycle innertube cut into "Ranger Bands" - from the garage
Bicycle tube patch repair glue - from the local REI store
Candle stub - from the kitchen junk drawer
Trick magnesium birthday candles - from the local grocery store
Esbit fuel tablets - from the local army surplus store
Triox fuel bars - from the local army surplus store
WetFire (name?) waterproof tinder - from an NRA survival kit with a BlastMatch, StarFlash, and JetScream

Of these, only the cotton balls w/vasoline and the WetFire might be truely called tinder because they can catch a spark from a ferro rod. But the other things are similar to tinder in that they're the first things you might light with a match or BIC lighter, and then use to ignite larger things.

Shavings from pencil sharpner

Cotton balls with antibiotic ointment instead of vaseline. No difference since both are white petroleum. antib ointment and cotton ball more versatile.

ToddW,

This is exactly what I did. I tried all the different tinder I could get my hands on. I tried them under different conditions; in the wind, wet, and one handed. The Vaseline cotton balls work very good. Their down side is that they are messy and if they are wet they will not light. Pitch/Fat wood also is great! It just takes some work to scrape off a quarter size pile. It gunk’s up your blade and when it burns it leaves a nasty mess and puts out black smoke. It is possible to carry a piece of fatwood in your pocket and it will be good for dozens of fires. The TinderQuick that comes with the SparkLite is also good.

The best that I found is --- Coghlan’s Emergency Tinder. It is sold in many sporting goods stores. REI and Sportsman’s Warehouse have it here in Phoenix. It is not messy but sticks to what you place it on. You can pull a piece off and put it on the end of a stick, hit it with a ferro rod, and use it like a big match. You can soak it in water, pull up some loose strands and it will light with your ferro rod. Once lit it will burn for a good 5 to 7 minutes with a big flame. For $2.99 your get 10 pieces in the package. You can fit 6 in a film canister. One piece can start several fires. If everything is wet you might want to use 2 pieces to have a big flame for a long time. It can be lit one handed with a SparkLite. You can also stick your knife in the ground and pull your ferro rod along the edge to throw sparks on the tinder.

is that not merely a bulky version of Tinder Quick?

Awesome!
$2.99 seems like a good price for 10 pieces!

I can't wait to start the testing. I`ll have multiple fire starting tools to test with as well. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I compared tinder quick and coghlan's tinder last year, I liked tinder quick better. Coghlans is more saturated, so it's harder to catch a spark. Burns longer because of it, though.

I have used both extensively and the big difference between Tinderquick and Coghlan’s Emergency Tinder is that the Coghlan’s Emergency Tinder has more wax (a lot more) and less cotton and is thus a lot messier, especially in 100 degree weather such as we have this time of year where I live. For this reason I much prefer the Tinderquick but otherwise both are very effective. Both light easily (when properly "fluffed") and both have burn times plenty long enough for anyone with the slightest amount of experience to be able to light a fire.

Have you tried squashing the tinder flat before putting them into the film canister? you could probably stuff more in that way. I squashed 3 and stuffed them into my altoids tin, a little messy but not too much..... <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

BTW, I love these too. Cheap and easily available and HOT....