Pencil sharpener


I tried using a pencil sharpener over the weekend to see if it is useful for making a fire. The pencil sharpener makes wonderful paper thin shavings. It has been raining here in Phoenix. All I found in my back yard was a green twig. I made a quarter size pile on my Dutch Oven table. I tried my sparker on it. No good! I tried my lighter on it. No good. Even shaved paper thin, green wood will not burn. I found a dry twig in a parking lot. It made a nice pile of dry shavings. I have no idea what plant it came from. I made a quarter size pile of shavings from it. It would not light from my BS Hot Spark. I tried using a lighter. It lit but did not want to stay lit. My impression is that a pencil sharpener has no utility over a sharp knife. You can scrape wood with your knife to get fine tinder.

Noting beats cotton based tinder!