I just made my first batches. I didn't really know exactly how when I started but had the general idea.
I used some old jeans, cut them up and stuffed into a little Altoid's gum tin. I also did a larger batch in an old tea tin.
After about 30 minutes of horrible smelling smoke I took the tins off the fire (charcoal).
After it cooled I checked the tin; the cloth was totally black and weighed a fration of its original weight. I tried my Sparklite on it. The first tiny spark caught the edge of the cloth and it started glowing into a large ember right away.
This was a really cool experiment. I suggest you try it.

I want to try that Billy.Did you enclose the cloth in the tins while cooking? I mean, with the lid on? Did you leave any air vents or just close them up?

The tea tin has a separate lid that I put a pin hole in. The mini Altoid tin has a hinge and I did not make a hole.
In the altoid's tin I rolled up a 2" x 10" piece of denim and closed the lid.
The tea tin I simply dropped six 2x4 swatches into the tin loosely.
Both came out fine. In fact the rolled altoid version leaves you with a nice roll of char in a nice sized tin. This will probably be my field tin for the char as well. That way I can both carry the char and make more in the tin when it is gone. Don't throw out them old jeans.
Now to get some flint and steel and Pyrite and try it like the Mountain Men of old.

Does charred cloth become dirty and basically turn your hands completely black when manipulated?

yes, it is very sooty.

edit; it leaves a black soot on my finger when I rub it between my finger and thumb.

I make char cloth in an old KIWI boot polish can with a small hole in the top, that I thread a small wood screw into, to seal it after the carbon is done.
The can itself is sooty after it comes out of the fire. I use it to store the bulk of my char stash, and keep my fire starter tin and char bag in my leather Black Powder Possibles bag.
I pluck out char cloth from the KIWI can with the sides of my little leather char bag, and tie it shut with a leather thong to keep it secure.
My fire starter tin has old flintlock flints and a steel to make the spark. I can also use the lock on the rifle to start a fire, as well.

Another excellent substitute for char cloth is punky wood from a tree stump. It will mold together to form little embers that will stay lit all night if you cover them with wet grass or greased leather. Just lay a hand full of grass on the embers and blow to start a roaring fire the next morning.
The embers make a dandy little handwarmer without building a fire, if you've got night watch at the rondy camp.

I use old t-shirts and old jeans for my char cloth. I have never had a problem with dirty hands from using it. I have a link here to an earlier post as to how I make char cloth. I have never had problems with doing it this way.

John

brings back the memory of explaining to my dad that i burnt the bacon. i use a golden syrup can with a hole punched into the top, though you should clean the hole after each 'burn' otherwise the lid might pop off. i store it in a small vaseline tin(my coaches from the 50's) cause thats what i found at the time. little hard to get enough flame to light a fire though(old T shirt if that makes a diffrence) but enough if you are careful

though i am intrested in this pucky wood thing, there is a nice tree stump in my garden. is this the soft white wood? read i have a new PSK with a lot of space in it.

When I was a kid, my dad was quite involved in Black Powder Rendezvous. Basically pretending you were a fir trapper in period costumes and competing against your buddies in all kinds of events. One of the events was starting a fire with traditional flint and steel.

Char Cloth was the standard Tinder. One thing we ran into consistantly was the cloth getting wet or damp. Because it is so dry, it sucked any moisture into it that it could. Rain, condensation, damp air... you name it. And being in the NW that's a constant battle. Wet cloth is obviously useless, and even slightly damp is just about as bad. Dry Char cloth works easily and extremely well. Do everything in your power to keep it dry. Especially if you plan to store it for any period of time.

We tried as hard as we could to dress and carry only kit that was available in the period. Eventually I started to store my Char Cloth in ziplock bags in my fire tin. It was just too tough keeping you fire kit dry running up the creek in the "Trapper's Run" or on a 4 day misty Winter Rendezvous. You may never have a problem, but keep it in the back of your mind.

Good luck... and keep your Char dry!

m

Yes, Char cloth is a bit dated and it is hard to keep dry.
For me it was s good experiment to make it and see how well it catches a spark. Just another "trick" in the bag.

Thant must have been fun to go to those rendezvous.