How to Make Char Cloth
For those of you who missed it, a while back, I did a video on how to make char cloth. It's an easy-to-make firestarter that you can probably make with things you already have. Since I've been getting some emails about firestarters lately, I thought it would be good to revisit this technique.
Of course, the old standbys like cotton balls & Vaseline, jute cord, and bicycle innertubes are also good ones, but what else do you use?
How to Make Char Cloth
Reviewed by Jason Klass
on
January 17, 2009
Rating:
Reviewed by Jason Klass
on
January 17, 2009
Rating:
10 comments
Hand sanitizer is our emergency firestarter. We buy it by the gallon. :)
Camphor tablets (not cooking camphor) are great firestarters. Here in south India they're used for Hindu temple ceremonies. They're about the size of a fingernail, weigh next to nothing, light up even when wet (I've soaked a tablet in water for 48+ hours, wiped it dry and it still lit!), and burn for nearly 3 minutes without any liquid residue. I guess they could be sourced from Indian grocery stores in N. America. I can buy 500 tablets for about a dollar here.
Great video...
If you want to me a LOT of char cloth you can use those huge tins that Christmas cookies sometimes come in.
David,
I've tried hand sanitizer and it seems that some brands work better than others. What kind do you get?
Dhaval,
Wow, that's interesting. I've never heard of camphor tablets. I'll see if I can get them here and give them a try.
I personally like cotton wool soaked in vaseline, I melt the vaseline and press the cotton wool into it. This really saturates the cotton wool rather than just coating the exterior. A normal 1" piece burns with a good flame for 5 mins +
Jason, thanks for sharing this works great! I now have plenty of small squares of char cloth and a nasty looking Altoids tin just like the one in your video :) This is so much cleaner to handle and carry that all the things soaked in vaseline - yuck. Avid fan of your blog.
Dryer lint, piece of a candle, piece of Trioxane bar, the old standby birch bark. (Found on the floor of the forest, naturally.)
Wait just a sec. Is that a Sitar I see in the background and why haven't you played it for us? :) Great video thanks.
Patrick,
Well, believe me, I've tried. I thought that since I play a little guitar, I could teach myself the Sitar. But it's a lot more difficult than I thought. So now, it's a prop. ;)
Jason, rather that cutting bunches of cotton, you can buy a bag of cotton "gun Patches" in the camping/hunting section at Wallyworld. Pretty cheap and its a pretty big bag
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