 |
| Fire kit "stuff" tinder fungus, char rope, burning lense, flint and steel..need more Punk |
So Im just giving up on trying to
figure out the weather this year. This morning it’s raining like crazy and warm
enough to wear a t-shirt. My only conclusion is a bunch of people actually listened
to me and tried sewing up some cold weather gear to try out and this is nature’s
response. Don’t feel bad I owned a Traine for like 3 years before I got enough
snow to try it out apart from randomly using it for sled riding with the kids.
So
instead of sitting around just passively waiting for my train to be called I
decided to sit on the front porch and practice starting a fire. Break out the
old flint and steel and just mess around for awhile in todays damp weather
seemed appropriate. This is something I haven’t mentioned on here much because
well you can honestly find 400 YouTube channels on making fire with flint and
steel and go crazy for an afternoon. However, one thing I think the bushcraft
crowd misses when it comes to at least my view on history this should be second
nature to you because well…it is the 18th century after all.
Looking
at this stuff from a modern mindset is just what you want to try and avoid. I
mean when I’m doing modern stuff, I carry like 10 crappy bic lighters. Yes, they
aren’t period items and blah blah blah but if I’m in a survival situation I’m
going automatically to the new stuff. Call me what you will but survival is about…
Surviving. I’m not going to instinctively break out the flint and steel to
start a fire. I’m going to break out the good old railroad fuse toss it on a
pile of brush and bask in the warmth.
The
difference for me is when I’m trying to stick in the 18th century…That’s
when I go to the flint and steel. I’m not a bush crafter. Never have been. I’m
not going to apologize for it. That being said I’m not nocking the hobby as
with rendezvous you are always going to learn something for your 18th
century hunter skills from a gathering of folks. However, you need to learn to separate
the hobbies. So now I’m sitting on my porch starting small fires to practice the
skill for when I need to do it at an event. I’d say that more than even shooting
this is something that you need to get time in trying and mastering.
This
is a skill I’m always amazed at. Go to any rendezvous in the 1990’s and you’d
see guys knock out a fire in nothing flat. They got char and tinder going like
they struck a match to light a fire, a pipe or even a cigarette (yes they
smoked them then this was before the vape back in the olden days)
The
ide that brought this whole tirade on was an older article from the museum of
the Fur trade quarterly. An article by Ross K. Harper, “An Early New
England Pouch and Toolkit,” Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly, vol. 46, no. 3
(Fall 2010) 6-14. One of the items listed was a string of flax that
was charred at one end to be used for getting a fire going. The French war
parties used a similar set up with cotton chord (tinder tubes) back in the day
I used to carry one of these in my fire fit and it was amazing for lighting a
pipe or getting a fire going. I honestly don’t know why I quit carrying one.
 |
| twisting cordage |
To
make this you simply take a piece of tow and turn it into a piece of cordage.
Twist the two sections away from yourself then spin them together back towards
you. Cordage is a pretty simple skill that we’ll talk about later (that’s a
hint BTW) You then burn the end so you have something that’s charred. This is
what you strike your flint onto or use a burning lense to light. This piece can
be used to start fires or your pipe.
The
article is a pretty sweet little tidbit about just what might have come out of
an original shooting rig. Nothing crazy or fancy just what someone would need
to shoot a gun and possibly start a fire. The funniest part of the article
turning up online for me is that my friend “Black Bryan” Stefancyk is out there
talking about it and is still out there
spreading the gospel of the ACM.
OK now that we’re
all lighting our porches on fire some new stuff I want to toss around. I’m
taking this show to the next level. I’ve recently started an Instagram account
for the blog ( thebuffalotrace1765 ) I’ll be posting images too and I’ve begun
working on a YouTube channel to show more how to stuff in real time. I’m
looking at getting the first videos posted by the end of the month. SO, I’ll
still be posting stuff here but I’ll be spreading my weirdness via the
interwebs in all the formats I can. Hell
I’m even getting T shirts done because dammit after almost 13 years its time to
take the weirdness to the masses. So
back to starting fires I go and getting ready for a hunt with the dutchman in a
few weeks. Maybe I’ll put him on youtube so everyone can experience what its
like to have to hunt with him and his Teutonic weirdness.
 |
| New BT1765 logo thanx to Jake Book and the shirttail mess for pushing me and helping me |
No comments:
Post a Comment