Carrying Fire ...

5

5knives

Joined
Sep 24, 2002
Messages
85
Reading the excellent thread "what does a spark get you", reminded me of something I've been meaning to research for a while now.

Given the difficulty and some times impossibility of starting a fire with purely primitive 'found' material, I've come to suspect that in the real old days fire was perhaps frequently "saved" and carried throughout the day.

Coals and embers can be 'saved' for a very long time ... but I do not know how to do it.

FWIW, after my grandfather taught me to build a fire using flint and steel (real flint) and a bow drill, he gave me a brand new Zippo and suggested I not be an idiot and to always carry 3 ways to make a fire. He passed away at 96 in 1965 so you maybe get an idea of his attitude about things. Kind of old fashioned you might say.

Anyhow, has anyone experimented with transporting and saving coals and embers for as long as ... say 18 hours?

Anything on primitive or modern approaches are welcome.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Regards,
:) ...
 
Last edited:
I've heard of wrapping a coal in a green leaf and transporting it that way. Also heard of keeping a coal in a box of sand. Not sure of specifics on either method, nor have I ever tried them.
 
Mykel Hawke from man woman and wild on the discovery channel always does this on his shows. he uses big fungi and other items that are damp but still allow the coal to burn. he stops every so often to blow on it and tend to it. he was the first i saw do this and i was semi amazed. i have since tried it and it's not as easy for me as it was for him but i got it to work for about a hour and i didn't tend it enough and it went out.

i can't find the episodes but he actually did it in a couple of them and in damp places in a survival situation the energy it could save you could be crucial in the long run. i am sure someone more educated on the requirements and what works best will be along soon enough
 
Punk wood works real well. It is also a great coal extender. I don't have pics of "carrying" fire but you can wrap large pieces of punk wood in leaves and slow down the O2 to make it last a long time.

Punk%206.JPG


punk%201.JPG


punk%204.JPG


punk%205.JPG
 
Unfortunately my only fire making skills have been tested in the comfort of a computer chair with a Bic lighter.

However, I have watched Les Stroud carry fire in what is called an "Apache Match". I don't recall which episode it was, but you can Google Apache Match to see how to find one. Basically it's a bundle of sticks wrapped around a core of grass, shavings, stuff that is more like kindling than the outside wood, and it's tied together at varying levels of "snugness" to control how much the kindling inside is smoldering, so you kind of have to open it up to keep it alive, but close it down a little bit so it doesn't burn out right.

I'll break out the DVDs and see if I can find which episode it was.
 
If you twist some beefy cordage from shredded red cedar bark and light the end then blow it out, it will slowly smoulder.

An old survival skills book that my father used as a kid outlines a "cigar" design that sounds like the fire match. A finely shredded bark core is surrounded by lengthwise pieces of coarser bark, then wrapped the opposite direction with strips of bark to hold it together. I have not tried this design though, especially as it uses a lot of bark.

One final thought. Any dried mushroom with a spongy texture seems to hold coals very well. I've tried with dried chicken mushroom that was a little too mature for eating. The smell from this one is absolutely repulsive (protein content?), but it burns slowly and steadily with no maintenance.
 
Last edited:
Hardwood coals buried in ashes can last a long time. If I had or wanted to carry fire with me, that's what I would try first.
 
Thank you all very much!

I appreciate the quick responses and you've given me a number of things to look at.

I was pretty well stopped with the idea of moss and/or ? carried in a dry skull or a clay pot. The Apache match, the Australian ABO tube, and the ashes/coal in a can look interesting. I knew cattail heads could burn and have been soaked in oil or fat and used as torches, never considered them for a coal or ember transport.

Realized as I read the responses that when I lived and hunted in the Northern Midwest, I was a big fan of the Jon-E-Handwarmers, their later models had a cut out for lighting cigarettes (or whatever) now I wonder if anyone still makes those solid stick hand-warmers, they never worked as well or as long as they claimed, but the basic idea was good.

Thanks again!

Regards,
:) ...
 
I know this is my first post but, here goes.
if you find a small to medium bracket fungus or shelf fungus on hard wood trees, the older the better,(fungus not tree) it will hold a coal for hours. If you powder it with a file or a knife you can sprinkle it on a coal from your fireboard to add fuel and extend the coal. if you live up north skitogan works really well.
 
Welcome aboard heresthedeal!

First post or 10,000th, I appreciate the response and the info.

Already added to my notes!

Thank You,

Regards,
:) ...
 
I did a little experimenting with False Tinder fungus and it smolders forever. I'm willing to bet that you could keep a coal going for hours without any trouble.
 
Thanks for the info Blais!
I'm starting to get a picture here, looks like as far as primitive methods go, fungus is your friend, :)

Now with only 3200 known species to experiment with, I maybe busy for a while! :eek:

I do remember my Grandfather just taking a small pail of coals from the kitchen wood-stove to start a fire in the barbecue pit, kind of a short term method. But that memory combined with the Spark thread is what got me thinking along those lines.

That and remembering the movie "Quest for Fire" which I recommend, if you're interested in darn near Neanderthal living. Movie was meticulously researched. Usual movie exaggerations of course, and compacting several thousand years of discovery into one persons "What I did last Summer". Still worth watching, especially the change Atlatl's made in their lives.

Regards,
:) ...
 
Last edited:
heresthedeal said:
I know this is my first post but, here goes.
if you find a small to medium bracket fungus or shelf fungus on hard wood trees, the older the better,(fungus not tree) it will hold a coal for hours. If you powder it with a file or a knife you can sprinkle it on a coal from your fireboard to add fuel and extend the coal. if you live up north skitogan works really well.
Click to expand...

This reminds me of a Ray Mears episode where he carried an ember in (if I recall correctly) a "horsehoof" fungus? I'll try to look for the vid if Youtube has it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top