Keeping a coal alive

[bearstalker]

Hello group, I am so glad to be a part of people of like mind. Learning from my brothers and sisters will be a great exerience. Now my question. I have been working on trying to keep a coal alive from my fire of thr previous night to my next fire after hiking 15 miles to that nights fire. I made a rawhide bag to carry it in and with charred cloth and different foods(cattail down, sawdust, layers of cotton and charred cloth, )no success yet. have any of you guys try this ? Like I said look forward to being part of this forum. If any of you make it to East TN. I will take you Bear stalking, it's a rush!!! Twenty feet is as close so far As I have manage to get. maybe one day I will touch one.

[dixieangler]

I will take you Bear stalking, it's a rush!!! Twenty feet is as close so far As I have manage to get. maybe one day I will touch one.

NOT something I would want to do. Kind of like the old saying of "playing" with fire and sooner or later getting burned. I got closer than I wanted to a good number of bears up in the north Georgia mountains and Chattahoochee National Park.

I made a rawhide bag to carry it in and with charred cloth and different foods(cattail down, sawdust, layers of cotton and charred cloth, )no success yet. have any of you guys try this ?

Not sure how you are doing it but the finer materials (tinder) go in the center and the coarser materials go on the outside shell or covering of a "fire bundle". The cord is the real trick that holds it together. Loosely wrapped at the top end, tighter as it goes down the bundle. Its a balancing act so the cord will have to be loosened periodically as the bundle burns down so that air can get to it to keep it fed. Shredded bark that is baked until its powder dry so that it can be carried in a dry container or wrapped in several strips of bark is illustrated and recommended by Larry Dean Olsen in his book "Outdoor Survival Skills". So if you can take a look at a copy of that book, it shows the method of using a fire bundle (p.59-60). The one he shows lasted for six hours. Les Stroud also shows how to make and maintain a fire bundle in his book "Survive" (p.111). Best of luck.

[Kingoftheflock]

ill tell you that cattail fluff doesnt work that well for tinder. ive found it sizzles out before it does any good, and it almost seems to sap the time the coal could stay hot. also the stuff you find in birds nests ( no the eggs) are relatively good.

[dixieangler]

Cattail fluff is more of an extender rather than a starter. I don't consider it to be tinder by itself. It helps the tinder (dry palm fibers, dry shredded bark or fiber wood shavings, dead and dry grasses, etc.) to catch fire better because it does light up fairly easy. I like cattail or cattail-like plant fluff mixed with tinder as an extender. I don't think fluff it is necessary but if available, it does help the tinder to catch fire better than without it. I would not use it in a fire bundle. I want a fire bundle to smolder and fluff doesn't smolder. The materials for a fire bundle can be the same as for a tinder bundle (excluding the fluff) but the difference is in how it is wrapped for tightness and airflow (looser at the top). A tinder bundle is loose and not necessarily wrapped (definitely not wrapped for tightness) so that more air can get to the fibers so that they catch fire easily. I want the fire bundle to smolder, the tinder bundle to burn, and that is the difference.

[LDS]

The bear I ran into in the GSM you did not have to stalk, they came to you.

Smear yourself with BBQ sauce and sit around for a while. They espically like Bullseye Brand.

Carrying a coal is one of those things that is debateable as to its usefullness. I would rather start a new fire each night than baby a coal all day. I can get a new coal in less than a minute with a firebow, spark to flame in 10 seconds with flint and steel, so why baby a coal.

If i did need to preserve a coal I would go with something like a muscle shell, that was relitively fire proof, wrap the coal in rolled bark, and carry it int he two halves of the shell. I would also use punk wood for the coal, and carry extra punkwood and bark. It would probably require one to stop several times during the day to replintish the coal and insulation.

If your coal lasted for 3-4 hours you could stop, kindle a small fire or light a new piece of pumkwood, wrap it in new bark and continue your journey. Few if us walk nonstop from one destination to another and the rest stops would serve two purposes.

That's my take on the subject anyhoo.