More traditional firecraft

 Well, a lot of people do keep telling me that there is no point in making fire the traditional way. You can just buy a BIC lighter, right? Fact is, I always carry one, together with a tin of matches and a ferro rod. I am not naive. It is not necessarily a "survival" technique, because, well, you know my stance on "survival" as it is marketed up and down in the media. 

It is a kind of alternative lifestyle these folks cannot understand.  

Thing is, I found a file on the road ages ago, while riding my bike to work. Lit up the forge and forged a striker from it, really fast and a bit sloppy.  

Applied for permission to try out sustainable methods of harvesting tinder conk, got that permission, made a fire brigade assistant permit, experimented with different historical recipes and finally succeeded with making fire. 

I had a beloved T-shirt I wore to rags, until you simply could no longer wear it  (not the cloth in the tin, by the way, this is some denim cloth I found by the roadside), made my first charcloth from it and started my first flint and steel fire.  

I do not need to tell you how to make charcloth, actually, because most of you guys know, but for those that don't, simply take a tin with a more or less tight- fitting lid. You can use the awl on your Swiss Army knife or even a pointy hardwood stick to punch a hole into the lid. Loosely put pure denim, linen or silk rags inside. Take care not to burn it completely. If it is not charred through, no harm done. I always carry the tin with me and you can make charcloth every time you make a fire.  

Like that, see? 

The point is, it is not about a survival situation or efficient super-light camping.  If you want utmost efficiency, sleep in a house, it saves you a lot of inconveniences. 

But it is about showing that sustainability can be fun. Knowledge can be fun. Our society wants you to be afraid, sick and helpless. Making stuff can be really empowering. 

All that stuff was junk. I found it in a place where it would keep polluting the natural world.  I took it and made something from it.  I am not the best smith there is, nor the best at traditional firecraft, and all this doesn't entitle me to anything. But it was junk, and now it is not, it is no longer.  That simple.  

Thing is, we need to heal. We need to remember what was taken from us. Not now, yesterday. Because our society is rampaging headlong off a cliff. That is not to say we should live like mountain people of the 18th century. On the other hand, there is some overwhelming scientific evidence that something along the lines is what we need to do in the future if we want to ensure that complex biological life on the Planet will be possible in the future.  Starting a fire with flint and steel or by friction will not necessarily be the big thing to save us all. It actually looks a bit counterintuitive, and I know it. It is not about the fire, not about the flint and steel, but it is about a certain line of thought that enables you to see resources and creatively solve problems. 

Also, as I said, it is fun, or rather, there is a deep satisfaction in indulging in the process. It can be a ritual. To me, it is a soothing thing to silently prepare the means to start the fire. You understand why our forebears saw fire as something sacred.  

You need to get to know fire.  Sounds esoteric, but actually it is a commonplace. If you don't, you might eventually set the woods on fire.  It can cook your meals, it can warm you when you are cold, it is one of the best entertainments I know of, but it can also burn so hot that you can burn steel, it can hurt and consume and destroy. Never start a fire you cannot control. Always keep some quenching agent handy and please do not start a fire in summer when everything is bone-dry.  I recommend you taking lessons at the local fire brigade authorities. 

Other than that, I hope you enjoy your campfire. Take care, and all the best!