I knew the cotton and wire wool could be used as tinders but I couldn't think of any way to use my keys or my mobile........but then I considered the methods I have previously used to ignite wire wool. I had no method to create a spark but I have used a battery with both terminals at one end to ignite it in the past and then realised that a phone (or camera battery) usually have such a battery inside.
I had never heard of or seen this demonstrated before I so I was rather sceptical about it working, so watch the piece of video below to see whether it did.
so imagine my surprise when I found pups sprawled across the footpath
This population are Eastern Atlantic Grey Seals. About half the worlds breeding population of Grey Seals are found around the coast of Great Britain.
The breeding site is known as either a rookery or haul-out. The pups are born with a white coat and start to moult at 2 - 3 weeks old.
They will suckle from their mother for about 21 days. After about 7 weeks the pups make their way to the sea and begin to feed.
I did get a nice piece of video of it though.
The previous evening it had been raining and then after the rain had stopped there was a frost.
The pattern reminds me of Ground Pine AKA Club Moss
which you can read more about in in one of my previous posts http://fenlaners.blogspot.com/2007/11/club-moss_10.html
Having cleared the ground around the fire sight I would then place half a dozen finger thick sticks on the ground to form a platform to build the fire on. I place the first two fine grades of material on the platform as the basis for the fire.
At this point I would light the fire (in this particular case, with a match).
Once the fire establishes you add the next grade of material
and then the next
The type and size of fire you require will dictate the size of fuel that you use. From a simple brew fire
to one that will keep you warm at night
When I am teaching how to build/make a fire, I tell people to look at and think about the branch of a tree.
We will use this fallen Birch as our example.
For the first stage you need very fine material equivalent to that found at the very tips of the branches.
Next you want material about double the diameter
Now we move halfway back along the branch for rather thicker material which I would consider to be fuel
Once material of this size is burning we are ready to use fuel material closer to the base of the branch
Finally we can now burn fuel of the diameter found at the base of the branch where it joins the trunk.
I am not of course suggesting that there needs to be a convenient branch available each time you make a fire, but looking at a branch gives you a guide to the size of material needed. For a brew fire you would probably only need material up to the size featured in picture three.
In the next post I will put these steps into practise.
You can also use two old shotgun cartridges to make a container. Remove the plastic from one cartridge by burning it in the fire and this will then be the container top. Remove the crimped plastic on the end of the other cartridge and the container is complete.
It is recommended to cover the nipple inside the lid with wax as it has been known for matches to "strike" and ignite on this while in the pocket.
I prefer instead to individually coat the matches. First I wrap each match in a layer of cotton wool and then dip the match in melted wax, ensuring the whole thing is completely covered.
When I want to use the match I remove the layer of wax around the head and then strike it as normal. The cotton wool acts as a wick and the match burns rather like a candle. One of these matches will burn for up to two minutes!
Do not be lulled into a false sense of security by carrying so called "waterproof matches"
Although the head has a waterproof coating, after ten minutes in water moisture has soaked up the stem of the match and inside the head. You can see in the picture below that the head has started to disintegrate as I tried to light the match.
and here is a close-up of the head
There are ways you can protect matches yourself and we will cover some of those in part three.
The way to strike a match is to support the head and stem of the match, with the head pointed down.
Place the head of the match at the top of the striker with the head pointed down
When the match ignites move it into your cupped hands to protect the flame from the elements and to allow the flame to establish.
Of course striking the match relies upon the match being kept dry and there are several ways of achieving this, but we will cover this soon.
The open water is home to herons and egrets, terns and gulls, and a variety of wildfowl and waders.
and the reedbeds are home to Bitterns, Bearded Tits, Water Voles and many species of insects.
Personally I would prefer to see existing natural habitats better protected and respected, but this project and others like it have proved that habitats can be restored and recreated.
Trim the branch to produce the two parts of the crane as below
Do not completely remove side branches as these will go inside the carcass and prevent it spining around on the stick.
Push the straight stick vertically in the ground and tie a piece of cord at the top. Rest the forked end of the other stick horizontally against the upright and tie one end of the cord around it and the other end around the fork as below.
You can even roast two birds at once.
The benefit of this system is that you can adjust cooking by swinging the crane closer to the heat or further away, turning the birds as necessary until the juices run clear.
The latest date I had recorded one of these previously was the 14th November and with the cold weather we had had recently I was surprised to find one on the 19th.
This particular site also has a lot of Horse Hoof Fungus AKA False Tinder Fungus (Fomes fomentarius) growing on Birches.
To obtain amadou I find it best to collect young specimens like those on the right of the picture as they are almost all amadou, with almost no spore tubes and the outer layer is much easier to remove.
If however you have a specimen with a lot of spore tube do not discard it as this too once dried will take a spark if the surface is roughed up with a knife.
To find out what I do with the amadou layer take a look here http://fenlaners.blogspot.com/2008/08/false-tinder-fungus-amadou.html
