Tinder Bundles

My friend and I went out today and did a little fishing . I saw some dead cotton wood trees along the river and was able to harvest a large bag of cotton wood cambium(the inner bark).

This stuff is excellent to use for tinder bundles in all types of fire making. I usually carry 2 in my pack in a duct tape reinforced zip lock bag.

All you need to process it in the manner I prefer is a bandanna or something similar to catch the dust you make from roughing the bark up.

1st take some of the stiffer bark and wrap it around your hand to form a "nest" - you know, the basic bird nest shape. there should be a decent size concavity in the nest.

The cambium is a little stiff so you need to take a bunch in each hand, and then rough it up over a bandanna (or something similar) to make it soft, the resulting dust and softer bark is saved and used as a filler in the concave part of the bundle.

gather the dust in the center of your bandanna then place the nest on top of the dust with the concave part facing down.

holding on to the nest with 1 hand, reach under your bandanna with the other then flip it over.

The result should look like a bird nest filled with dust - That, is your tinder bundle.

Which ever fire making technique you use like flint and steel, bow and drill, ferro rod, matches, magnifying glass etc.,Your fire will light a lot easier using this type of tinder bundle then it will just using pine needles or grass or (ugh!) paper.

When I'm out on a scout or an extended stay in the wilderness it is a habit of mine to keep my eyes peeled for usable resources, it is a good habit to have, that way you are rarely caught short in a desperate situation.

I have attached a few pictures of the tinder bundle making process for your fire making enjoyment.

please feel free to drop me a comment or question.

Tomahawk