You guys remember when @Bear went to town testing the edge of his blade by cutting rope? Remember the giant pile of tinder he had? He had mentioned to me that he could light it with a Swedish fire steel and gave me an awful lot to play with. Two gallon bags to be exact. So today, my little pyro monkey and I went outside to light some stuff up. We did no moving stuff since it rained since yesterday. Now that the rain let up, the bigger monkey is playing tennis. Anyway, here is a small portion of what Bear supplied along with a comparable Swedish fire steel. Only difference is I have a Corona sharpener on mine. Have the original striker, but didn't want to go to the old house to get it. I used a pan since it rained for more than 24 hours earlier to keep everything dry. The cut cord pieces took a spark but would not flame. It would blow into a massive and really hot cherry, but no flame. So monkey and I introduced some jute to the mix. Flame, but mainly the jute. So both Bear and I did not get flame on this rope. So I took it a little further. A stamped it out and tried to see if it would take a spark. Since my flint and steel hasn't moved yet, I gently made sparks off the fire steel from 1-2 feet away. The charred material did catch the sparks and blew into a hot cheery coal. We used up the monkey's jute tinder bundle, otherwise I would have transferred the ember and tried to get flame. So my conclusion is that the cut rope would be great in a char tin, but not so good as a tinder itself. So afterwards, monkey made a new tinder bundle. At least the part that will hold the ember or take a spark. Practice makes perfect. It is a good, light and fluffy, and random.
