I lit a match and held it at the edge. No melting took place but eventually an ember appeared and began to smolder. That reminded me of a previous article “smoldering cattails” where natural materials would allow a person to transport a live coal from a previous fire while traveling to the next remote location. Another option for transport is dry punky wood.

I also wanted to test it for catching a spark similar to another bracket fungus “fomes fomentarius” or “amadou” but without success. I am still exploring the structure of bracket fungus for the layer that is best used for these purposes and would welcome any comments from those with experience in harvesting these fungus specimens.

A friend of mine, and fellow firecrafter, was demonstrating a method of blowing that can be done from a distance while the bundle rests on the ground, thus avoiding the heat and smoke normally associated with the hand-held method. He used his fingers to direct his breath in a focused manner, enabling him to grow the ember from a distance.

As shown in the top photo the tips of both thumbs and forefingers are held together thus forming a small diamond-shaped hole where they touch. Your lips are placed over the top and bottom of the thumbs and fingers while you blow through the hole and the resulting channel of wind can be focused on the coal in the bird’s nest. Properly done there is no sound produced when blowing. Your cheeks act like a bellows to gather air while blowing through the hole. You can practice aiming your breath while blowing over dry dirt or blades of grass to see where the air stream hits.

He mentioned that by tradition the name of the “diamond” method is prefaced by the State where you learned it as long as it is outside of the State that you were born in and so this method and tradition is passed on to the next firecrafter. He also encouraged me to use this method to blow out the candles on my next birthday cake and “wow” the crowd in attendance.

In the past I have used a Pine Needle Tinder Bundle that required a flat cut across the top end to provide a surface upon which to focus the lens. I figured that the nearby tall dead grass stalks could be used in the same way. After I gathered the straw material I broke it into six inch lengths and used a full length of grass to wrap it together, then cut one end flat. After focusing the lens on the straw material I found that it was too coarse to hold an ember so I decided to modify the bundle for better results.

Most folks have heard of a “birds nest” tinder bundle where fine tinder is placed within a wad of material surrounding it and in this manner I realized that I needed finer tinder at the core of this bundle of straw so I collected dry leaves and crumbled them in my fist into tiny bits and used them to fill the core of my straw bundle. The leaf bits were dark which is effective in retaining heat and the closeness of the bits was effective for transferring heat within the core.

It happened to be quite windy that day so at first I had to shield the bundle slightly to prevent heat loss until the embers began to ignite. As the coal began to grow I exposed it to the wind that helped to accelerate the process and with an added breath a flame was born. During this process I was able to handle the bundle much like an ice-cream cone but had to tilt it to the side once embers began to fall.

It would be simple to set this down beneath a campfire lay that had been prepared ahead of time but at this point I just extinguished the bundle as I had been successful in this technique and continued on my walk along the river. I encourage you to try making a solar fire this way because it is effective in using the native material at hand when you find yourself outdoors and need a fire.

The teacher explained that sugar is a fuel and suggested that we try to ignite it with a lit match. Try as we might it wouldn’t take a flame. He explained that the composition of the sugar required a higher temperature than a match could provide. He then rubbed some ashes (carbon) on the sides and voilà! it took a flame and burned. He explained that the carbon acted as a catalyst to raise the heat to reach the ignition point of the sugar cube.

We experience the catalyst properties of carbon all the time in firecraft.
We usually refer to this material as “char” which is partially burned or carbonized cellulose. We carbonize cotton swatches by pyrolysis when they are cooked in a can void of oxygen to prevent ignition. We produce nearly black “char” powder when we perform fire-by-friction that when exposed to increased heat produces a coal. Carbon ashes can also be added to fine cellulose to capture weak sparks produced by the flint and pyrite/marcacite fire method.

Another benefit of charred material is that it is dark and thus absorbs heat. This is particularly effective when performing solar firecraft (see “ICEE” Lid Fire Method). Carbon is the stepping stone to fire.

I have found that charcoal is also instrumental in the ignition of a campfire. In lieu of using an accelerant, saving bits of charcoal for use in the building of a campfire helps to capture the ignition source and speeds the transition to larger pieces of fuel sized material.

The more you practice firecraft, the more you understand the importance that carbon plays is creating fire.

One of the most convenient ways to make a “slow Match” in my area is with cattail heads. By igniting the tip of the cattail head, it will slowly burn downwards for an hour or more. By carrying a few more heads, you can ignite each one successively as the previous one expires, thus sustaining a live coal. In transit, remember to monitor your bundle for slight smoke that is produced by the coal to assure that it has enough oxygen to stay alive.

Remembering an explosive cooking incident in my microwave, I knew that pressure would build up inside when heated so I punctured a few holes in the shell and then set the egg on top of ash covered coals. I occasionally turned the egg during the roasting process to evenly cook the innards. The photo shows the results… perfecto! Can you imagine roasting an ostrich egg?