Starting a fire with a tinder and flint

[AuntDuddie]

I might add that I think you mean you visited Kitsap not Catsup. It's a beautiful place!

[AuntDuddie]

Yikes! I would hyperventilate, pass out into the fire and do some serious damage to my face and burn off all my hair! Anyway, I always wanted to buy one of those doo-hickies now I will. I wonder if dryer lint would be a good starter??? Thanks for posting.

[MillionairJoe]

why not just strike the sparks in the tinder in stead of that carpet shit, and prevent all the blowing bullshit.

[395Javelin]

@MillionairJoe

Because the tinder doesn't catch sparks as well as the charcloth.

Also you need to be forcefull with the blowing, you need to inject the oxygen into the embers to establish a flame.

[c0deMunkey]

I don't know... Seems like a bic lighter would be more efficient.

[Robbi159]

Why do people dislike this? He's not teaching you how to do it, he's just telling you about something he always wanted to do, its personal for him... Its like disliking you wanting to drink water, redicilous.

[maximillianof98]

very honest video.

a lot of effort is required to use flint and steel. there are videos that make it looks so easy. not easy to create spark, then you need the char cloth to catch one, and blowing it into a flame is the hardest part.

please, carry a lighter. always.

[spitoncat]

I wonder if he feels good about his $60 fire. I think that he probably does. A fulfillment in life which was priceless to him.

GRADE B

[googoo120]

@spitoncat he can make more fires

[tim3jones]

you did it made fire the old way cool!!!!!!!!!

[Mrhockey1666]

Your a faill.

Baddddddd

[mameliwo]

Man I had an easier time with the fire drill and bow, in my high school survival class. But I guess it's a sentimental thing for you.

[survivingwilderniss]

were there is smoke there is fire, not in your case dude:P

but nice try though:)

i would suggest a firesteel which is way easier and you're stil doing it the old fashioned way:)

[ross123whyte]

I liked your video

[7hkey]

it looked like you were performing cpr on that stuff, almost managed to burn your hair and got plastered with ashes on hands a knees. but I bet it was totally worth it :)

[robertsonjake64]

real world domo, it is a good demonstration of how to use the tinder and flint the first time. the more fires you build that way the more adept you'll become

[LozTheAtheist]

Hey, did you try and pray for fire? LOL!

[loturos]

sideshow bob

[masterdurchgriff]

a steel wool pad and 9V battery is the modern way to make a fire without matches or lighter fyi

[SirPwn4lot]

Haha, you could buy like 100 lighters for that much......

[Evilenlil]

My native Australian step sister can make a fire with two sticks and rocks and grass.

[TonyBtheEG]

Incredible.

[Vehementi]

If you put wire wool over the top of a 9v battery, it catches fire.

'sprobably the easiest way.

[meloveanna]

i'm sure he knows that, but this exercise was more meaningful.

[airihi]

Blowing on the embers: I carry a short piece of plastic tubing to keep my face out of the smoke and direct the flow more accurately.

Reminds me of a summer I spent cooking nearly every meal over a fire, lit using any crazy method that came to mind, then watched the stars till late.

[lookatmedriving]

I was only succesful when I had the aid of lighter fluid.

[andypdq]

You can put your own flint and steel kit together for free. You need a piece of high carbon steel for a striker, old files, vice jaws , springs, any source of hard, tool steel will work. Any rock which is harder than the steel will be OK, flint or chert is good, just collect different stones, and try them. Char cloth can be made by roasting cotton or linnen on a fire, in a closed paint can, with a small vent (nail) hole in the lid. It's done when the gasses stop venting, 5 to10 minuites.

[dococksmother]

No wonder it took mankind so long to invent fire.

[NapalmXD]

lol, you look exactly as exited as you would of if you had gotten it when you were a kid. XD

[wafflethug]

awesome! looks very gratifying.

[wickedlick]

Thank science we do not have to do it that way. lol

[paulusmagirl]

Brings back memories of the Earth's Children Series by Jean Auel, or 'The Clan of the Cave Bear' series, since Ayla and Jondalar discovered the firestones-(Iron pyrite). lol It makes me wonder when the hell her sixth book will be finished!?! It seems like about 5 yrs have gone by since the 5th book finally came out and I've heard there will also be a 7th book to end the whole thing. Maybe she'll come out with both of them at the same time!! That would be so fantastic! haha I'm a nerd.

[billygutter01]

"Clan Of The Cave Bear"!! I read those books when I was a kid.. the first three anyhow.

I actually made a sling after reading the first one, but was never able to reach the accuracy of "she who hunts".

I didn't realize that she had continued to the Earth's Children series beyond a few books. I may have to dig those up. (I'm a geek too! Ha Ha!)

[paulusmagirl]

lol To be as good as she, you'd have to perfect

the double throw with that sling. If the first stone

didn't kill the animal the second stone did and

all before it even knew what hit them.

The fourth book is amazing and is about their

journey back to his people and the fifth book

is also very good and is about them finally

reaching his people. They still have Whinny,

Racer and Wolf as well. The fourth is *Plains

of Passage* and the fifth is *'Shelters of Stone*.

[TheiPodTouchFreak]

i was scared incase ur hair went on fire lol

[chrissept21]

ok i can give you a few tips for next time

DONT PANIC when you get a spark on the cloth i saw you where shakey

and blow lightly and sorta move it threw the air to get some new O2 un the linnon

i hope that helps

let me no

[Duckeieio]

Thank you and Congradulations on your new skill seeing this vid makes me wonder how we got through the ice age LIT = ( laugh in text )

[magua73]

Is it there a correlation to AWESOMES and long hair? I'm just saying, couse thunderf00t here and AronRA got to be one of the most awesome guys on youtube.

Uhmm I wonder if potholer54 has long hair too?

[VioletCosmonaut]

Yay! You got it! Looks like you had some fun trying that. : ) It only took 26 years or so, but it seems to have been worth the wait. : P

[marshallbentley]

I mean you know if you can start a fire with what you find in the woods thats ok buy going and buying tender box and striker shit fire just buy a Bic?

[TheFactOfEvolution]

your a legend , hahaha "damng you bastrard"

[bigblue4321]

Thanks Pal,funny and educational.Five stars

[LiquidNsolidus]

Who else is voting Thunderf00t for coolest guy since the beginning of time?

[metal4you87]

Me :)

[Mog1984]

Me too! Thunderf00t is awesome. I wish I could do what he does and travel around.

[BabieshatetheBible]

he's up there

[GriffinPilgrim]

Top ten at least!

[conrad4ever]

I heard about a tride that had no idea how to start a fire but had keep oone going for years which had been started by lightning or somthing. they also used this fire to start others.

[ThePsychoReturns]

Careful with that hair, dude.

[Saiyne]

Around 5.45:

Yay! Congrads!

[0lord0kinbote0]

hah when I wandered around the alaska wild my main fire starter was magnesium tinder block. It was very effective until I ran out (the magnesium went first). I then learned how to make fires with a bow and paper birch. Of course I had nylon rope to make the string with. I did try birch bark (it behaves like cured leather) and it would usually last long enough for one fire, and it burns well.

[bullzeye40]

did anyone mistake you for bigfoot!

[Rationellskeptiker]

Loosely translated advice on starting a fire

from childhood:

"Don't build a crow's nest" - build it like a tipi or a log cabin, i e prepare.

"It takes two (logs) for love to bloom".

Excellent natural tinders include birch bark and dry spruce twigs. Especially dead twigs picked from the trunk of living spruce tree.

[Dramphooey]

Now you know why people in the past wanted to keep the fire going rather than start a new one. I really enjoyed this.

[Vercingetorix422]

I lit a few fires like that canoeing in Canada this summer. The feeling is undescribable. It's like you gave birth to the flame and nurse it into being. Just as a sidenote you can make charcloth by taking some cotton or linen cloth putting it into a tin with holes in the top and tossing it onto a fire. when smoke stops coming out of the holes your done.

[snugsaltynutz]

Next you should go at it with a bow, and a stick. That would run you about.... $0 instead of $60

[thepreecher84040]

I didn't know Brian May and Penn Jillette had a baby.

[Drekoguk]

How long will it be until Thunderfoot has his very own Wilson?

[xXceejaybeeXx]

impressive, but I think you've reinforced in me the reason why I use modern fire-starting techniques. Always nice to live childhood dreams, though.

[DPSSOC]

A flint and tinder may work but I prefer matches and lighter fluid.

[BayerLexan]

A super cheap substitute is using the lint from your dryer!

Or using steel wool and a 9 volt battery.

[BayerLexan]

Homemade fire starter recipe. Get a cardboard egg container, melt wax-scrapes of old candles work well with a double boiler type method. Mix in good sized saw dust pieces to make a thick paste. Spoon mixture into the cardboard egg carton and let the wax set up. Cut the little cups apart, and BAM instant inferno for about 5-8 minutes. WARNING: be careful of using scented candles when in bear country.

Also have a bow saw, hatchet, and large knife. Use the knife to make small kindling or shavings.

[nausinora]

A lot of fun to watch :) Loved the background story.

[Squagnut]

T-Foot - breathe more gently on the fire once it's starting to catch. There's a balance between getting enough oxygen to it and blowing it out. The outbreath should last about 5 seconds from a moderately deep lungful.

Great stuff tho'!

[scrumpmonkey]

you sir, need a TV show.

[Nuckpang]

Hear hear!

[TomSFox]

OMFG! You actually spelled it right! Hooray!

[Lookatmeimdriving5]

This guy should have his own TV show

[TomSFox]

So, THAT'S what you look like!

The magic is gone...

[Xioustic]

rofl

[docsquee]

Bravo!

[lemuelbecc]

Careful you don't singe your beard!

[LeChienNoir88]

Yeah, but where's the fun in that?

[confiscator]

Bravo! Just like Adam would've done it!

[ExponentialImpact]

Adam, I'm assuming you mean the creationist Adam, would never have used that tinder and flint. Adam would use his christian laser vision to sear the entire surface of the earth so that his foottracks could spark flames!

[gstyle67]

LOL!!!!

[robdoyon86]

ps..i have no idea who's account im on. i have 7 roommates. catch up with you later!!

[robdoyon86]

hey! its talia fom jackson. im thoroughly enjoying all your videos while eating this great chocolate!!

[cidvisions]

If you buy a cheap infaltable mattress it comes with a battery powered pump to blow it up. These pumps are great for not having to blow on fires.

[JBandKG]

use matches =p

[swankzero]

Practice makes better, it seems. Well done, Thunderfoot!

[TheCuriousSkeptic]

Good perseverance!

[nemesisnick66]

You could make a video about anything and we'd watch it :) lol and grats on your fire quick grab the marshmallows and the gram crackers

[NotSoOldHippy]

I just rub two Boy Scouts together.

[zebruh]

This was very enjoyable for the reason others have stated: It's you. We're getting to know you in a deeper way. That's really really cool.

But my GAWD that looks like a pain in the ASS!

We are SO spoiled with our lighters and matches. :)

[deconstrained]

Looks like you were giving the tinder CPR!

[naridna]

Now you realize that the decision you made as a kid was really the right decision...lol

Such a low tech video from you....a nice change of pace.

You are exposing your human side to us and the view from my perspective - definately positive.

[Solubution]

A lighter also works well, but then you wouldn't be able to call yourself a hardcore survivalist.

When I was a kid me and my father used to make fire with his combat knife that included a magnesium stick. It might have cost a bit more but it didn't make it easier.

[J33zyCr33zy]

Good job getting that fire started Tf00t! now that you have the flint method down let's see you do it by rubbing two sticks. =)

[carlisle9414]

It's OK for the fun of it but it's rather pointless. Carry a lighter for practical use and also know how to start a fire when you have nothing (not easy). Sixty bucks will buy a lot of lighters.

[zvesko]

after all your wonderful videos, I like this one best.

[gstyle67]

Very cool, great determination, but...

I agree - I think you can check this off your "life list" and use a lighter from here on out!!

[petehjr1]

It also helps to have a group of five or six people squating around to block the wind. *grin* Wish I was there could have saved you a few minutes by telling you you need to add tinder (small dry sticks) to your linen. Makes getting the large wood going alot easier.

[Soundgarden4eva]

Nice of you to fulfill a belated childhood dream with us.

[ulthea]

So primative...Love it!

Hope you're having a great time =)

[kirafan68]

Did you get dizzy? ;)

[TheReasonWhyGuy]

I glad you succeeded.

[DirtyDirtracer2006]

good on ya mate, but for your next fire might i suggest you get a lighter and do it the easy way

[davidproper]

Might I suggest one of those hand pumps used to inflate balloons? :)

[Legatou0]

Nice dude, hope you're enjoying yourself out there!

[Sadochrist]

I hope your enjoying your trip besides the camera breaking down. good luck Thunderf00t.

[Hooya2]

I'm tempted to make a crack about blowjobs, but I'll settle for congratulating you on achieving a childhood dream =)

[captainmutiny]

Haha, I know some people who can't light a campfire with a zippo right.

[ubergossen]

haha, at 5:43 when you pull your head away there's so much smoke coming off your head that it looks like your head's on fire. Must have had to use a good amount of shampoo to get the smoke smell out of your hair.

[Nat34what]

Awesome! Well Done.

I do this all the time at work.

I work at a historical site called St. Marie Among the Hurons as an interpreter, and this is how we start all of our fires there.

Fun, isn't it? haha and smoky..

Mulched and torn Cedar Bark works great for the nest.

[LoomisLoftis]

Find an unused birdnest before you start. Then get the nest lit on fire and stuff it under the kindling. The bird's nest is kindling for your kindling.

You can substitute a couple of cotton balls for the tow linen. You can make your own char cloth out of old 100% cotton sweatsocks. Google it to see how it's done.

To be more authentic, use a lump of iron pyrite and a lump of flint, each as big as your fist. Then bang them together for the spark.

[Sefearion]

That was incredible, boy must your lungs be killing after all that :)

[jebus6kryst]

Thunderf00t... master of fire!

This was great fun to watch.

[bcjew]

if you can start a fire with only materials found in the wild then that's amazing. you need to need to BUY those stuff? might as well get a lighter.

[CrucieFiction]

One word, "matches".

People steadily blowing on fires sometimes hyperventilate and pass out (faint). Big problem is they pass out and fall into the hot fire/embers. This happened to a person on a Survivor (TV) episode, and was severely burned.

Gee, I bet those tinder boxes were real cheap ages ago for the cavemen.

Good stuff!

[zamestol]

Hi, TFoot, nice vid ( and funny )

Yet again science and technology overcome trouble ;o)

I hope U`ll have a nice vacation without any lung damage or burned facial hair.

Z

[kaylin762004]

nothing was more satisfying then watching my husband start a fire at our camping trip in may. It was worth the smell. Congrats on your new found hobby! plhx2 have a fun and safe trip. If you wind up in NC let us know! We'll buy you lunch.

[rnistuk]

Good work. Here's a tip from ole' Rich (note: not old)... Get yourself a bag of tea candles from your local dollar store.

And gasoline. Lots of gasoline.

[RouletteRog]

I assume that in your next video you'll be wrestling and killing a grizzly bear with your bare hands to cook on your nice new fire.  lol, awesome videos.

It's really cool to see you outside of your main series of videos.

[AceMgy]

Bet you smell great after that, lol.

I always loved camping.

[nascentatheist]

Without the aid of Tim, the Enchanter, as well!  I'm impressed. ;)

[ilike2burnthing]

awh brilliant!!! i wana start fires now :P

[AddANumberToThis]

Brilliant.

[SoyBean001]

Dear Friend-

Regarding your fire starting hobbies ;), please be wary with your long hair! Watching you stick your head so close to the fire makes me believe that you have a bunch of "natural tow linen" on your head that you are not concious of!!

[semiliteratedgod]

the side result is a smoked Tfoot head lmfao

[TTDeath]

OMD! (D = Dawkins) About 3:30 minutes in the video I saw your head plunging rapidly towards the fire. "He's a goner, lots of herbs on that one" crossed my mind...

Btw. As a recent atheist I have trouble not using religious based curses and other utterances such as OMG. How is Oh My Dawkins for a replacement? Or Holy Mother Mary of Dawkins!

[kaylin762004]

you know what i do when i find myself doing the same thing..i say "oh my flying spaghetti monster" or i say FSMDAMN! lol. people look at me like im crazy and i just smile and wave. plhx2

[Cheesephone]

Just use the religious based ones anyway. It's less effort, and the advantage of our position is that we don't have to give shit about blasphemy.

[scionlightning]

Dude, is Tf00t american...cuz I swear he sounds like he's from the north west of the uk.

[falletron]

Wow, that was really interesting. I'd always wondered how flint was used to kindle a fire.

[Lunarvx22]

Hey thunderfoot, did you hear that Venomfangx is leaving youtube?

[thehunjo2]

"Hey thunderfoot, did you hear that Venomfangx is leaving youtube?"  What!!! Nooooooo......His videos were hilarious

[yellowlabrador]

Two other things that are good to help light a fire: the bark of honeysuckle and king alfreds cakes (a fungus on ash trees).

[glifencible]

Congratulations!

[Killer191919]

Haha, just noticed the pun. "A decision which... and has burnt me ever since."

Not sure if that's intended but for some odd reason I laughed.

[Killer191919]

Ha! Thunderf00t the arsonist! =] Captivated by fire.

[buzzausa]

.....and that's why we have matches.

:) :) :)

[bobthebuyer]

I did NOT expect you to look like that, not a bad thing, just surprised, not sure what I expected really :P

[Dannan1989]

Hot stuff.

[MPizzal]

Are you doing this alone, or do you have company?

[mjd9208]

Brilliant

[TingTang1234567]

Love you!

[dfarmer1584]

Awesome story!

Thanks for sharing that wonderful recollection.

----

I recall that when I was a child < 10 my elementary school library allowed children to borrow magnifying glasses during recess. The only caveat was that one had to read and understand the rules about controlling the fires one chose to start. The point is that we were actually ALLOWED to start small fires--and it was a great learning adventure.

Sadly, it would be unthinkable to allow kids to do the same today.

[Atheistprimate]

TF reenacting the film Quest for Fire :)

[DefineDysfunction]

Never lit a fire the traditional method.  It's now on my list of things to do before the end ^_^

[muffinmaniac49]

dude,

epic

[IdoloR]

lol well done, iv got my own little flint and striker with a survival knife set and i know how long it takes and how painful it can b on ur fingers, not to mention friction burn lol. congratulations on the end result though X3

[Jameswynne1]

The important thing is that you eventually started the fire :-)

[melganis06]

Wow I know what you look like now!!!!And awesome videos,keep it up

[alunhughes]

Nicely Done Tf00t. Your love of the natural Beauty in the world in inspiring. Cant wait for more Enojy the trip

[PiNGGTGTGTG]

first view rating and comment!!!

Go TFOOT GREAT Stuff. Cant wait to see more.