Making a tinder bundle

Dried grasses work well and can be found almost everywhere but lack any accelerants. Most resins, or sap, will act as accelerants within the tinder bundle. Evergreen trees are full of resins to help ignite the spark, or coal, into a flame.

Cedar is by far my favorite material for making tinder bundles, or nest. Cedar’s can be found all over and are easily identifiable. It’s the bark of the cedar that makes the tinder, not the foliage. If you gently scrape across the bark with your fingernails or a knife, you can remove the loose, peeling, dry bark off without harming the tree. Once you’ve got a fist full then you will need to work the material into that bird’s nest shape. To “work” the material, simply ball the bark up in your hands and pull it apart, ripping and shredding it a bit in the process. Be careful not to overdo this and turn your tinder into dust.

Tinder is an easily combustible material used to ignite fires by rudimentary methods. Basically, tinder is the

WILD 101 Wilderness Class

Wild 101: A full day class all about “what to do if you’re lost in the wild“.

The location for this will be at Sandy Point State Forest. Sandy point road is off of RT 30 and just a few miles southeast of King William Co. court house. (on the left if you’re heading towards West Point) Follow Sandy Point road all the way to the end and we’ll meet you there in the parking lot. Please contact me at the email below if you need further directions.

Meeting at 10am at S.P. Be sure to pack a lunch you can throw in a daypack and bring water for each member of your family. Be sure and dress for the day’s temperature, being cold is a choice. Hiking boots would be a good idea as we may encounter rough terrain and possible muddy conditions. We’ll be back at the parking area about 4pm.

What does this class cover?

Learn S.T.O.P.

In the wild, most people don’t realize that they are in fact lost until they have been truly lost for quite some time. You don’t just cut a corner and say…huh!? I’m lost. It usually starts with you quietly doubting yourself, then it turns to you trying to re-assure yourself that salvation must be just over there, or maybe just over here. As your immediate conditions dwindle you are suddenly faced with a choice, a choice you will not have complete control over; to panic or keep your wits.

I think most people automatically panic, even if it’s just