How to Make Tinder for a Fire

Finding Dry Tinder in Nature

Use tree bark. The type of tree will vary depending on your location. The most important characteristic of the bark is that it is dry. Break off the inner bark and shred or break it into small strips or chips, depending on the strength of the wood. Do not strip bark unless absolutely necessary. Cutting bark can damage or kill trees. Ideally, pick bark that is on dead trees, on the ground, or the like. Peeling bark off trees should only be done in an actual emergency. Different barks burn differently. As natural material, they also will burn differently depending on your environment, the season, and in your weather conditions. Choose cedar, if possible. You can spot a cedar tree by its reddish-brown fibrous bark that is easy to shred with your hands.Make Tinder for a Fire Step 1Bullet1.jpg Cut off a chunk of cottonwood bark with whatever sharp tool you have and whittle away the outer bark until you can see the cord-like strands on the inside. Cottonwood bark has a soft characteristic that can, like cedar bark, be stripped into small pieces.Make Tinder for a Fire Step 1Bullet2.jpg

Search near bodies of slow-moving water for cattails, sometimes called bull rushes. Cattails are common throughout Europe and America and are abundant around swamps and ponds. You want to use the bushy, cotton-like material on the top of the stem which flourishes in the fall as the plant goes to seed. Simply snap it off and ignite.Make Tinder for a Fire Step 2Bullet1.jpg In mid to late summer, cattails bloom into a brown sausage-shaped substance on the top of the cattail. This part of the plant works for tinder as well. Snap it off and break or cut it open to get to the driest material possible. Make Tinder for a Fire Step 2Bullet2.jpg

Locate trees with patches of tinder fungus, a specific growth that works excellently as tinder. Cut off a large piece and break it into smaller chunks if it is sufficiently dry. Tinder fungus predominantly grows on birch trees, which can be identified by their white bark, and has the appearance of a chunk of burnt or blackened crusty bark.Make Tinder for a Fire Step 3Bullet1.jpg If the material is wet, you can slowly air-dry the fungus over time for later use.Make Tinder for a Fire Step 3Bullet2.jpg

Whittle bamboo reeds into thin shavings. Holding a knife at a right angle with the blade pointing away from your body, run the blade back and forth to create small shavings. Your shavings should look similar to sawdust.

Gather other plant materials in nature. In a pinch, almost any dry plant material can be used as tinder. This includes dry grass, leaves, sticks, dry pine needles, cotton fabric, or natural twine or rope. These may not be the easiest materials to ignite, but they will kindle a fire in desperate situations.

Using Man Made Material

Make char cloth squares using pieces of cotton fabric. This material is an invaluable resource to take with you when you venture into the outdoors. Place several small squares (about one square inch in size) of cotton fabric into an airtight container that can withstand heat, such as a metal water bottle.Make Tinder for a Fire Step 6Bullet1.jpg Set the container atop an already flaming fire for about five minutes.Make Tinder for a Fire Step 6Bullet2.jpg Remove the container from the fire using tongs and allow to cool.Make Tinder for a Fire Step 6Bullet3.jpg Open the container and observe the squares. They should be blackened in color.Make Tinder for a Fire Step 6Bullet4.jpg

Purchase steel wool from a supermarket or hardware store. The steel wool you use to scour your pots can be excellent tinder and all you have to do is light it.

Collect dryer lint from the screen in your clothes dryer. Finally, that annoying lint that you have to clean out of your dryer every time you put in a new load has a use! Simply collect enough lint to form it into a long rod-shaped mold and ignite.

Soak cotton balls in petroleum jelly and store them in an airtight container. The petroleum grease ignites extremely easily.

Tear up whatever paper products are available to you into long shreds. A rolled-up newspaper, the cover of a paperback novel, or whatever paper material is available to you will help get a fire started. While you wouldn't want to turn your map into tinder, any spare paper can work to ignite a fire, though it requires more patience than some of the other methods.