firestarting-msg - 2/27/05
Medieval firestarting techniques.
NOTE: See also the files: lamps-msg, lighting-msg, candles-msg, candlesticks-msg, p-kitchens-msg, utensils-msg, wood-msg.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: powers at colon.cis.ohio-state.edu (william thomas powers)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: building a fire in 1311
Date: 18 Jul 1997 14:45:58 -0400
Organization: The Ohio State University, Department of Computer and Information Science
>I'm looking for input for a story: a youth is travelling alone, in
>1311, from Western England to the country's south. Unable to carry a
>brazier with burning coals, how would the traveller start a fire?
>(Dried wood is plentiful.)
>Elaine Wahl
Flint and steel of course; this was a typical way to start fires
until lucifers were invented! One thing that people have not mentioned
is that a traveler would have almost certainly brought tinder with him
stored in a waterproof container, (oiled leather, waxed linnen, horn, etc)
charred linnen works well and just a pinch of it plus small shavings from
your "dried wood" and you have a fire. Skilled people under optimum
conditions can light a fire in seconds starting eith their tinder
arranged and the flint and steel held at the ready!
The true test is doing it by feel in complete darkness...
wilelm the smith
From: Elaine Ragland <er37 at columbia.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: building a fire in 1311
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 17:40:45 -0400
Organization: Columbia University
> I'm looking for input for a story: a youth is travelling alone, in
> 1311, from Western England to the country's south. Unable to carry a
> brazier with burning coals, how would the traveller start a fire?
> (Dried wood is plentiful.)
>
> Elaine Wahl
I understand that it is possible to take a couple of hot coals from a fire
and wrap them in wet leaves or paper, and then transport them in a basket.
The "Ice Man" (copper-age man found in the ice in the Alps on the
Austrian/Italian border a couple of years ago) had a birch bark container
that was burned slightly on the inside. The archeologists think this was
his coal-carrying kit. The idea is to make tonight's fire with a
still-hot coal from last night's fire, and some dry tinder. Austrian
housewives with wood burning stoves use wet newspaper, and put it the
oven.
Sure you can start a fresh fire with a flint, but even ancient and
medieval people thought of this as the hard way. In Rome, the sacred
family hearth fire was extinguished only once a year, and started fresh
again after ritual cleaning. Of course, that had religious significance,
but there was also a practical tradition of "bank the fire, don't let it
go out."
Elaine Ragland
aka Melanie de la Tour
From: tierna at agora.rdrop.com (Britt )
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: building a fire in 1311
Date: 20 Jul 97 10:21:21 GMT
Organization: RainDrop Laboratories/Agora(sm)
On Fri, 18 Jul 1997, Elaine N. Wahl wrote:
> I'm looking for input for a story: a youth is travelling alone, in
> 1311, from Western England to the country's south. Unable to carry a
> brazier with burning coals, how would the traveller start a fire?
> (Dried wood is plentiful.)
I've trained in wilderness survival and have personally made fires in
the woods in the PNW of the US in three ways:
Rough rock struck repeatedly with the back of my survival knife. It takes
*forever*, but is possible.
True flint & steel kit. A lot quicker and neater and less difficult on the
fingers. BTW, the flint should be dragged across the steel rather than just
struck, provided the steel bit is textured. More sparks that way.
Fire drill. Flat chunk of bark the size of your palm and a relatively
straight stick between 9-15" long with a pointed end. Make a fire bow with
a somewhat flexible stick a couple of feet long strung with string or a
shoelace or even braided grass (which will break often). Use a flat rock
to hold the top of the drill vertically else it will burn your hand. Loop
the string of the bow around the drill by placing the middle of the stick
in the middle of the string and twisting the bow a half-turn. Hold drill
vertically against the bark and move the bow back and forth rapidly. In half
an hour or so it should smoke.
Remember that pitch, particularly that of evergreens, burns beautifully and
makes a great base for your tinder. Build on bare dirt or a chunk of very
dry bark for optimum chance.
For the story, I'd suggest a flint and steel kit plus tinder of raw wool
(lanolin also burns fantastically) or dry grass and pine needles mixed.
An experienced firemaker can whip up a blaze in the rain with same in about
ten minutes or so, possibly less.
- Brangwaine
From: HS Plouse <hpflashman at charter.net>
Date: September 8, 2004 11:26:00 PM CDT
To: stefan at florilegium.org
Subject: Belt Pouches
I happened, in the course of researching some points of interest, come across the question regarding the use of belt pouches by early era Germanics (Franks, Saxons, Vikings, etc.). I can say absolutely that almost every Migration era German probably wore at least one, in which he carried his steel firestriker, some flints, and an assortment of tinder. Such have been found on bog burial bodies from the 2nd through 5th Centuries and the usage presumably continued. A great many reconstructions of early Germanics show the firestriker suspended directly from the belt and some Viking era ones certainly appear designed for such attachment, but it is an easy way to lose a critical article and it is more likely that the majority were carried in pouches along with the rest of the firemaking ensemble (indeed, most of the early firestriker designs would not have conveniently hung directly from the belt and must have been carried in a pouch). As far as the pouch design is concerned, I'm sure there was a wide gamut, from simple drawstring designs to more modern looking ones, complete with flaps and buckles. The Sutton Hoo purse comes immediately to mind, but I have also seen a lovely Frankish example, from the 6th Century, which consists of a "U" shaped front and back, with the back sporting an integrated flap, and with the front and back connected by a leather mid-piece wrapped around and sewn, along the front and back edges, to the two "U" shaped pieces. I have since adopted that pattern as my basic pouch design and have probably produced hundreds, since it is simple to make, attractive, non-bulky, and yet capacious. The historical example appeared to use a strap and buckle closure, but I've made the style with multiple styles of closures, all of which work well, given the basic competence of the bag's design.
ALRIC GREYBEARD, mka H. Scott Plouse
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