Prepping - How to Make a Char Cloth

How to Make a Char Cloth

In an emergency, you may need to use a char cloth.  I suppose the first question you may have is, “What is a char cloth?”  In short, a char cloth is a burnt piece of cloth…no, seriously it is.  The next question is, “Why do I need a char cloth?”  Another very good question and if you are serious about Prepping you may want to at least try to make these.  A char cloth is used when you need to start a fire using flint and steel.  The char cloth will hold the sparks while you put extremely flammable material on top (straw, dead leaves, dryer lint, etc.) so that it will catch fire.

The first thing you need are the materials:

Cotton material – (an old 100% cotton shirt, or rag is perfect)

A tin – I use an Altoids tin, but you could use a bigger cookie tin if you want.

A screwdriver or nail

A hammer

Tongs

A fire

Step 1:

Get a fire going (I know, “I need a fire to make things to help me start a fire, how lame”).  It will help you with future fires.  You may have matches now for a fire, but they will run out, you may need a flint and steel fire making solution before long.

Step 2:

Cut your cloth into pieces that will fit into the tin.  For the Altoids tin, I make them about 1” X 1 ½ “.  If you are using a bigger tin, you can make them bigger, but I would say 2X2 is the biggest you would need.

Step 3:

Take the hammer and screwdriver (or nail) and punch a hole in the middle of the tin.

Step 4:

Loosely put the pieces of cloth in the tin.  If you have too many to fit into the tin, you can do the process more than once with a tin (just take out the ones you already made).

Step 5:                                  

Put the tin on the coals from the fire USING THE TONGS.  While you can put it directly in the fire, it may “cook” them too quickly.  You will see smoke come out of the hole.  That is perfect.  I have had flame come out, and I would just pick the tin up with the tongs and blow it out, and put it back on the coals.

Usually after 7 minutes, I will take the tin out (when I use the Altoids tin, if your tin is bigger, you may want to wait 15 minutes or so),  I open the tin (carful, it is HOT) and look at the cloths.  If the cloths are a dark black, they are done, if they are brown, they need to be put in longer.  Look at all the cloths, shuffle them around a bit if some are black, and some are brown.  Put them in for 3 or 4 minutes at a time, and recheck them.  You can remove finished ones if you desire, and work only on the brown ones.

If the cloths are rather brittle, you left them in too long.  They should still be somewhat flexible.

Step 6:

Now you need to try one out to make sure they work properly and so you know how to use it.

Grab some lint or dry grass, and your flint and steel.  Take the flint and steel and put some sparks on the char cloth (if you want, scrape some of the flint on the char cloth before sparking it).  Blow on the cloth, and you will see orange dots light up, those are the embers.

                                                                    

Put the char cloth on top of some of the lint or dry grass, then put more on top.  Blow the cloth trying to put the lint or grass where the embers are brightest.  When it catches, put it in the area you will have the fire, and put small twigs and sticks on top so it will catch (but not smother the flame).

Have fun, don’t burn down the house.

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Prepper's Emergency Preparedness List for Bugging In

Preppers List of things to have for Bugging in:

Candles

Matches

Entertainment:  cards, books, board games, puzzles, etc.

Food (mostly canned or dry which may keep for quite a while)

Can opener

Water (one gallon per person per day for cleaning and drinking)

Heat source: (Kerosene heater, wood burning stove, gas stove, etc.)

Extra clothes

Knives (cooking, hunting, self defense)

Gun (if you know how to use it and are allowed to have it)

Ammo for said gun

First aid kit

Extra medicine if you have a prescription

Wire

Rope

Duct tape

Work gloves

Soap

Shampoo

Deodorant

Water purifying tablets

Bleach

Nails and screws

Plywood

Tools (Plyers, hammer, screwdrivers, hand saw, shovel, etc)

Toothpaste

Toothbrushes

Paper and pencils

First Aid kit

Tarps (for collecting water, or to make quick repairs)

Emergency Prepper's Survival Blog

What is a Prepper?

The term “Prepper” has been thrown around a lot over the past few years.  You may have heard some similar terms that go along with this, such as; prepper, preppers, prepping, homesteading, survivalist, preparedness and living off the grid.  Some people are stockpiling food and ammo to last for years to survive the zombie apocalypse, doomsday or a revolution, while others are just trying to save up for a week or two in case of a natural disaster or to survive an emergency.  What do you want to be prepared for?

          With hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, flooding and other types of natural disasters always in the back of our minds, we never know what will happen, and how bad it could be.  What if something happens in the summer?  How will you survive?  Will you be cool enough?  In the winter, will you be warm enough?  Will you have enough food?  There are so many questions that you leave to chance when you take an attitude of “Whatever happens, happens.”

          This summer, in the Central U.S., we had some really bad storms, which had people without power for up to two weeks.  What if that was in the winter?  Would it have taken longer to restore power?  Would the inches of rain have been feet of snow and ice?  What if you couldn’t leave for a week or two, what condition would you be in when your power came back on, or when rescue workers came to your door?

          Being a “Prepper” does not mean you are stockpiling weapons and ammo with enough food to last a year.  It means you are expecting the worst, and have plan for how to get through it.  In order to have a plan, you need to know what you want to do.

Emergency Prepper's Survival Blog