Bull Thistle pods for tinder?


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ozrkmtnman

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Has anyone tried Bull Thistle pods for tinder with flint and steel or ferro rod? I have some on the side of the road at the corner of my yard. Inside the pods is a fine cottony looking fluff that looks like it would be great tinder. I tried some yesterday and couldn't get it to take a spark either way. Has anyone had better results?
 
they work well for me. kind of a flash tinder so you either need a lot of it or something else with it to sustain the flame.
 
As was mentioned, it is a flash tinder (meaning that it will burn out in a second or two). But if you put, say, a piece of fatwood or feather shavings on it before you strike it, then it will burn long enough to light the other and work great.
 
Like any plant there is an optimal time to harvest. Not sure if Bull Thistle grows here but the two kinds that do work well with a ferro.
 
Maybe ozrkmtman's thistle fluff wasn't lighting because it wasn't fluffed up or was wet? I can get it to light with a ferro rod if it's fluffed so lots of air is in it, same as cattail.
 
_Plainsman said:
Works great for me! I have had the best results in Aug./Sep.
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I collected bags full of the stuff last year, and it really lit up fast with the ferro rod. Often, like others experienced, the fluff would burn out before catching the pod on fire. When it did catch the pod, the flame lasted long enough to catch the other tinder. Perhaps it is a question of moisture content; when it is really dry it goes up very fast. Fun stuff, and I grow a lot of it on our farm every year!
 
I've had very good luck with it. Make sure it's fully dried though.
 
Thanks everyone. It probably wasn't dry enough. We had rain a few days before. I did remove it from the pod and fluffed it, and had a large pile of it. I'll bring some in the house to dry good and try it again.
 
I have worked with tinder that others have gotten to work and I haven't and later find it is how you prepare it, how much, and like you said the condition of it. I have had good and bad luck with pine needles and have listened to people here and finally pounded the heck out of them until I had a nice flattened matt of them and they worked great. think I will use them for my next splitwood fire for the intermediate class next.
 
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