So you wanna make some char to use as tinder for your next fire? but you don't have a char tin... that does seem like a problem. But no worries, you don't need any gear what so ever to create char. All you need is a bit of ground, which isn't too hard to come by, or just an ordinary metal container. I'm going to demonstrate these two processes, one with an inconspicuous canteen cup, and one with no gear what so ever, we're just going to bury it in the ground. To char a material, all we need is a low oxygen environment, if oxygen can't swoop in and react with all the hydrogen molecules being spewed out of the material, then the material will just char, rather than burn and combust. For it to combust, oxygen must chemically react with the hydrogen molecules, a by-product of which is a large amount of energy in the form of heat and light, which we all know as flame. So expose a material to intense heat but deny it an oxygen flow and it'll turn into char, easily done. Bury it, cover it or smother it. Before you build your fire up, make a nice little wooden perimeter around your fire which will serve as a reference point to help find where you buried your material. I bury my material right at the corner, to make it easy to find again. It's very easy to lose it if you just wing it. Manipulate your fire so that it eventually centres on the location of your material, surrounding it or covering it with the red hot embers and flame. Then just let it do its thing. Since there's no indication of when the material has finished charring, just check up on it in 10 minute intervals. Scrape the embers away carefully and take a peek inside. When the material has charred completely, it's very important that you allow these it to cool down, as it will still be piping hot when you take it out, it may begin to smoulder when exposed to oxygen. Cover them back up for a while, or place damp living moss over it or spit on it to dampen it and prevent it from smouldering. And there ya go, easy peasy char, done in a very unique way. ------------------------------------ Outdoor skills for wilderness survival, bushcraft, hiking and recreational camping. Twitter: www.twitter.com/AlfieAesthetics Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlfieTheAesthetic Google+: www.plus.google.com/+AlfieAesthetics ------------------------------------ Illustrations & Graphics (if) shown and included in videos can be found here: www.AestheticIllustrations.wordpress.com ------------------------------------- Video requests are welcome – if you’d like to see a particular skill that I’ve not yet shown then feel free to leave a comment with your desires. Anything from fire-building, friction fire, fire from natural materials, tinders, charring, wild edibles, plant identification, fungi/slime mold identification, medicinal plants, wilderness first aid and wound treatment, camp cooking, water filtration and purification, natural shelter building, shelter building with synthetic materials, navigation without a compass, improvised compasses, primitive weaponry, primitive trapping, gear reviews, survival kits and gear requests. -------------------------------------

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