Why we carry tender

Today I went to the woods to shoot video of my first time making and starting fire using the feather stick method.  I thought I knew how to make one. I was wrong. What ensued was frustration ans failure. A feather stick is shaving curls into a stick so that they will catch a spark and start a fire without using tender brought in. I had seen them used and did not bother to truly learn the technique. I tend to be big on taking action instead of getting trapped in analysis paralysis. I did however learn how NOT to make one today.

I’m going to share the video I shot today so you can also learn how not to make one.

I’m also going to stress the importance of carrying tender with you. Had I been in a survival situation today and needed to use the feather stick method It could have been bad. I have never had a anything but huge success with Vaseline soaked cotton balls. 100% fire every single time I have made fire using them. Usually with one or two strikes of a ferro rod. Thus saving that resource. Today I used a lot of the rod and will most likely need to replace it now.

I have not given up on the feather stick at all and plan to add it to my arsenal of tricks very soon and practice it till I master it. So the other real lesson from today is sometimes we all fail. Its learning from your mistakes, laughing about them and learning how to fix them. So this weekend get out there and go fail at something learn your lesson and have fun

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