Making char cloth


We use char cloth regularly on our courses when we’re teaching fire lighting.  Char cloth is a tinder made from natural fabric that’s charred in a tin, a bit like making charcoal but on a much slower, and quicker, timescale.  I generally use cotton as it’s easy to get hold of.  And from the various cotton products out there I typically use towelling, mostly old tea towels we use in our woodland camp that invariably end up somewhat black.  I prefer towelling fabric as it retains its fluffiness once charred, giving more surface area for the spark to land on.  But if you don’t have a spare tea towel around, denim also works well.

Here’s a short video of me making char cloth in preparation for a course last week.

We teach making char cloth on many of our bushcraft courses such as on our 2 Day Bushcraft Course5 Day Bushcraft Course and IOL Bushcraft Competency course.  You can see plenty of photos from these courses, as well as all of our others, on our Facebook page.


About Gary

Lead Instructor at Jack Raven Bushcraft, teaching bushcraft, wilderness and survival skills to groups and individuals.

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