The Tinder Bag

The tinder bag has proven to be a valuable item in many of my woodsman's kits. It serves its primary purpose as, of course, a tinder bag carrying a variety of tinder sources.

The Benefits of the Tinder Bag

In my early years of woodsmanship, I quickly learned, the hard way, that having a tinder source with you is of utmost importance - bad weather, bad location, lack of knowledge can all lead to delay in creating a lifeline we all need in the wilderness, FIRE. Storing fatwood, birch bark, chaga, even a birds nest made of cedar are all viable options for this kit which allow us to affect fire when we need it.

Years ago, I found myself using pieces of cotton to wrap up tinder. That cotton cloth then evolved to a piece of oilcloth, which evolved to a small cotton canvas pouch made from a pant leg. After years of carrying tinder bags I saw the bag slowing developing into something else.

The bag was becoming a hybrid tinder ditty bag. Now, for those of you that don't know, a ditty bag is a small bag that carries small supplies that can get lost in the mix within a woodsman's kit. In my case, I found myself carrying an extra ferrocerium rod, a small sewing kit, and a candle in my tinder bag along with, of course, tinder. So as my kit developed, so did I. I found myself searching for something to better protect my tinder and items.

I have always been a fan of leather and I like to consider myself decent at crafting leather goods. Sometimes though someone just comes up with a great product and its worth not trying to duplicate. Almost exact in size as pouches I have used in the past, along with heavy stitched leather, and most all of waterproof, I found the ultimate in tinder bags.

Leather Tinder Bags

These leather tinder bags manufactured by Randy Smith are extremely functional, indestructible, and traditional looking. Measuring 6" x 9" the tinder pouches come in two colors and have a tie closure sewn into the design. It is very easy to properly close these bags - tightly roll down the top of the pouch removing the air as you go. Once the pouch is rolled closed wrap the tie closures tightly around the bag and tie...DONE! The tinder bag will keep water from flooding out your tinder and keep your items inside dry.

I can't say enough about these tinder bags, I have used and abused mine for a few months now and they are still like brand new. They also work well as a ditty bag for all your small items, sometimes I actually carry 1 for tinder and 1 for my gear!

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