Who doesn’t like a fire besides a smoke jumper? Those of us who are outdoorsmen and women tend to love our fires. And being a hunter, there’s always the chance that I may wind up spending some time out in the woods that wasn’t exactly planned for. So having knowledge and skills that may be useful is high on my priorities list. Fire is near the top.

When ever I am out in the woods, for what ever reason, I am always on the look out for things that would be useful to me for making and building a fire. Finding tinder that can take a spark is one of those things that can be hard to find if there’s little dry grass or possible cat tails growing without being near a body of water.

If you have and can identify a tulip poplar tree just start checking the fallen limbs in the area for bark that peals and has the stringy inner bark while gathering firewood. The poplar is pretty easy to identify when it still has leaves on it. In the winter you may have to observe the dead leaves on the ground. Most dead branches are not so obvious as one in the video. Where this video was shot I checked about a 40 yard radius and found 5 branches suitable for harvesting the tender. As stated earlier, you might have to peal some bark because the others were less obvious.

Of course you could use other materials for tinder if you use a match or lighter that can sustain a flame. I like to use the most challenging option I carry. If I can get a fire going that way, a match or lighter should be no problem.

Next time you’re out, give it a try.