Tinder
Tinder is a material that is used to start fires easily when lit with a match. Some materials commonly used as tinder are:
- Dry pine needles, leaves or grass
- Birch bark
- Dead, standing (usually one season old) goldenrod
- Cloth, lint, or frayed rope (if made from plant fibers and not treated with fire retardant)
- Char cloth
- Cotton swabs, tampons
- Paper, paper towels, toilet paper, etc.
- Punk wood (in the process of rotting) or charred wood
- Some types of fungus (best known is the amadou or horse's hoof fungus)
- Bird down
- Small twigs (poor tinder but commonly available)
- Fine-grade soap-coated steel wool
- Shaved magnesium or other alkaline earth metals
