A feather stick is a length of wood which has been shaved to produce a head of thin curls.

It is used when starting an outdoor fire or campfire when dry tinder

Tinder

Tinder is easily combustible material used to ignite fires by rudimentary methods. A small fire consisting of tinder is then used to ignite kindling. Anything that can be ignited by a match can be considered tinder; or by more rigorous definition, anything that begins to glow under a shower of...

 is hard to find, and is often used in conjunction with charcloth.

It has been popularised recently in the media by exponents of Bushcraft

Bushcraft

Bushcraft is a long-term extension of survival skills. A popular term for wilderness skills in Canada, The UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the term was popularised in the southern hemisphere by Les Hiddins in Australia as well as in the northern hemisphere by Mors Kochanski and...

 such as Ray Mears.

It is believed to be a traditional method of fire starting, utilising basic tools and methods.

Using Feather sticks

Feather sticks are made from dead "standing" wood, such as a branch that has broken from a tree and died, but has not yet fallen to the ground. The bark and the outer layer of wood are removed to reveal the dry heartwood. This is then shaved, with axe or knife, to produce as many curls as possible.

While the flakes can be fairly coarse, the finer they are shaved the more easily they light.

When used in conjunction with charcloth, a small piece of charcloth is wound around the curls and a spark is struck on to it, using either the traditional flint

Flint

Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...

 and steel

Firesteel

A Fire striker is a piece of high-carbon steel used for striking a spark, usually kept in a tinderbox together with flint and tinder.-Usage:...

 or a modern ferrocerium

Ferrocerium

Ferrocerium is a man-made metallic material that has the ability to give off a large number of hot sparks at temperatures at when scraped against a rough surface , such as ridged steel...

striker. This is then blown onto until the curls catch fire: the whole feather stick is then placed into the waiting kindling to start the campfire.

External links

• Using Charcloth Website showing feather sticks in use.