Fat Rope test .
After I was kindly sent some Fat-Rope tinder by Hangar51 to test out by @alphabushcraft I thought I’d do a few little tests to see how well it performed .
The stick is easy to cut using a sharp knife just trimming down a few sections to test out its performance . The inner core fluffs up nicely and is protected by a waxed paper tube which also burns well .
The tinder caught quickly from a fire-steel struck with a tungsten circle striker and the burn-time was plenty to get a small fire going even in a slight breeze .
I then decided to see how well it performed wet and did both a spill and dunk test .
I cut and lit another section of the Fat Rope again using the fire-steel and then deliberately spilled some water onto it .
You can see in picture 5 that the water displaced the tinder but that some sections stayed alight it would have been possible to scoop these up with the tip of my knife and transfer to another tinder bundle .
For the dunk test I cut another section which I then fluffed up between my hands and then submerged into the pond .
It did cough and splutter a bit but it did take a spark after a few attempts and I was able to get a small fire going after its dunking .
So the Fat Rope worked for me however personally I think the whole package is a little too big for a dedicated bushcraft fire kit / survival pouch type scenario but would be suited for prepping / over landing vehicle expedition use for example .
I’m used to using smaller ‘one fire one tinder types such as the Badest Bee fire-fuzes or wet fire tinder which are lower profile and easy to stash .
That being said the stuff definitely works well and can always be cut into small watertight baggies for easy size storage .
Available in the UK from
https://www.alphabushcraft.com/collections/fire-making/products/fat-rope-stick-production-area-51
https://www.alphabushcraft.com/collections/fire-making/products/p1-survival-fire-system-by-c-a-p-e-solutions-uk
