Texas Chaga Substitue?

[TexasFire]

Does anyone know of a good substitute for Chaga here in Texas?

[Pointman]

The closest thing in Texas is Horseshoe fungus but you sure don't want to try and make tea out of it. If you make fine scrapings and it is thoroughly dry it will take a spark from a ferro rod but not as well as when it is prepared properly.

DBX needs to chime in here and explain. He's been experimenting and came up with a way to prepare it by soaking in a lye solution then drying. He'll have to fill us in on the particulars. I have a ton of it collected that I need to treat myself.

[MaxEntropy]

PJ/CB's are more reliable than most anything and readily available. But it sure would be nice to know where to get natural tinder if you are flat up against it. I always carry char cloth, flint and steel along with some big pieces of cotton cloth in addition to my ferro rods. Tow is a good tinder to take the char cloth to a flame.

[saustin1967]

Well for fire starter. In the piney woods Fat Wood is king. As for the other uses for chaga, Yopon Holly make a decent tea. It is the only naturally occurring source of caffeine in Texas. Best if hung to dry slowly, but can be roasted for quicker use.


Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

[Scratch4x4]

Up here on the plains, its pretty much everything you see that isnt still green. There is one particular plant that burns like gasoline, and stands throughout the year, even after dying. Ill get a picture of it later.

Didnt get a closeup, dont wanna jump someones fence to do so. But the field is covered in them.

[Los Falcon]

Since I was a kid, we used dried cow flops for a reliable fire starter and tinder.
Ranch land is plentiful of prairie campfire makings.