As a nature lover, camper, hiker, hunter or fisherman, whatever shoes you may find yourself in, it is extremely important to know what the difference between tinder and kindling are.

Some of you may be asking, wait there's a difference? Yes. In my recent attempts to start a fire with a magnesium rod, I had a huge wake up call that there indeed is a difference, and knowing it will increase your survival chances as well as make life much easier when trying to start a fire.

The difference between kindling and tinder

So what is tinder, and what is kindling? Tinder is a material that will ignite at the slightest spark, while kindling is readily combustible after the flame is already present. This is not to say that some kindling can not be properly handled to create tinder, for example cutting and shredding it to make it thinner will increase its ability to ignite by spark.

Examples of tinder:

Cotton Balls

Dry Grass

Cattail Fluff

Birch Tree Bark

Dandelion Clock

Examples of kindling: 

Cedar Bark

Dry leaves of any type and small twigs.

Kindling is just as important as tinder. Do not go through the trouble of starting the fire and using up your tinder only to have the fire go out. Have plenty of kindling next to you. Save some for later inside your shelter if possible.

In this video I used the Survival Fishing Kit to start the fire. You can see my tinder is packed in to my kindling.

Practice makes perfect, so get out there and practice. The more you use the materials around you, the more you will learn and better prepared you'll be. Happy trails, be safe out there.