Fantastic! That sounds almost as charitable as the Federal Reserve money printing machine! Good for you. I've lots to learn from old trappers like you. ?
Good Use For Empty Tins?
- Thread starter FLDRD
- Start date
I love my empty tins. I use the larger Rattrays for bookends on my shelf, and the others as wall decorations, guitar pick storage...I once put some BBs in one and used it as a shaker for recording.
I love the look and feel of certain tins, SG, Rattrays, MacBarens especially, and have far too many decorating my end of the living room.
I love the look and feel of certain tins, SG, Rattrays, MacBarens especially, and have far too many decorating my end of the living room.
Like @johhnyreb, I use the small round ones for camping ashtrays, keep one in the camper and take one with my pipe kit on hikes (don't want to drop hot ash when it's dry out). I'll glue in the top of a champagne cork as a knocker.
They also work great for making char cloth. Just poke a hole in the top, fill with all-cotton scraps of fabric and toss in a fire. Remove when smoke is no longer coming out of the hole. You use char cloth to catch the spark from your flint & steel when making fires the old-timey way.
They also work great for making char cloth. Just poke a hole in the top, fill with all-cotton scraps of fabric and toss in a fire. Remove when smoke is no longer coming out of the hole. You use char cloth to catch the spark from your flint & steel when making fires the old-timey way.
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So you "char" the cloth that's inside? Then it's ready for catching a spark to start an [emergency] type of fire? Ok. How big of a hole would you make for the initial venting when charring?
Here's an article on making char cloth with photos:
How to Start a Fire: Make Char Cloth | The Art of Manliness
Here's an article from the American Mountain Man magazine on the whole fire making process in pre-Bic days:
TLR-FIRE-2019-APRIL-28.pdf (americanmountainmen.org)
You just need a small hole, like by using the tip of an awl or nail. Just to let some air transfer. In the second article, he just counted on the gap from the lid not sealing (square tin). With a round tin (like I use as they don't fall open as easy in your pack) you do need a small hole.
I have one Mississippi River Special Reserve tin that I use for guitar picks. But I lose those so fast, it's a one tin job. I have held onto the others so far, I like the idea of repurposing. Although I haven't been smoking a pipe for all that long and a lot of what I have has been bulk so not too many have built up.
Just don't lose the tin....
I too, use them for Guitar picks. And also thumb tacks, fly tying hooks, and various other fly tying stuff....
Every couple years we have a garage sale. Right up front, where people driving by can see it, I put a big box marked "Free Stuff". Among other things I put in it are a bunch of empty tobacco tins. It's amazing how fast they disappear.
I put empties in the recycle. Except for a GLP Renaissance and a DT Holly's Non Plus Ultra, the likes of which -- hand on heart -- will never be seen again on this side of the rainbow bridge.
Just make a redneck chandelier out of them. When finished and the thing is hung, call the neighbors over to swoon over your skills and excellent taste.
I forgot to mention you don't need actual flint to make a spark, you can often find other local rocks that will work. I've got a friend who knows all about rocks and will find pieces of chert, etc. that spark. He'll just try them with his steel, which he carries with him
This is partially why people were still using flintlocks even in the late 1800's, because you could find flint substitutes and cast your own lead balls (even from recovered lead), so all you really needed from the outside world was powder (though you could make black powder too, one of the Foxfire books shows this).
I'm saving my empty tobacco tins to store my slow match and in the longer term I'd like to learn to light fires (and clays) with flint & steel; they'd be good for my fire lighting kit.
Haven't done this myself yet (since I usually prefer to hike in the PNW summer and ski in the winter) but I think tin's would actually be a pretty efficient way to store items for backpacking. You could have one tin that was an emergency kit (gauze, quickclot, some thread, surgical needly, micro scissors, etc.), have one that has fire tools in it (flint, vaseline, cottonball, etc.), you could also put coffee grounds with some microfilters for your camp coffee, or you could bring a full tin of some good bac
Probably been said already, but I use mine for ashtrays around the house and ship. I buy the cork balls and glue em to the bottom. I also use em for n fishing tackle (weights and hooks, by size). Besides that, I toss em because I have far too many.
As far as the lids, I nail em up around my barn and shop.
As far as the lids, I nail em up around my barn and shop.