Firelighting materials

thumb|Birch bark being used as tinder in a campfire Tinder is easily combustible material used to start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder until it bursts into flame. The flaming tinder is used to ignite kindling, which in turn is used to ignite the bulk material, to produce a fire.

thumb|240px|right|Fomes fomentarius Amadou is a spongy material derived from Fomes fomentarius and similar fungi that grow on the bark of coniferous and angiosperm trees, and have the appearance of a horse's hoof (thus the name "hoof fungus"). It is also known as the "tinder fungus" and is useful for starting slow-burning fires. The fungus must be removed from the tree, the hard outer layer scraped off, and then thin strips of the inner spongy layer cut for use as tinder.

thumb|Batoning a piece of wood Batoning is the technique of cutting or splitting wood by using a baton-sized stick or mallet to repeatedly strike the spine of a sturdy knife, chisel or blade in order to drive it through wood, similar to how a froe is used. The batoning method can be used to make kindling or desired forms such as boards, slats or notches. The practice is most useful for obtaining dry wood from the inside of logs for the purpose of fire making.

thumb|A petroleum-based fire starter for grills, camp fires, stoves or ovens thumb|A variety of firelighters on sale in a German supermarket

form of tinder for starting fires

thumb|Scheitholz thumb|A small fruit crate made of wood and hardboard; in this case for strawberries Scheitholz is a German term for any log sections that have been split lengthways with an axe or log splitter and that are primarily used for firewood or the manufacture of wood shingles. The individual pieces of timber are called Holzscheite (obs.: Holzscheiter), derived from the Old High German word scît = "piece". Scheitholz boilers are used to burn quantities of Scheithölzer. The expression "auf Scheitholz knien" ("to kneel on scheitholz) was a disciplinary measure used in times when corpora