What it is & What it is not. Misinformation!

I think I explained a while back that I will not post corrections on other people's blogs or videos. I have done in the past, in the most respectful manner, and in private when I could, but I still attracted abuse. So instead I choose to post the correct information here, and I do not name the site on which the misinformation is posted. Which sites is not important as there is nothing to be done there. What is important is that you recognise misinformation when you see it.
If I make a mistake of my own, I will admit to it and correct it, and I do not have a problem with other people correcting me providing it is done nicely. However, do not get confused between what is wrong, and what is simply a "different way". True some ways are better than others, and some ways are just wrong, we need to keep this in mind.

The above is charred cloth which is used as tinder, it is tinder. It was not a popular tinder in the wilderness as you can imagine, but was used in some homes in the cities and towns.

It is not "char" and seperate from tinder, it is tinder.

This is a piece of punk wood, which is also used as tinder. A variety of plants and fungus are used as tinder.

This is rope fibres which can be used for kindling, just the same as dried grass or coconut fibre can be used as kindling. Light twigs and sticks are also kindling. This rope fibre is NOT tinder.

The above is a 19th century tobacco box with a burning glass in the lid used for lighting a pipe on a sunny day. It is NOT a Hudson Bay tinderbox. Yes you can use it to store tinder, flint and steel if you wish, but if you use it for making fire, or preparing tinder, it will smoke up the glass and may in time damage the burning glass.

Above are two hammers used on flint locks, they are also known as steels. Below the bottom image of a hammer you can see the hammer spring. These are NOT frizzens, and it is not therefore called a frizzen spring.

This is the cock on a flint lock, it is NOT a hammer! If it were a percussion lock it would be called a hammer, but on a flint lock it is called a COCK. The cock holds/secures the flint which strikes the hammer which creates sparks which fall upon the gunpowder priming in the pan of the flint lock which creates fire that will flash through the vent in the barrel and fire the main charge of gunpowder in the barrel of the gun.

Why does it matter if we use the correct terms or not? Well so long as we know their function it does not matter what you call an object, but if you are going to inform/instruct others, then it does matter. If dried grass is going to be called tinder, then I must assume it is kept in the tinderbox, and if charred cloth is char, then is it the only char available for making fire? Do I strike sparks on the char or the tinder? The book sais tinder, but I have not managed to catch sparks on the dried grass! Do you see where I am going here?

Yes I know people are calling the ferrocium rod a steel, and the method of using the ferrocium rod flint and steel, but it is not. Dried grass may well catch fire from a ferrocium rod scraped with a knife blade, but that does not make the dried grass into tinder! Let us all try and stick with the traditional names even when we are using modern methods and materials, otherwise it just gets confusing for the newbies.

With respect.