Amadou has been around a while, it's made from a fungus, sliced and pounded flat so it's like a springy felt. The fungus is Fomes fomentarius, grows mostly on birch trees, where it's a kind of rot. We like it because it sucks up water, but it has a few older uses.

Back in 1991, on a glacier high on the mountain border between Austria and Italy, climbers found a corpse. They reported their find and the authorities investigated. But this was no modern crime scene, very quickly the police called out Lars' archaeological colleagues. They had found the Iceman, an incredibly well preserved 5000 year old Neolithic man.

The find was important for all sorts of reasons, not least because the Iceman's clothing and personal possessions were with him. And in his pouch were several "small sharpened flint stones, a small drill-like piece of flint, and slender bone-tool" and a black felt-like substance - which turned out to be Fomes fomentarius. Clearly this was special stuff, not something he improvised or picked up as he went along, the prepared fungus and tools were carefully packed in a secure pouch.

It would be great if we had some evidence that the Iceman was a fly fisher and used his Amadou to dry Neolithic flies - but more likely he wanted it because it smoulders - he used it to help make and carry fire.

I could blather on about other historic uses: dressing wounds, hats, pincushions, Siberian snuff…

Amadou is roughly the most absorbent stuff you can get, squeeze a soggy dry-fly between the slices and you have a dry dry-fly. Springforelle have mounted a couple of generous slices of amadou on exotic wood (olive, rosewood or ebony) linked on a leather lanyard so it hangs conveniently from a waistcoat (aka vest.) The best way I know to revive CDC

Price: 46 Euros
From: Springforelle
www.springforelle.de

Magnus
Jan '08