Tinder Plugs and Cat Tail Heads

[TonyInPleasantValley]

So once we have mastered fire in the game, some items like the ones in the title become less useful. Does anyone else do what I do with them? So having gotten lost in blizzard, fog, etc. conditions what I started doing was making a trail with these items I no longer have much use for. So on the ice, I may put one in the middle of the water way and then at the edge, and so on and so forth until I get to a cabin or rope climb or other item of interest. This helps guide me in the game when it gets nautical out there and I would otherwise perish because I am wandering blind. A while back, I used spray paint for this but I didn't like that it would eventually fade away and that I had to carry paint around all the time. So I decided I would drop items of little use to me but that I was always able to gather to help guide me, even in normal conditions because I often was getting confused as to which rock to turn right at to get to the cave to get me to Carter Dam or the like. Wonder what others do in game to help them navigate in both good and bad weather?

[UTC-10]

You find alternate uses for something that is more useful/valuable than its original purpose which has declined in importance.  

Due to the ravages of Lost and Found, I would use cattail heads for trail markers and eventually replace them, if I had the time and inclination, with campfires.  Cattails  and other things got swept up in Lost and Found, negating a lot of effort to mark trails and safe crossings, but campfires were not  touched.  So I went back to upgrading trails of cattail heads, tinder plugs, stones, even charcoal with campfires which were permanent (unless they sank beneath the snow and ice) and were more visible in most conditions, even pretty low visibility.  

 

[Tonya1026]

Spray paint is pretty new in the game, so I never really found much use for it. During my last run when I was having to make multiple trips to carry my stuff from one map to the other, I used the spray paint to remind me which cave I left my stuff in. I didn’t know it faded but I never really used it long-term anyway. When I first played and needed to mark a path in a cave I would use coal, sticks, rocks, or torches. But then sometimes I guess it would reset so I couldn’t guarantee that would actually work either. And using rocks or coal inside a cave when there’s already rocks in it, doesn’t help much anyway, truthfully. Honestly, I’ve been playing so long now that I don’t really need to mark my way because I know it pretty good. I also printed out all of the maps out so if I get stuck, I can always check my print outs. 

[Leeanda]

Honestly I still use them for fires no matter what level I am!   Seems I'm the only one who does!😁

[Merrak]

Now this is an idea I've never thought of before. While Spray Paint is nice, I typically use if as point of reference (indicate a building type that lies ahead, etc). I never thought to drop tinder plugs as breadcrumbs. Is there a fast way to drop them on the move, or must you go into the inventory screen each time and click to drop one?

[DaGnome91]

15 minutes ago, Merrak said:

Now this is an idea I've never thought of before. While Spray Paint is nice, I typically use if as point of reference (indicate a building type that lies ahead, etc). I never thought to drop tinder plugs as breadcrumbs. Is there a fast way to drop them on the move, or must you go into the inventory screen each time and click to drop one?

Inventory, then drop one... it's tedious. I decided to trust my memory

[Merrak]

4 minutes ago, DaGnome91 said:

Inventory, then drop one... it's tedious. I decided to trust my memory

If only they let us set anything we want as a "decoy". Would be perfect for that!

I don't trust myself enough to do Inventory > Drop One...because I know how often I'm going to press the "Drop All" button. lol

[DaGnome91]

47 minutes ago, Merrak said:

If only they let us set anything we want as a "decoy". Would be perfect for that!

Oh this, this is an idea I'd like !

[TonyInPleasantValley]

I think if you have fewer than 5 it is simple to drop them, but yeah if you have 20 it is about 3 clicks to drop one. I don't drop them extremely close to each other so I don't need as many and I don't get bored. Also, I might take multiple passes to get a trail marked. For instance, if I am going from TWM to Carter Dam, on the way out I drop a few starting at Draft Dodger's cabin in the woods to the creek, pretty far apart but trying to do it in as much of a line as possible (could be straight or curved). On the way back, drop more in between the ones before. Repeat the next time. This way it is quick and not tedious and builds up over time. Also if things do disappear, having multiple passes seems to keep the bread crumbs there. I have been using the water ways as paths and then just bread crumb to points of interest like Draft Dodger's Cabin before the rope climb in PV up to Skeeter's Ridge. So in a sudden blizzard, I was in an area I don't spend a lot of time in, the birch forest. All I needed to do was find the ice, pick a direction, determine which way I was heading, and then find the bread crumbs to get out of the weather. Saved my bacon on more than one occasion!!

[hozz1235]

7 hours ago, Tonya1026 said:

Spray paint is pretty new in the game, so I never really found much use for it.

I use it to mark looted cars which I can't lift the hood on.  I also use it extensively in HRV to mark the cave system entrances.  I then mark branching paths within the cave system so I know which path leads to which cave exit.  Makes navigating a cinch!

[TonyInPleasantValley]

@hozz1235How long before the paint fades away? When I read that it fades long ago when spray paint was added, I decided not to bother. Permanent marking would have been great! I have dozens of cans that I wouldn't mind putting to some use...thought about using it to jazz up some of my homes, lol.

[hozz1235]

2 minutes ago, TonyInPleasantValley said:

@hozz1235How long before the paint fades away? When I read that it fades long ago when spray paint was added, I decided not to bother. Permanent marking would have been great! I have dozens of cans that I wouldn't mind putting to some use...thought about using it to jazz up some of my homes, lol.

I can't recall it ever fading.

[CoffeeCup]

Brilliant! I'd sometimes make arrows in cave systems, but thats it. 

[TonyInPleasantValley]

I just gathered a ton of cat tails and used them to mark the way in several places to FA. Not quite there and need to mark how you get in, as I remember it being really tricky last time with lots of ways that looked right but were dead ends...