Everyone on the net seems to believe that charred cloth for fire making is created only inside of a tin of some sort. Altoids tins seem the most common. And usually folks poke a hole in the tin.
You don't have to go through all that to make charred cloth. Not at all. And you can carry both charred cloth and the means to make it easily in any kit or pocket without a tin. In fact, you can have it all in your wallet.
Cloth becomes charred cloth when high heat is applied to it (or any plant fiber) in the absence of enough oxygen to allow it to burst into flame. (It must be plant based fiber.) Remember, you only need to keep oxygen to a minimum while the cloth chars. You do not need a tin for this.
There are several ways to achieve this condition, including burying cloth in the ashes of a fire, but the simplest, and in my opinion, best method is with aluminum foil.
Yep, plain old foil. You probably have some in your go bag or gear kit already. Or perhaps you carry it in your fire kit for other reasons. Well, now you're about to have another reason.
Here's the simple method:
Cut cloth into squares. I like small ones. You can make them as big or small as you like. Mine are about the size of my thumbnail. I find small is easier with flint and steel.
I use cotton canvas scrap. Old jeans are nice too.
Lay out a nice strip of foil. Maybe 3 inches by whatever the length of the roll is. Maybe a foot or so. Doesn't matter.
Lay the cloth squares on the foil at one end of the strip. Now fold the foil over the squares. Keep folding to make a nice multilayer packet. Don't leave any air in there, fold smooth and tight. Now fold in the edges. You should have a nice square of foil layers with folded edges around your cloth.
Indoors: put a metal fry pan on the stove on as high heat as you can get. Not one with any kind of nonstick coating, plain metal.
Throw the packet in the pan and place another smaller pot or pan on top of it. So the packet with the cloth in it is now wedged in between the two pans on high heat.
There will be no more smoke than a burning candle. So feel free to do it anytime inside.
Outdoors: use two heavy flat rocks on the fire. Not wet rocks. Wet rocks can explode.
Anyhow, this takes maybe 20 minutes on my stove.
You can unroll the foil at any stage and check the progress. When near black, you are done. If not, just refold and put it back on.
When done, just leave it in the foil and toss it in your kit/pocket/wallet. It is small and thin and weighs nothing. The beauty of this is that the foil not only keeps the charred cloth, it keeps it dry. And it also allows you to make more with the same foil. So long as you can make a packet with it, you can char more cloth.
To recap:
-no tin needed
-no smoke
-easy
-easy to check on for doneness
-foil packs small, protects the charred cloth.. even from moisture
-the finished product fits in your wallet, and is also the kit itself.. so it is there and ready for making more
So skip the holey tin and the smokefest. You can make and carry charred cloth easily along with the means to make more of it in a packet the size of a school love note from Betty Sue.