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Best ferro striker?

W

wasp

Joined
Jan 20, 2000
Messages
137
I've always used hacksaw blade that the teeth have been ground down a bit(ala Chris Janowski)but I've seen lot's of others.What's the most effective striker to use?:)
 
I also use hacksaw blades but I like to square off the back of my knife and machete blades and use that. I have never failed to get a large volume of sparks with the back of a blade. Some of my can openers on my various SAKs and multi-blade knives work great for this too. Mac
 
The squared off spine of my knife, or a hacksaw, but the knife throws better sparks and is easier on my hands, as I don't always get it going first strike.


cz75b: What is Sandvik Coromant?
 
hacksaw blade here too. I get the best sparks when I dig in the squared point at the end blade into the middle of the rod. It lights tougher barks because the spark appears larger and hotter when I do it that way.
 
I recently cut down a kershaw outcast which left a sizeable hunk of the tip. I am now using that as my striker as well as a mini "back-up" blade for my PSK. It worked out well because all I had to do was cut the corresponding amount of the sheath off to house the tip in and I can attach my ferro rod to that, one nice tidy package and there is still enough sheath left to use when I get around to finishing what I started with the outcast.
 
Hacksaw blade over here... I sometimes use the back of my knives just to prove it can be done but so far my F1 and RAT-7 don't do as well as the piece of hacksaw. They are bigger and more prone to send all my tinder flying.
I am about to get two BRKT's and I guess both of them have a ferro rod holder for the standar Light my Fire ARMY model... how about those strikers? I mean... if they are sold as strikers they can't be that bad, can they? (as you can see I don't own any... I just bought some 10x100mm blanks on eBay)

Mikel
 
Hacksaw blades are cheap and efficient, and light. But the best striker is the awl on a Vic Farmer. Great strikes, much more comfortable and controllable than the hacksaw piece. Allows a nice, full grip versus the 'pinch' you give the hacksaw.
 
I use hacksaw blades, sharp spines on knives, and different things on my leatherman (like the file).

As a side note, I recently got an army model, whereas before I only had scouts. And woooo! I can get much bigger sparks that land on what I'm lighting and continue to spark. I can consistently light things with one good strike with the army, whereas the scout took me a few tries.
 
i agree with the hacksaw blades... they throw a mean spark and are cheap and easy to find...:thumbup:

a while back i scored a scott gossman firesteel striker, in O-1... this thing is awesome... it throws a huge shower of sparks....:eek: scott normally doesn't put an edge on these, but he made an exception for me... it sports a wicked sharp semi-scandi convexed edge....:D check it out... this thins is just too cool...

you can also see my damascus wedding ring, really well in this pic....:D
IMG_0623.jpg
 
I square off the edges of SAK tools (nailfiles, insode of bottle openers) and these work well for me.

I am having trouble with a fixed blade spine however. What is the best way to square off the back of a fixed knife blade? There is a section of a small case hunter I have that I'm trying to grind down. I've tried with a dmt bench type stone on a flat surface, holding the knife spine as perpendicular as possible (freehad) and grinding awy. Metal is being removed, but I'm not getting it very square. Any tips? Maybe I just haven;t ground away enough material? It is stainless steel if that matters, but the SAKs are S.S. as well. Come to think of it, I never reall got a hacksaw blade squared off enough to work as well as everyone says they should, so I must be doing something wrong with my method.

Thoughts and comments appreciated. MODS - If this is too close to a thread hijack, feel free to delete. :o
 
Funny this thread came up.

I just bought a BSA hot spark yesterday and I could get decent spark but not enough to set a napkin on fire easily. So I used a knife with a high carbon steel and nearly scared myself with the amount of sparks it made. Needless to say the napkin went on fire on the first try.
 
mtnfolk mike said:
i agree with the hacksaw blades... they throw a mean spark and are cheap and easy to find...:thumbup:

a while back i scored a scott gossman firesteel striker, in O-1... this thing is awesome... it throws a huge shower of sparks....:eek: scott normally doesn't put an edge on these, but he made an exception for me... it sports a wicked sharp semi-scandi convexed edge....:D check it out... this thins is just too cool...

you can also see my damascus wedding ring, really well in this pic....:D
IMG_0623.jpg
Click to expand...

That's freakin sweet! My favorite tool is the spine on my Koster Bushcraft.

Where'd you get the ring? I was thinking about Ti vs damascus for my wedding ring.
 
Newadventure: Use a metal file, the sharpening stone will take forever and needlessly wear out the stone.
 
A sharp piece of flint works real good, also the worthless bottle opener on a leatherman kick.
 
My survival kit has a CRKT Wrangler with a firesteel attached. Thing is comfortable on the hand closed and throws tons of sparks.

OT- Snow- I love my wedding ring set in Mokume by Delbert Ealy! Now I just have to wait until July to wear it (but fiancee loves her rings too- I can just look at her engagement ring if I need a fix)
 
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