Best Firesteel method

T

Thaumaturgist

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Feb 18, 2009
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56
I've got a LMF firesteel. I created a lot of wood shavings, and put into a pile. I can't seem to get a fire started with this method. I've used drier lint, and it seems to work great. Is there something I could do differently without having to resort to using lint? Something that I could easily find in the wilderness.

Don't be too hard on me since this is my first attempt at starting a fire with anything other than some lighter fluid, and a match... Sometimes even a torch. J/K :D

Thanks!
 
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I could be misunderstanding you but I dont try for a pile of shavings like magneseum but to throw hot sparks with each strike. You should get immediate results and only take a strike or three. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbdcH5taRZ8 I have good luck with fluffed dry grass and cat tail down, also some types of fine papery bark or cambium have worked well for me. I usually pick them up as I am walking if I know i will be needing them.
Good luck.
Josh
 
IMO, dead,dry grass is the best natural tinder available. It is readily available, found everywhere in all seasons of the year. Even if it is damp, it can easily be dried out. Dry grass will take instant flame from the tiniest of sparks and requires almost no effort to ignite.
 
No need to shave off any, just scrape the steel against it to get your sparks.
Goingear has a very good video on this.
Petroleum jelly and cottonballs are about the best tinder available which will take a spark instantly virtually every time.
 
Yeah, wood is a little hard to get lit unless you have one with loose enough fibers where you can fluff it up or if you just keep splitting a twig until you get down to the fiber level. It's a lot easier to get some birch bark, jute twine, PJ cotton balls, char cloth, etc. etc. to use to start your fire.
 
Have you tried making feather / fuzz sticks ?
Run the knife edge down a piece of wood to produce lots of curls on it.
These curls allow the piece of wood to catch a spark from a firesteel.

[youtube]326RtScPADM[/youtube]
 
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A few methods I like: pick some of the small light green, almost grey moss that grows ok a fir tree, they are usually pretty small, so collect several bunches and use that for you tender to catch a spark. Another method I like is to put you blade (sharp side) perpendicular to the wood, run your blade down it several times, this will create very fine shavings that will catch a spark easily. Works extremely well with pitchwood. Caution on that method, make sure your using a good knife with a very good blade otherwise you will dull your knife easily. I have been doing that for years with my Dozier knives and it never dulls them. Dead fern works well too. Also use a cell phone and some steelwool. That is a sure fire!
 
Try to make the shavings as thin as you can... and I mean thin.....like able to view it in an electron microscope thin...pile 'em together than whittle a single sparl off the very tip of your fire steel in to the mass..and be patient... wood doesn;t go up like other natural tinders.. but it will catch but sometimes it takes allot of time to get it to go...Good luck
 
KuRUpTD said:
Have you tried making feather / fuzz sticks ?
Run the knife edge down a piece of wood to produce lots of curls on it.
These curls allow the piece of wood to catch a spark from a firesteel.
Click to expand...

I've tried doing something similar, but I haven't had luck with it yet. I'll give it another shot. Thanks for the vid! Is there wood that this works better with, or anything that's down, and dry?
 
Thaumaturgist - it sounds like what you are encountering is not much different from what many of us experience. First, I'm glad you can successfully light lint as this indicates you are practicing your striking technique and succesful at it.

Unless you have one of the mische-type metal ferro rods, it is very difficult to get wood to catch a spark directly. Fuzz stick curls will not catch a spark in my experience, they make great kindling when you have a flame but they aren't good tinder. Neither are wood shavings.

What you have to do is produce actual saw dust. You actually scrape the wood with the edge of your knife (at 90 degree angle from the wood) to create saw dust. Alternatively, use a saw on your SAK to cut something dry and gather up the dust. Even with dust, the chance of lighting it is totally dependent on the moisture content of the dust and some woods are just a PITA to catch flame, no matter how ideal.

Looking for the right kind of natural tinder that will easily catch a spark requires a bit of skill and a bit of looking through the environment. Some kind of grasses work and others don't that well. A lot fluffy stuff (like phragmities heads, milk weed seeds, cattail heads) will readily catch a spark and produce a flame but only for 1 or 2 s and you need something to extend that flame. This why folks go out of their way looking for fatwood because it makes both an excellent natural tinder and an excellent kindling. Birch bark is also great. You will have to experiment with what works for you.

The difficulties that natural tinder can present is also a reason why most of us have some sure fire tinder back-up like PJC in our kits. The reality is that you just might not be able to find a natural tinder to work when you want to.

Now the Mische metal type rods are a bit different. They are harder to strike, require faster action and more pressure than the LMF ones. The problem with this is that you become more uncontrolled in your strike as a result and the sparks aren't as well aimed, and you more easily knock your tinder over. The good part of these things is that when you get them to strike you produce a little molten glob that burns for 2 or 3 s rather than the instanteous sparks produced by the other rods. Those little molten globs will get tinder in flame that will not accept a spark by the traditional rod.

I am slowly starting to like the Mische ones better now as I'm starting to appreciate their versatility from a tinder lighting standpoint apart from the difficulties I had with striking them.
 
KGD- Nice write up... I agree, none Fatwood or Pitch wood can be difficult to light. Other materials are often easier. You can do it with regular wood. If you have Fir trees near you, get a fer dead branches on the lower section of a live tree. THese remain dry when it rains and typically will take a spark when you scrape it at a 90 degree angle with the blade. One of the most important things to remember is practice makes perfect. If you think you are good to go, keep practicing because in a real life or death survival situation, it is very difficult to get a fire going.
I have found with the Mische rods, that I can actually get a much better and more controlled spark than with the LMF ones. If you place the end of your rod into the base of your tender, then put the knife against the rod, and a thumb on the side of the knife, then you can make a short, hard push about a half an inch by digging your knife down the rod it will make an intensely hot shower of sparks. I cannot do that with the LMF rods.
Good luck on getting your fire going! Remember practice a lot!
 
Thaumaturgist said:
I've tried doing something similar, but I haven't had luck with it yet. I'll give it another shot. Thanks for the vid! Is there wood that this works better with, or anything that's down, and dry?
Click to expand...

ive wondered the same thing. i have a real hard time making fuzz sticks with some wood. wondering what would be the best wood for a fuzz stick
 
Welcome,
Alot of great advice has been given all I am going to add is Practice....and practice some more :thumbup::D
 
KuRUpTD said:
Have you tried making feather / fuzz sticks ?
Run the knife edge down a piece of wood to produce lots of curls on it.
These curls allow the piece of wood to catch a spark from a firesteel.

[youtube]326RtScPADM[/youtube]
Click to expand...

Hey.....that's me!!!!!

Everyone has had good advice for you, but I have a couple thoughts.

Dryer lint, PJ cotton balls, jute, all that is good. But, it is nice to be able to look around and know what natural materials will work for you, so that you can keep all that stuff in your "kit."

Wood shavings will work, as shown in the video. But, there are two key factors. 1) The wood has to be bone dry. This may require getting to the center of a larger piece of wood, rather than just picking up a thumb sized stick 2) Your "ignition" curls have to be paper thin.

It is not likely that you will do it the first time, so keep playing.

The really cool thing about being able to start a fire this way, is knowing that you can start a fire with just ONE LOG. No tinders, no cheaters, etc. How do you do that, you might ask?

If you check out this thread, I show I show how one log is paired down into all the various stages of fuel to make a fire, and start it with one match. Had I taken the time to make a fine fuzz stick as in the video above, the whole fire could have come from one log.

It is a very powerful realization when you know in wet conditions, everything can be had without having to look for fatwood, dry grass, etc. By all means, use that stuff when you find it. But sometimes, dry stuff is just scarce.

B
 
This thread has some great information. I like it!!! Another thing to remember and I see this a lot, when you are trying to get a fire ready, don't rush it, do all the prep work that needs to be done to get it going on the first try (once a flame is made). have all materials to get a healthy fire going at hand because the initial flame is an important thing to keep alive. Especially when it takes a while to get the tender ready.
 
Oregon Knife Guy said:
, do all the prep work that needs to be done to get it going on the first try (once a flame is made). have all materials to get a healthy fire going at hand because the initial flame is an important thing to keep alive. Especially when it takes a while to get the tender ready.
Click to expand...

Someone once told me that starting a fire is like chinese cooking. The time is ALL in the prep. The cooking goes fast, as does the actually matching striking and lighting of the fire :D I find it is very true.

B
 
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