Can cpm 3v or cruwear strike flint and steel

Not an expert with flint and steel, howsowever...

Hardness of minerals is measured on the Mohs scale.
Flint has a Mohs hardness of 7.
According to efunda, an engineering data site, the Mohs hardness of a knife blade is 5.5
http://www.efunda.com/units/hardness/convert_hardness.cfm?cat=Steel&HD=HM

So I think you will not have to worry about a blade that is too hard to spark with flint.

I think to throw a decent spark that can be used to start a fire using flint, the steel must be non-stainless. Helps if it is high carbon steel, too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_striker

Stainless steel is "stainless" because of an adherent oxide layer that prevents water and oxygen from reaching the metal. That barrier against oxygen getting to the metal is going inhibit the oxidation reaction that makes the spark.
You can get stainless steel the throw sparks, but they won't be the stronger sparks that you really want in order to light your tinder.
 
I think Cru wear would not be a problem.
CPM 3V might not spark easily. Depends on if all the Chromium is tied up in carbides or if there is some in the steel itself.
 
I would guess that if we compared the sparks that come off a grinder and use hardened mild steel for the baseline comparison, someone who has some grinder time could let us know if stuff like 3V and Cru-wear spark the same or less once hardened. That should at least give a starting point of how sparky they are. If this goes on until next week I could give a try, but I don't have any flint rocks here at home. Although anyone with some flint and char could do that science for us in the mean time.
 
DocJD said:
Me no smart . :confused: But not dumb enough to hit knife on rock ! :eek:
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Well let me explain the process for you, and then you may be able add to the discussion. :thumbsup:

You are hitting the spine of your knife with the flint. The spine is the dull part, so you are not hurting the edge, which is the sharp part...the working part. A tiny, tiny shard of the spine is removed, it quickly oxidizes in air (rusts!), and actually ignites.

(Though if you are one of the folks who keep their knives pristine and unused, I can understand your objections!)

See! Not that complicated, and a very common practice used by experienced, skilled, and intelligent outdoorspeople all the time.
 
marcinek said:
Well let me explain the process for you, and then you may be able add to the discussion. :thumbsup:

You are hitting the spine of your knife with the flint. The spine is the dull part, so you are not hurting the edge, which is the sharp part...the working part. A tiny, tiny shard of the spine is removed, it quickly oxidizes in air (rusts!), and actually ignites.

(Though if you are one of the folks who keep their knives pristine and unused, I can understand your objections!)

See! Not that complicated, and a very common practice used by experienced, skilled, and intelligent outdoorspeople all the time.
Click to expand...

Where is this a common practice? I have some outdoor experience but didn't know this was a thing.

I think John Rambo's next knife is going to be a bushcraft ;)
 
I wouldn’t say it’s common to do just to start your fire but it is common to practice this technique just like a bow drill fire or any other “SURVIVAL” skill you know just in case the zombies rush you and eat your backpack.

I have 1095 Condor Terrasaur and Old Hickory that I have used before for this but not wanting to do it with my Bark River hence why I’m asking and not just trying it.
 
rover said:
Where is this a common practice? I have some outdoor experience but didn't know this was a thing.

I think John Rambo's next knife is going to be a bushcraft ;)
Click to expand...

It's not common practice anymore. If you don't have charred cloth or charred something else to catch the spark, it has small chance of working. So you have to have stuff with you that you have previously prepared. If you have to bring stuff prepared beforehand in order to use flint and steel, it's a heck of a lot easier to just bring some matches.
https://www.artofmanliness.com/arti...part-i-how-to-make-fire-with-flint-and-steel/
 
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