Thanks
screened porch
,
@Henry Beige, and
Jack Black
. That helps.
Given Jack’s description of flint and steel being more difficult than ferro rod, but not has hard as many suppose, I think I’ll try that way first. It sounds like the kind of thing I’d enjoy.
And yeah, I know there are a bunch of videos on the topic and will be turning to them soon. Just looking to pick up a chart before sailing that sea.
Ferro rods are easier to get a fire going with in the wind than a match or a lighter. With the ferro rod, the wind is your friend. I absolutely never use matches any more.
A little fatwood, made into fine shavings, and some scrapings of the fatwood, made with the back of the knife or the back of a SAK saw - multi tool saws are good for this too, as are Silky Saws, and scrape the ferro rod. It is not necessary to be really vigorous with the scraping, and it works better if the tip of the rod is braced on the surface of whatever has the scrapings on it. Get close. Don't try to ignite shavings a foot away. It is NOT necessary to have a carbon steel scraper. Stainless works fine. Even a sharp rock shard will work. Once you get it, it will become your favored way. It won't take long to get it either. Lots of YouTube videos will show the way.
Fatwood really isn't necessary either. Actually, just for fun, I sometimes cut a green branch with leaves on it and make some really fine shavings, which can be ignited with the ferro rod. These shavings burn out fast, but they will ignite.
There is ABSOLUTELY no way to do this with a flint and steel, or to directly ignite any shavings that I have seen - even fatwood, directly with a flint and steel. For that it is necessary to have some tinder that will glow upon catching the relatively cool spark thrown by striking hardened carbon steel (yes, I have often used the back of an old I*XL pocket knife for this, but prefer a steel made by grinding the edge of an old file smooth), with a rock that is hard enough to scrape off red hot particles of steel off the striker. I have never had an actual piece of flint, but have found it pretty easy to find a piece of quartz, that can be broken to produce a sharp edge, that will produce good sparks.
The easiest way to produce the tinder (char cloth), is to get some 100% cotton cloth, as some from some old blue jeans before they stated putting (gag) spandex in them. Get a strip of this about 2 or 3 inches wide and 18 or so inches long. Get a cookie tin, with a tight fitting lid, and have it open at the ready. Hang the cloth over a stick and ignite it with a match or lighter. It will flame up. Be ready when the flames die, and while the cloth is still glowing put it in the tin and put the lid on. Open it up after a few minutes, and look at your lovely char cloth. Other things can be used to catch the spark, but I have found that making char cloth is the easiest, and works really well.
Practice, in some fairly dim light, striking sparks by hitting the "flint" with the steel. When you can consistently make sparks, (you don't need to make a fireworks display), then prepare a tinder bundle of dry grass, really fine wood shavings, scrapings of fatwood, dry pine needles etc., about the size of a softball and work it into a kind of birds nest shape. Now take an inch or so of the char cloth, lay it on top of the flint, or quartz, really close to the edge, and strike some sparks. On the first or 20th try - or more, or less -don't give up - a spark will land on the char cloth and start it glowing. If you blow on it a bit, wave it around or hold it up to a brisk wind it will glow more. For first effort you might want to add a little more char cloth to the mix which will then be put into that birds nest which can then be folded over and blown into flame.
With a carbon steel striker, and quartz available for the picking up anywhere I frequent, it comes down to the tinder - the char cloth. It is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to find tinder in the wild that will ignite when you need it. It can be found, but will need time to dry and process it. You need DRY tinder for this to work, but when you have that - away you go. By the way, the back of a Silky Saw makes a wonderful striker for making sparks with quartz.
With a little practice you may start to wonder why matches were ever invented!
I picked that one up at Jorvik Viking Festival, works pretty well 
..