Do-all jigsaw as steel

[Bear]

I had some first-hand experience with the effects of humidity on Bic lighters when I was out in the rainy Florida forest this weekend. That made me determined to include an MFS or flint (ferrocium) rod in my kits from now on.

I read somewhere that Do-All (or similar) jigsaw blades make good steels. (Not to mention saving me from scrounging for old hacksaw blades.)

Does anybody have any experience with this? If so, what style blade works well? I'm imagining you could get double-duty out of the saw for cutting notches for snare triggers and the like.

Bear

 

[V Shrake]

All jigsaw blades I've tried so far have worked reallly well to strike sparks from a ferro rod. I use the back of the blade, though, not the teeth. You still get good sparks (once the paint is worn off and you get down to bare metal), and that way you don't gouge the rod or dull the jigsaw blade.

Another good striker is the awl from an SAK, or the back of the saw on an SAK. You need to have something solid to hold against the teeth of the SAK saw in order to get a good strike, so the awl is usually a better choice.

For an absolute SHOWER of sparks, use the file from your multi-tool to strike a ferro rod. It does tend to chew up the rod, but it really puts out a lot of sparks if you have some hard to light tinder.

If you carry a machete in the field, the unsharpened portion near the handle (the ricasso) is perfect for striking a ferro rod. You can get lots of energy in the strike, since the whole weight of the blade is behind it, and machetes have a near-perfect temper and carbon content for use as a striker.

It's also not a bad idea to try out the back of whatever knife you carry in the field for use as a striker in an emergency. I don't like to use the edge, since it's hard on the knife, but I've found that the back of my Campanion (with the poweder coat scratched off) makes a really good striker in case i don't have any other choice. Generally, though, I always carry a 4 inch section of hacksaw blade with me (with a duct tape "handle") to strike my ferro rods. They give great sparks, and also perform even better than jigsaw blades for making trigger parts for traps. The finer teeth count and longer blade make the hacksaw easier to use without a handle.