Ferro Rod, part II: the Striker

[Nathan S]

OK, I know this thread will probably be old news for all the wilderness experts out there, but I'm a ferro rod neophyte and wanted to share some thoughts with other aspiring firestarters.

As I mentioned in another thread, I recently acquired some fire steels. I've been practicing with them, but I have to admit I've been a little disappointed with the results. In particular, I was having a hard time getting a decent spark off the steels. It seemed to me that the strikers were too smooth; I just wasn't getting enough bite on my downstroke. I got better results after I roughed up the edges of the strikers with a file.

Then I remembered someone saying in a thread that they used a piece of hacksaw blade as a striker. As a matter of fact, I had an old hacksaw blade in my toolbox, so I thought I'd give it a try. Wow, what a difference! That hacksaw blade really made the sparks fly, at least double what the original striker would do. I cut it down to size, and it really works. Now I have a new striker and I'm psyched up to go practice firemaking this weekend.

Like I said, I know I just re-invented the wheel, but hopefully this information will be useful to somebody who, like me, is just starting to get acquainted with alternate (read: not with lighters or matches) firestarting methods.

 

[Donald]

Nathan,

Do you use the toothed side or smooth side of the hacksaw blade? I have used both, but the toothed side gives a lot of wear.

I agree re the FireSteel striker. I was using the Firesteel to try and start a piece of fatwood. Anemic sparks. Got my Blastmatch. No problem! Then I pulled out my Leatherman Wave and opened the file. Using the smooth side of the file I got great sparks from the FireSteel and also started the fatwood. Back to the tried an true.

I was disappointed in the scraping steel that comes with the Firesteel. They feel like they should work. After the first failures, I even squared off a portion with a diamond hone. I'll have to ask Piet about it, since he has used them so much.

If I get a chance, I am going to post some more details here, as I want to supplement the post.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=119065

 

[sgtmike88]

Now that you've roughed up the FireSteel by using a fine toothed hacksaw blade or file, use the squared backside of a carbon steel or high speed tool steel sabresaw blade. A two pack of these fine blades at your local Sears or Sears hardware for around $2 and they produce showers of huge sparks for me. I've even relit cigarettes in my ash tray with this combo.

Mike

 

[Donald]

I think I'll also try the front of a RemGrit jigsaw blade. It might be hard on the ferrocerium rod, but I bet I get sparks! Then after my fun, I'll try the back.

 

[Nathan S]

Donald - I used the toothed edge. It did cause a lot of wear, but that's OK, since I'm not going to be using the ferro rod every day. I'm sure it'll still last a long time. And if I wear it out, hey, I'll just get another firesteel.

Mike - I want to try your idea, too. As soon as I get a chance, I'm going to browse my local hardware store, to see what other kind of blades they have in stock.