Fire Steel & Knives - Help!

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Jun 16, 2010
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I picked up a Light My Fire Scout firesteel and some Coghlan's Fire Sticks at the local outfitters shop. In my opinion, the Coghlan's sticks are a great addition to any fire kit and are cheap to boot. I wish I would have taken more than one photo, I tried using three different knives and the Light My Fire scraper to get the tinder lit, but after getting my O1 tool steel neck knife out, it was a one shot deal. Why is that?

I tried the following knives:
Mora Companion (carbon steel unmodified)
Benchmade Griptilian (154cm)
Selby Knives Little Folsom (O1 Tool Steel)

Now all three have a square edge, but the O1 necker seemed to throw HUGE globs of sparks compared to the other two blades. The Mora barely even scraped the fire steel and was no use. The Griptilian threw some sparks, but nothing compared to the O1 necker. Does this have to do more so with the hardness of the steel, than a 90* edge? I was always told it's best to have a good sharp square edge for firesteel striking, and my Griptilian has a very sharp square edge on the spine. The O1 just throws so many sparks compared to the 154cm blade.

I'm curious, because this will decide my next knife purchase.

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Very good observation / experiment. I am going to do the same trial with some of my different carry knives.
 
I am going to say it's the 90 degree angle that counts. Ferro rods aren't all that hard. Both O1 tool steel and 154cm should work equally well all things that matter being equal. I can toss great sparks with a Mora but with the notable exception of the LMF Mora I had to file the spine.

 
Also, blade finishes might play into what makes one work over another. I have no proof of this but it's one possibility.
 
Also, blade finishes might play into what makes one work over another. I have no proof of this but it's one possibility.

From my observation those need to be removed off the area which is being used to shave the firesteel. One of the reasons why bushcrafters prefer no finish.
 
Differential heat treats can also be a factor. Harder corners throw more sparks than softer ones.
 
You were in search of a hard, sharp edge and you found it. Nothing wrong with experience as a way of solving things.

I had an old trade knife that I wanted to use, but it didn't do well even though I though it was sharp. I took a diamond file to it, and it worked much better.

I also tried knapping some arrowheads. I was a failure at that, at least at that level of practice, but I got a couple of good ferro rod scrapers.
 
I am going to say it's the 90 degree angle that counts. Ferro rods aren't all that hard. Both O1 tool steel and 154cm should work equally well all things that matter being equal. I can toss great sparks with a Mora but with the notable exception of the LMF Mora I had to file the spine.


That has been my experience also and many of my knives look like your W.W. One easy way to start learning how to use a fero rod is to use the back of a Leatherman multitool saw blade, or a common carbon Opinel knife (the spine). Both of these came from the factory with blade/saw spines that just shred gobs of sparks off without any modification. Once a guy gets a decent reliable load of sparks coming off he can then experiment confidently with various natural materials.
 
Thanks for the responses, guys!

When I get some free time, I'm going to square off the spine of my Mora and give it another go. My Griptilian would throw sparks, but it just wasn't close to "globs" of sparks being thrown by my little neck knife. Then again, the Griptilian stays in my pocket as an office EDC. If I'm out of the office, I have that necker with me.
 
I have tried a few differnt knives that I thought had square spines, and was able to start a good tinder. Then I tried my new 3v knife that had a very sharp corner, like it cut me when I was using the heel of my hand to split a little stick. Talk about sparks! I can light almos anything with that one. I think it's the sharp corner more then the steel choice, but I'm not sure.
 
I have tried a few differnt knives that I thought had square spines, and was able to start a good tinder. Then I tried my new 3v knife that had a very sharp corner, like it cut me when I was using the heel of my hand to split a little stick. Talk about sparks! I can light almos anything with that one. I think it's the sharp corner more then the steel choice, but I'm not sure.

Correct.
 
from my experiments with knife blades, it seems that it only take one strike, possibly the first 10% of the strike to take the edge off of some spines. Also from my little experience with skate blades, there can be a lot in that last tiny bit of edge that makes or breaks it. I've tried to "sharpen" some spines, and some I can, and some just don't seem to get better, I suspect that since I'm using flat stones, its really hard to get a true surface over that little area. It wants to roll around any bit it can, and since we are talking thousandths, it doesn't take much to go from inferno to meh.
 
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