Firestarting question.....

DeSotoSky

DeSotoSky

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Mar 21, 2011
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Let's not drag up the Viagra commercial again. I guess I wasn't much of a boy scout but this description of a custom Buck 120 sheath left me wondering... can you really throw a spark from a stainless blade?

Custom leather sheath specifically designed for the Buck 120 general. All hand made. Small pouch for vial of magnesium shavings included. Fire steel also included. To use for steel you must scrap off the paint then use the back of your knife to throw sparks into a small pile of magnesium to start a fire.
 
DeSotoSky said:
Let's not drag up the Viagra commercial again. I guess I wasn't much of a boy scout but this description of a custom Buck 120 sheath left me wondering... can you really throw a spark from a stainless blade?

Custom leather sheath specifically designed for the Buck 120 general. All hand made. Small pouch for vial of magnesium shavings included. Fire steel also included. To use for steel you must scrap off the paint then use the back of your knife to throw sparks into a small pile of magnesium to start a fire.
Click to expand...
I would use that for the sparks "Fire steel also included"
 
Yep.... crappy stainless knife my gal found in a parking lot, and cheap firesteel (flint) in magnesium block from harbor freight.

[video=youtube;BPnjC3Pw8qo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPnjC3Pw8qo[/video]
 
Oh, I get it now. I didn't realize what a "fire steel" was until I just googled it. Firesteel is a iron & cerium alloy that sparks when struck with something hard. It's not the knife that sparks in this case, the knife is just being used as the hard striker. Seems to be the same stuff used in cigarette & torch lighters, called flints, but not really.
 
Yep, they will throw out enough to start a fire. Still, it will scratch the knife's spine as well. Yet, you'll have a fire and live to tell about it. DM
 
ferrocerium rods are used to start fires but work better with high Carbon steel, in addition most Buck knives dont work well, because the backbone of the blade is slightly rounded and the ferrocerium rods work better if the backbone is a 90 degree angle. Any blade will work but you will have to resort to using the cutting side of the blade, which will in turn is bad for the blade. The Mag bar is used by chipping or cutting off a small pile and using the ferrocerium rod to ignite the Magnesium. Both work well but I wouldn't use a Buck knife.
 
mbjannusch said:
ferrocerium rods are used to start fires but work better with high Carbon steel, in addition most Buck knives dont work well, because the backbone of the blade is slightly rounded and the ferrocerium rods work better if the backbone is a 90 degree angle. Any blade will work but you will have to resort to using the cutting side of the blade, which will in turn is bad for the blade. The Mag bar is used by chipping or cutting off a small pile and using the ferrocerium rod to ignite the Magnesium. Both work well but I wouldn't use a Buck knife.
Click to expand...

Exactly why I used the crappy found in parking lot knife! No way would I use a Buck Knife for that.
Plus, the magnesium block / striker rod also came with a small piece of hacksaw blade to cut the magnesium, and use as a striker on the rod.
Super lightweight too.
I keep them in the car for emergency use.
 
When I was still rifle hunting, we Elk hunted quite a ways back into the wilderness, in the dead of winter. I was at a gun show one time, and a guy had some small, pocket magnesium fire gizmos. I bought one to have in my pack, just in case. I was bored one night, so I took it out back and gave it a try. They work really well.
That was about 10 years ago, and I haven't touched it since :D
 
DesertChris said:
Exactly why I used the crappy found in parking lot knife! No way would I use a Buck Knife for that.
Plus, the magnesium block / striker rod also came with a small piece of hacksaw blade to cut the magnesium, and use as a striker on the rod.
Super lightweight too.
I keep them in the car for emergency use.
Click to expand...

You guys are mixing methods. Throwing sparks from a ferro rod can be done with anything sharp enough, stainless, carbon, wood, glass, bone, plastic, anything. When using the back of a knife as the steel component in the flint and steel method, it must be carbon steel. Note that flint and steel and firesteel are 2 different methods, one using a ferrocerium rod and/or magnesium, the other using steel with high carbon content and a rock usually quartz, or chert.
 
My newest firesteel has a Tungsten Carbide striker. With a hardness of 72 HRC, it lasts longer than the old 440C striker.
 
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