Flint and

Spooky check out grannystore.com, they have flint and flint and steel kits. A chunk of flint lasts a long time depending on size. You have to chip new edges on it occasionaly to keep sharp edges to strike from.
 
Good job Tony. :thumbup:

I have one in my kit, but I don’t practice enough to rely on it. :o

The charcloth works pretty well, and can be made from old tee shirts or blue jeans.

I have had luck with fine steel wool, but never was able to get any natural tinder going.

I can see we will have a new skill to practice on our next outing. :cool:
 
Big Mike said:
Good job Tony. :thumbup:



I can see we will have a new skill to practice on our next outing. :cool:
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You bet Mike. Hey I took the family to the spot you showed me, we had a great time.:thumbup:

Put a thread up here someswhere
 
I have a pretty sweet kit I got on ebay. I am not as skilled with it as I'd like. I think it will take me a lot of practice. I still enjoy it though; it's probably the most fun firestarting method IMO.
 
tonym said:
Flint and steel


....How many of you guys use this or other traditional methods to start your fires?

Also if you will, what natural materials can you use to catch a spark from this method?
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That's funny. I just recently found an old pair of jeans, recently emptied the perfect tobacco tin for making char cloth and scored some Orlick Navy Cut Flake Tobacco in a cute little 50 gr. tin, so I decided to make some char cloth up and get back into my old habits. I JUST lit the woodstove with it before sitting down to read this thread. In a fit of irrational optimism, I had decided to do a pictoral sequence of making char cloth this weekend to post here.

I actually used a piece of "fuzzed up" Maple, pushed the cloth into the curlies and blew it into a flame - without any secondary tinder, like foxtail, dried grass, jute, etc.

I don't wear jeans much, so material for char cloth is not just lying about but I do smoke a pipe, so I have access to some great tins.:D The little 50 gr. tin is half the size of the one they used to use for PSKs and is a cute little kit.
 
SpookyPistolero said:
Alright ya bastid, where's a good place to get a cheapish, solid flint and steel?

(and how long does a piece of flint last? For many, many uses or a relatively short while?)
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A piece of flint will last quite a while. The size that Tony is using is large enough to last several hundred fires, if not more. I've never worn out a piece so I can't tell you for sure. Besides flint, you can use ANY sharp 'chert' such as jasper, noviculite (Arkansas stones) agate, or even quartz. The trick is to be sure to have a sharp edge on the stone as that spark is actually a curl of burning steel that's been shaved off the striker and friction-heated by the rock.

As for where to get a good steel.... hell, it took me almost 15 minutes to make the one I sent to Tony. Well... maybe 20 minutes... A thin rat-tail file annealed in my BBQ grill using my wife's hair dryer to force air, cooled and filed smooth, then reheated to bright red and forged. I used a rock as an anvil,) into shape, then reheated to dull cherry red (a magnet will no longer be attracted to the steel at this temperature,) then quenched in water. A quick rub with a piece of emery cloth to remove the fire scale and it's done. I totaled 20 minutes time and 35 Thai Baht (less than a US dollar) for the rat-tail file, and you have the striker of your dreams!

If you prefer to buy one online, here are some links;
http://www.greyowlcrafts.com/strikers_sprs_knvs/strikers.htm
http://www.crazycrow.com/ Search: strikers
http://www.survivalschool.com/products/fire_starting/Flint_Steel_High_Intensity.htm (Complete fire kit! Striker, flint, jute, charcloth)
http://www.grannysstore.com/Wilderness_Survival/flintandsteel.htm (Complete kit)

Here is a little 'mini-kit' that I carry 'just because...'

Flint14.jpg


Even though it's small, it throws more than enough sparks to light a fire. You just have to be extra careful not to slice your fingers... Usually strikers are 2-3 times larger than this one. To give you an idea of the size of this little guy...

Flint12.jpg



Stitchawl
 
SpookyPistolero said:
That's really neat, I'm gonna have to buy one of those to play with someday. I assume you have to keep buying pieces of charcloth for this method to work?
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Spooky, it's easy enough to make. Best to do it outdoors unless you have a REALLY strong vent over your stove as it produces a LOT of smoke.

You need to use natural material (no synthetics) and I experimented with as many as I could think of; T-shirts, jeans, sweatshirts, mattress ticking, cheese cloth, cotton pillowcases, kite string, twine, jute fibers, etc. I found that ordinary cotton (cotton balls or just cotton wool) worked best.

Take a can with a very tight fitting lid such as from shoe polish, floor wax, small paint can ( that worked very well!) and with a thin finishing nail punch ONE hole in the middle of the lid. Fill the can with cotton but don't pack it down. If you are using jeans or cloth, cut it first into 1"-2" squares and fill the can. Press the lid on firmly (The idea is to burn the contents of the can in a low (or no) oxygen environment.) and press the can down into either a pile of burning coals or onto the stove burner. In a few moments a strong stream of smoke will be blowing out of the hole in the lid. (If you're indoors, light this smoke with a match and it will reduce the smoke in the room.) It will continue throughout the burn process. When the smoke begins to reduce, turn the can to equalize the burning. At this point watch carefully and when the smoke has stopped completely, remove the can from the heat and push the finishing nail back into the hole to seal the can. Let it cool COMPLETELY, open it, and if everything inside is black, you have good char cloth. If it is only brown, close the can and put it back into the fire. One square of cloth or a piece of cotton about the size of a small cotton ball is all that's needed for each fire. If you use a one quart paint can you will have enough char cloth for the next millennium. For you entire town. :)

Stitchawl
 
Anything to do with making a fire is just great. And using a flint and steel is about as traditional as it gets. You guys are an inspiration to us firesteel guys to take it to the next level. Thanks for all the advise and pics!
 
tonym said:
I would love to know what natural materials that can be found in the field will catch a spark.
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Inonotus obliquus (True tinder fungus) works very well. And every once in awhile you can find some punky wood that will work, untreated. I full expect somebody to jump on this as conventional wisdom says it won't, but I've done it, in fact, I showed a buddy of mine (lurker on this site) just to have a witness.

I don't know what kind of wood it was. I went back to find the log, but couldn't, so the point is, though, experiment with punky wood from different sources.

Having said that, I'm not enamoured of flint and steel, although I have them. YMMV, of course.

BTW, GS, try with the char cloth on top of the flint, not underneath it. You may find it works better.

Doc
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Inonotus obliquus (True tinder fungus) works very well. And every once in awhile you can find some punky wood that will work, untreated. I full expect somebody to jump on this as conventional wisdom says it won't, but I've done it, in fact, I showed a buddy of mine (lurker on this site) just to have a witness.

I don't know what kind of wood it was. I went back to find the log, but couldn't, so the point is, though, experiment with punky wood from different sources.

Having said that, I'm not enamoured of flint and steel, although I have them.

BTW, GS, try with the char cloth on top of the flint, not underneath it. You may find it works better.

Doc
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So true tinder fungus works to catch the spark or to put the ember in after char cloth has the spark.

What do you mean on top of the flint:confused:
 
True Tinder fungus works the same way as char cloth. It catches the spark and starts to smoulder. Also, I've read about people charring Cattail (Typha spp.) fuzz in a can, the same way as cotton, but I have never tried it.

It looks like you are holding the char cloth underneath the flint (taken from the perpective of the steel). In other words as you strike down with the steel, the steel approaches the flint first, with the char cloth underneath it. If you're having trouble picturing this, I'll take a picture or make a drawing.

Remember that the flint takes a tiny shaving of steel off, so that shaving generally lands on top of the flint, first.

Doc

flintandsteel.jpg
 
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I'll see about getting a picture this weekend when there is somebody to either hold the char cloth/flint or take the picture. I'm not saying this is the proper way to hold it, just the way I was shown, but it makes sense to me.

I don't generally check out utube - I'm on high speed lite and it takes too long. Besides, I've seen it in person. :D

GP
 
It is my favorite way to start a fire. I carry matches, ferro road, and a lighter in my bag as backups, but 99.9% I only use my flint and striker. Old t-shirts for char cloth, some jute all freyed up, works beautifully every time! As others have mentioned making the char cloth is simple, especially if you are out having a fire anyway. I cut up old white (100% cotton) shirts into litte pieces, put 5 or 6 of the pieces at a time into an altoids tin with a small hole in the lid. Put it in the fire or over hot coals, but be able to watch it. Smoke will come out of the hole for a bit, and sometimes a flame too. When no more smoke is coming out of the hole take it off and let it cool. Check to make sure all the pieces are black, if they are you are good to go. If they have a little brown on them I put them and watch for smoke again. Very simple, very fast, and kinda fun to make. I have found putting a lot less than the tin will hold (5 or 6) pieces the better they come out, so I will do a few tins at one time to get a bunch made. And I have the best results with jute twine that I have untwisted into individual strands, then tearing the strands into the individual fibers, so it kind of resembles shed dog hair. Stick the lit char cloth into the jute fuzz, give it a good blow, nd it lights up great!

DSC03273.jpg



 
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The video shows a guy using a piece of chirt and the back of his carbon mora to get a piece of tinder fungus to smoulder.

I will definately give that a try next time a come across tinder fungus.

GS
 
I have always a bit of trouble with flint and steel, probably need more practice.

Another cool old school fire starting method is a fire piston. Do a google search if you haven't heard of this one, it is very cool as well.
 
tonym said:
So true tinder fungus works to catch the spark or to put the ember in after char cloth has the spark.

What do you mean on top of the flint:confused:
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Doc is dead on in his sketch, I took this pic to for ya too. The cloth lies on the top of the flint, you strike the edge (make sure it is a sharp edge) of the flint where it and the cloth meet. The cloth catches the sparks. Don't be afraid the tear the cloth, you can even lay the cloth over the edge of the flint then strike it through the cloth. In my above post also shows video bearthedog took this past weekend of me lighting char cloth with my steel. Hope this helps. Took me over a month of constant trying to figure out how to do it properly. I was laying the cloth on the ground and stiking the steel over it hoping a spark would land on the cloth ***this method does not work well at all*** After a TON of searching online and I finally figured it out. The cloth goes ON TOP of the flint lol, I felt really silly.

DSC03274.jpg
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Thanks CB, for posting that. One less thing I have to attend to this weekend. :D:thumbup:

Doc
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My pleasure, glad to help out. I know I could have used some direction and info like yours and mine when I was trying to figure out how do it!
 
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