This summer I saw a blacksmith with several strikers for sale on his table, and picked one up. It looked weird, like stainless steel or something, and felt light. Turns out he forged it out of Titanium. (don't know which alloy) He took a piece of flint and demonstrated its use- he said you really had to whack it hard compared to a steel striker, but it did work. He really got after it, but managed to get a piece of char cloth smoldering after about 10 stout whacks. I never would have guessed titanium would work. So, I'll try to keep an open mind.
Cheers.
Flint not required; ordinary-rock-in-the-rough plus high-speed titanium golf club equals dangerous wildfires.
..."What could have happened did happen at Shady Canyon Golf Club in Irvine last August, when an unidentified golfer's iron shot from the rough also hit a rock, sparking a
raging brushfire that destroyed nearly 12 acres and required more than 150 firefighters and seven hours to contain.
"It might seem funny now (how it happened), but I could have burned down Mission Viejo," Parsons said."...
>>>
I have viewed the slow-mo high speed test strikes, but don't know if they are available online. Plenty of interesting info here:
http://news.uci.edu/press-releases/titanium-clubs-can-cause-golf-course-fires-uci-study-finds/
abstract from
Fire and Materials Volume 39, Issue 2, pages 119126, March 2015
"Spark production by abrasion of titanium alloys in golf club heads"
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fam.2235/abstract
(complete article available through Wiley via library links, or through many professional organizations/affiliations e.g. teachers, public safety, health care, Bar Assn., engrs., etc. huge resource)
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/titanium-606130-clubs-golf.html
Some of the wildfires:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fire-264139-mckeown-canyon.html
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/parsons-305539-hot-golf.html
"...Then Earthman and his fellow researchers did just what you might expect: smacking rocks with golf clubs again and again in the laboratory, and recording the results with a high-speed camera.
Every time a titanium club hit a rock, we saw sparks like that flying out, he said. When we compared that with a stainless-steel-headed golf club, no sparks were observed.
Suspicions about titanium clubs already have caused some to be taken out of production, Earthman said, though they can still be found, especially where used clubs are sold...."
Flint Striker fire GOOD.
Burn down county BAD.