Heartwood fire

jeff_c said:
I just cannot get flame from a fero rod and shavings. I keep trying. I have the same firesteel. What am I doing wrong? (I use the striker they provide). If I use some "fluff" from some elephant grass in the yard I am good to go. But I dont count that... its not "natural". Of course if I use petroleum soaked cotton balls, no probs at all.
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Maybe this will help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I_WSt4tJu0
 
Great post koa! Great pictures! Looks like you have a good bit of experience wielding sharp pointy things :) . Being able to get the hardwood shavings thin enough to take a spark is an excellent skill to practice. I've done it a good bit here...even on mornings the rains had just stopped after a few days of rain in a row. Especially back when I first discovered the Strike Force years ago and wanted to see just what all I could use for tinder with it. I just split my way into some drier wood inside some dead branches, and whittled shavings just like that. Contrary to some opinions I don't always use fatwood, honest :D ...it's just that it is so easy to find here in my neck of the woods that most of the time when it's damp here. I use it the way the folks from the northern areas use birch bark...it is my go to tinder for quick fire, unless I am just practicing or teaching.
 
IA Woodsman said:
That is the key to the whole process. If you use and practice this technique, you will always have tinder that can be lit with a firesteel. Hope it helped.
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Well I have had flame 3 times... each time failing to get to the next step. But thats farther than I have ever gotten with JUST wood.

THANKS
 
I A WOODSMAN, I owe you a beer. That did it. I got two sustainable fires started with JUST wood. I started with shavings and went to feather sticks. Man, I have been trying that for MONTHS! THANKS!

The shavings produced from holding the blade at 90 degrees really did it!

Next question, are the normal firesteels too small for anyone elses hands? Man, nice and portable but wow LOL.
 
IA Woodsman said:
Maybe this will help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I_WSt4tJu0
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Cool video I.A.W. While I do like the mischmetal rods for some tinders, I do like how using the LMF type ferro rods throws long showers of sparks in a slow strike with a good bit of pressure too. I also like to use that 90 degree method a lot. I use the edge of the knife on regular wood, but on fatwood I prefer to use the squared spines of my knives when I can.


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and this is the fuz tinder bundle still attached attached to a thick sliver of fatwood as the initial fuel. Just stick the tip of the firesteel in it and spark

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jeff_c said:
I A WOODSMAN, I owe you a beer. That did it. I got two sustainable fires started with JUST wood. I started with shavings and went to feather sticks. Man, I have been trying that for MONTHS! THANKS!

The shavings produced from holding the blade at 90 degrees really did it!

Next question, are the normal firesteels too small for anyone elses hands? Man, nice and portable but wow LOL.
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That is awesome brother!! Glad I could help. Buy a firesteel blank and make a handle to fit your hand.
 
Mist, I am with you on the Misch. I only own one and have used it twice. I love pitch wood, but unfortunately in the hardwood forests there is no pitch wood,or birch bark. We have grasses and weeds that absorb moisture.
 
That fire video by IA Woodsman is my favorite all time fire starting video.

Geoff
 
IA Woodsman said:
Mist, I am with you on the Misch. I only own one and have used it twice. I love pitch wood, but unfortunately in the hardwood forests there is no pitch wood,or birch bark. We have grasses and weeds that absorb moisture.
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I do keep both on me most of the time. The nanostriker I keep in my pocket is mischmetal...I just with I had a 3/8 dia. LMF in such a sealed container as well. I keep one in my pack or on my knife sheath though. As long as it is dry, and I can find the tinder I want I'm happy with the LMF because of the ability to get sparks using so little length of the firesteel. If it's really damp out then I like the Badger I have.

I have spent most of my life in the forests of the S.E. where there are many pines...for now anyway. I'm not sure if moving up to the hardwood forests would be more enjoyable because of the new challenges and skills to learn or more annoying lol.
 
I've found by pulling the steel like starting a lawn mower the sparks go where they are needed. Works for me better than striking the steel and trying to aim the sparks. My 2 pennies
 
I have practiced a lot with natural tinder but here in the North, you are nuts to not have a good fire kit and ready tinder. You may have only minutes to get a fire going before frostbite or just shaking like hell take over.
 
I used this technique a few days ago to get a little back yard fire going, the scrapings do the trick, then fuzz sticks, small tinder, pencil tender, thumb sized tender and graduating up to quartered sections.

Definitely a lot of work in a damp environment.
 
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