If you are going to use flint and steel, why not just carry a lighter?

Long in the mouth about it, one is survival the other is living.... but he still talks about taking a piece of shirt to make char cloth... for living it makes no sense and for survival a Bic still makes more sense.

If I go out, I take a bic or two, you can make sure the gas doesn't escape by coiling a hair tie under the plunger. Used judiciously a Bic is pure fire making gold.
 
I treaded out the waterproof matches from my E&E tin years ago; the lighter has never let me down.

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Since I've learned to do it properly, I have never failed at making fire with a firesteel. Ever. There are many circumstances when a lighter is - to put it mildly - extremely clumsy. If it works at all.
I am the first to use a Bic if circumstances allow, and they usually, almost always do. But a firesteel can't break, can't get wet, can't malfunction, can't get empty, etc, etc. It's the thing you can always fall back on.
I always carry a few tampons, wrapped watertight. But if I have to I can scrape enough filings off the steel to set fire to a block of ice. :D Always works. :thumbup:
 
philwar said:
Since I've learned to do it properly, I have never failed at making fire with a firesteel. Ever. There are many circumstances when a lighter is - to put it mildly - extremely clumsy. If it works at all.
I am the first to use a Bic if circumstances allow, and they usually, almost always do. But a firesteel can't break, can't get wet, can't malfunction, can't get empty, etc, etc. It's the thing you can always fall back on.
I always carry a few tampons, wrapped watertight. But if I have to I can scrape enough filings off the steel to set fire to a block of ice. :D Always works. :thumbup:
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This. One carries a firesteel because it's ultra reliable. I agree that a bic is very convenient and carrying both sounds like a plan. If you can only carry one however, it's a fire steel every time.
 
Shoot, I'll carry all three! Lifeboat matches, Bic and firesteel. No, I don't wear a belt and suspenders, but I can rig either with some paracord. Two is one and one is none.
 
I'll stick with a couple bics, they float, come in bright colors and don't rely on another tool to work.
 
I keep a going gear striker tethered on each of my firesteels so I count that as a single unit. Sometimes I carry a bic along as well just for tasks such as melting 550 cord ends.
 
The bics rust really easily to the point where they can barely work, if at all. That's my beef with them. But I carry all three.
 
Bics don't work when wet either,but they can be dried out to work again.
In the mean time,while waiting for it to dry...........spark up a fire.

I like how he used a straw to concentrate his breath & intensify the ember.
 
Other than sheer novelty, I don't see a reason to prefer a ferro striker/sparker over a Bic lighter. I remember the days before Gillette introduced the first disposable lighters (the Cricket c. 1970) and they were a vast improvement over the liquid fuel lighters (Zippo, Ronsen, etc.). The modern firesteels are an improvement over the much older flint and steel striker, but still a novelty, IMHO. Bic lighters came on the scene in 1973 and I have not seen a better, more reliable lighter introduced since. By all means carry whatever sparks your fancy. But I'll keep tossing a few Bics in my gear. Yes, I know five or six other ways to start a fire, but all are time consuming compared to a quick "flick of the Bic".
 
Have any of you tried a lantern lighter as a fire starter? Another thought , would a lantern mantle work as char cloth?
 
I carry storm proof matches, a fire steel, vasoline cotton balls and a magnesium block in my altoids tin. I usually carry a nice butane lighter as well. I think Im going to add a mini bic to my tin though.
 
I carry both, too. but It's worth mentioning that bic's need packed loosely; I had all the fluid run out of the one I keep in my kit this summer. Not sure if it was the heat, or the fuel switch being depressed by my over-packing. but because of this, I don't think I'd ever want to rely solely on a bic to get the job done.

I also think it's worth at least learning firecraft using firesteel: In event of your chosen firemaker's failure, you can possibly find some flint and use the same techniques to create fire. Just a thought. :)
 
I edc a bic and a peanut lighter and if I'm going out backpacking I take a firesteel with them. As was mentioned above, one is none and two is one. I also want to order some small firesteels and wrap them into the handles of my Izulas if I can find some that fit well.
 
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