- Joined
- Aug 4, 2013
- Messages
- 158
Ms. Fire steel and I, never got our relationship out of the starting block. We've discussed several times who's the one to blame. I've even tried other fire steels, and never got a fire going with those either. So I've got the humbling realization that I am the one with the serious shortcomings in this relationship.
This evening I decided to set things straight. I took her out on a stroll in the romantic end of the woods, just to see if would could get a spark going. This time for real. I brought my Fällkniven F1 and my trusted Bacho Laplander folding saw along on the ride.
Trying to find some good firewood in my neighborhood is difficult to say the least. I live in the arctic part of Norway, closer to the north pole than to the capital. And only birch grows in any serious numbers up here, and they are usually few and far between. And birch doesn't dry up, cause of their bark they rot where they die.
What I got to work with.
My best bet for lighting a spark with my crappy fire steel skills.
I love batoning.
The finished result. I realized quite quick that the wood was damp at best, but that's how it is in this part of the world, especially in this part of the year, with snow and rain and all that jazz. But my birch bark was dry, so I tried to light a fire regardless of the wood.
I had high hopes.
And I managed to get the bark burning! It took some time, perhaps 10 minutes with testing angles, striking the steel or pulling the rod. After a lot of testing and trying I managed to discover what worked best with my equipment. I'm a beginner when it comes to using this kind of gear, but I'm enjoying it, even though a match would probably be faster. Maybe speed also comes with experience?
I put out the fire and stacked the wood, so it could dry up for an other hike later on.
Thanks for reading!
This evening I decided to set things straight. I took her out on a stroll in the romantic end of the woods, just to see if would could get a spark going. This time for real. I brought my Fällkniven F1 and my trusted Bacho Laplander folding saw along on the ride.
Trying to find some good firewood in my neighborhood is difficult to say the least. I live in the arctic part of Norway, closer to the north pole than to the capital. And only birch grows in any serious numbers up here, and they are usually few and far between. And birch doesn't dry up, cause of their bark they rot where they die.
What I got to work with.
My best bet for lighting a spark with my crappy fire steel skills.
I love batoning.
The finished result. I realized quite quick that the wood was damp at best, but that's how it is in this part of the world, especially in this part of the year, with snow and rain and all that jazz. But my birch bark was dry, so I tried to light a fire regardless of the wood.
I had high hopes.
And I managed to get the bark burning! It took some time, perhaps 10 minutes with testing angles, striking the steel or pulling the rod. After a lot of testing and trying I managed to discover what worked best with my equipment. I'm a beginner when it comes to using this kind of gear, but I'm enjoying it, even though a match would probably be faster. Maybe speed also comes with experience?
I put out the fire and stacked the wood, so it could dry up for an other hike later on.
Thanks for reading!
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