Looking for a striker for your fire kit?

[2Edgy4u]

Hi All. I remember seeing a post from texastony with the comment close to, "I'm still looking for a good srtiker" This was for the large collection of fire kits he has. I mentioned I was looking for the same thing in that thread *Looked forthat freekin thread for the last 45 mins. auhhh* But back to subject. I think I found it, the one, blobs of fire just flow off with this little item. (I started a fire in my parking lot last night, in the 2 day old dry grass clippings) well it was made by a CO. called Bassett, Mine says "Bassett USA 78. I'm sure 78 was the year it was made. I looked on e-bay, and a number of singles or sets start at $1.99. I looked for the maker, and its now at "Trim.com" well found there as a advertising pocket knife. But I still am going to look for the maker as these new ones look different. Any ways, here are a few pics of the Bassett ad pocket knife, that sparks off my fire stick better than anything else I have tryed as yet. I I've tryed alot. I may need a new stick soon? OK pics. You can see where the strike was in 2nd pic. Enjoy. edgy:thumbup:

 

[LG&M]

I think I have one. Now if I can find it. Thanks. I find old hack saw blades and reciprocating saw blades work good. with a little work.

 

[DH1]

Hi All. I remember seeing a post from texastony with the comment close to, "I'm still looking for a good srtiker" This was for the large collection of fire kits he has. I mentioned I was looking for the same thing in that thread *Looked forthat freekin thread for the last 45 mins. auhhh* But back to subject. I think I found it, the one, blobs of fire just flow off with this little item. (I started a fire in my parking lot last night, in the 2 day old dry grass clippings) well it was made by a CO. called Bassett, Mine says "Bassett USA 78. I'm sure 78 was the year it was made. I looked on e-bay, and a number of singles or sets start at $1.99. I looked for the maker, and its now at "Trim.com" well found there as a advertising pocket knife. But I still am going to look for the maker as these new ones look different. Any ways, here are a few pics of the Bassett ad pocket knife, that sparks off my fire stick better than anything else I have tryed as yet. I I've tryed alot. I may need a new stick soon? OK pics. You can see where the strike was in 2nd pic. Enjoy. edgy:thumbup:

Yup, I've got one attached to a ferro rod of mine..works great. There are tons of variations of these little tools...mine has a pipe tamper and a wharncliff blade.

There'a an article on these somewhere on www.donrearic.com that's pretty interesting and shows some of the variations and history of these.

 

[fixer]

try the Phillips screwdriver in a Leatherman (not the ones that take bits) or a piece of glass from the bottom of a broken bottle. the glass on the bottom is thicker and makes a GREAT striker... it's just a bit hard to pack around and probably wears out eventually as the edge dulls.

 

[333rm]

I had one of those when I was in the Scouts as a kid. I beat the hell out of it and used it for all kinds of things, including starting fires.

 

[2Edgy4u]

I had one of those when I was in the Scouts as a kid. I beat the hell out of it and used it for all kinds of things, including starting fires.

Yeah..Mine was made in 1978, and it is still sharp & rust free. Very small & lite so you can neck chain it along with your ferro stick. I tryed about 45-50 different objects,files saws, all kinds of drivers, and many knifes (small ones) but this little thing just put down a HUGE amount of spark on 2nd try FIRE. so I tryed it again last night when I got home, and FIRE, again on the 2nd strike. Now I have the angle down, and starting just plane ole 2-3 day old grass cuttings, I think I can start one with just one pull now. (People living next to me are gonna think I'm tryin to fire up my truck.! Enjoy. edgy :thumbup:
PS if someone finds the maker, you could most likely get them for about 50 cents. Just look for "Bassett"

 

[Don Rearic]

There'a an article on these somewhere on www.donrearic.com that's pretty interesting and shows some of the variations and history of these.

Ah-yup.

When I first started that series of articles, I was going to call them, "Kid's Junk" but a lot of the Pre-1990 "junk" is better than the counterparts of today.

Kid's Stuff Part One, follow the links are the end of each page...

Bandanna Part One, follow the links at the end for the rest of them...

Low Tech Knives in a High Tech World...

I had the same basic mindset, for lack of a better term, when I wrote all of these.

 

[s7brad]

The Brunton ferro rod I have came with its own, works good for me. Pictured below in my $50 budget kit

 

[s7brad]

The Brunton ferro rod I have came with its own, works good for me. Pictured below in my $50 budget kit

 

[MVB]

I've had one of those knives for years (had it since the 70's) and for a long time kept it attached to one of those magnesium-block-with-striking-insert gadgets. It was perfect for shaving off some magnesium and then getting good sparks off the ferro rod stuck to the side of the block. The knife was never fabulously sharp, but it never seemed to get dull either!

I now have several of the more "modern" fire steels. (NanoStriker, Aurora, LMF Scout, and a Coughlin's rod that is virtually identical to the LMF Army model at half the price...) I have had very good results with the LMF strikers, but because they are stamped you have to pay attention to which way you hold them. (One side has an edge and the other side is more rounded...) Not the best in a survival situation, but fine for camping. Recently I got this from a seller on eBay:

This is the same striker that is sold by GoingGear.com and FireSteel.com with a slight modification. The rounded cut in the side makes it very easy to use, and gives greater contact with the rod for more sparks. The radius of the curve is enough that it should even work on the 1/2 inch monster rods. It will definitely work on the ESEE Fire Kit (which I don't have yet). All the edges are sharp, so you can use the opposite (flat) side or even the end if you want. It is supposedly specially heat treated to hold its edge longer then the unmodified superstrikers.

On eBay it was called a 'Custom Tungsten Carbide "Flamethrower" Firesteel Blade' and the seller uses the name ferrocium. He doesn't always have them available, but there are some listed now -- searching for the description I listed here should find it if anyone is interested.

 

[solocanoe]

As I've said before on here, I run the back edge of my 5, Hest, and Izula over a brick a few times - to score the coating - and it works great as a striker after that.

prior to coming to these wonderful knives, I used a Buck Harksook for a striker as it also served as a small fillet/utility/neck knife.
Pretty inexpensive, but not as cheap as a free saw blade from the tool box.
http://www.knivesplus.com/buckknifebu-860bk.html

 

[Don Rearic]

On eBay it was called a 'Custom Tungsten Carbide "Flamethrower" Firesteel Blade' and the seller uses the name ferrocium. He doesn't always have them available, but there are some listed now -- searching for the description I listed here should find it if anyone is interested.

I am interested. Thank you.

 

[hung-solo]

I've had one of those knives for years (had it since the 70's) and for a long time kept it attached to one of those magnesium-block-with-striking-insert gadgets. It was perfect for shaving off some magnesium and then getting good sparks off the ferro rod stuck to the side of the block. The knife was never fabulously sharp, but it never seemed to get dull either!

I now have several of the more "modern" fire steels. (NanoStriker, Aurora, LMF Scout, and a Coughlin's rod that is virtually identical to the LMF Army model at half the price...) I have had very good results with the LMF strikers, but because they are stamped you have to pay attention to which way you hold them. (One side has an edge and the other side is more rounded...) Not the best in a survival situation, but fine for camping. Recently I got this from a seller on eBay:

This is the same striker that is sold by GoingGear.com and FireSteel.com with a slight modification. The rounded cut in the side makes it very easy to use, and gives greater contact with the rod for more sparks. The radius of the curve is enough that it should even work on the 1/2 inch monster rods. It will definitely work on the ESEE Fire Kit (which I don't have yet). All the edges are sharp, so you can use the opposite (flat) side or even the end if you want. It is supposedly specially heat treated to hold its edge longer then the unmodified superstrikers.

On eBay it was called a 'Custom Tungsten Carbide "Flamethrower" Firesteel Blade' and the seller uses the name ferrocium. He doesn't always have them available, but there are some listed now -- searching for the description I listed here should find it if anyone is interested.

the goinggear striker kicks butt! i bought a few to attach via para cord to my fire starters. works like a charm and they stay together