need some help using my fire steel

[DutchV]

Whatever you decide to do, be sure to try it at home before you need it. Not all dryer lint burns, for example. Cotton sheets and sleepwear are treated to be fire resistant, so the lint is useless. Get used to what's available where you live, or where you hike. Some natural tinder items (i.e. cattails, fungus) aren't available everywhere, so you need to be able to work with what you've got, or pack enough ahead of time.

 

[pitdog]

Here ya go, pics speak louder than words.
This is me using the Fatwood technique !
Make some Fatwood dust....

Add a few small curls, also made of Fatwood....

A couple of strikes with the Ferro rod and we have fire, note the Fuzzstick in the background ready to throw on....

 

[lmalterna]

I teach my son that good natural tinder is easily blown out of your palm with a gentle puff. Works pretty good for most items. Non natural that I sometimes carry- dryer lint,rubber cement from a inner tube repair kit, duct tape, a gi surplus "sterno" type heat tab(do be careful the flame is nearly invisible) & jute twine. I like to practice different materials in different conditions.

2Door

 

[DeadeyeLefty]

Some great posts here.

Maybe try different strikers as well - it really makes a difference. I actually get a better spark from the stainless blade on my Leatherman than I do from the carbon file/rasp. Conventional wisdom would bet on the file...

Charcloth hasn't been mentioned: works great, there's a bunch of old threads on it, it's easy to do on the bbq. It'll let you blow up the tiniest ember to light less-than-ideal tinder.

And fatwood dust is nature's gasoline...

 

[nodh]

The striker in the picture, a Light my Fire striker, are usually crap.
There are better ones that looks almost like a dogtag that someone has stretched.
The even better way is to use the backside of a knife. It does not have anything to do with the material in the knife, it is how "sharp" corners it has on the back. It is the same principle as ice skates. Sharper edge = better grip, softer edge = no grip.
Some knives are sharp from factory, like Fallkniven. Some needs reworking, like Mora 2000, Sissipuukko and others.

 

[pitdog]

The striker in the picture, a Light my Fire striker, are usually crap.
There are better ones that looks almost like a dogtag that someone has stretched.
The even better way is to use the backside of a knife. It does not have anything to do with the material in the knife, it is how "sharp" corners it has on the back. It is the same principle as ice skates. Sharper edge = better grip, softer edge = no grip.
Some knives are sharp from factory, like Fallkniven. Some needs reworking, like Mora 2000, Sissipuukko and others.

It works every time I use it so I can't ask any more than that !