Question about Ray Mears firesteel technique.

mrgreen

mrgreen

Joined
Dec 26, 2009
Messages
313
I've been using various firesteels for a while, with success- as long as I have proper tinder. I recently watched a video of Ray Mears using a slow-scraping technique. He used the spine of his knife, with pressure against the firesteel, pushed slowly about a half inch at a time, until he got sparks on about the fourth push. This seems like a much more controlled method, sparks go exactly where you want, and it reduces the chance of accidentally brushing your tinder material all over.

I have tried to do it, no luck. Is Misch-Metal the wrong firesteel? Are some blade steels better then others for a striker? I was using 154CM.
 
The mischmetal type (going gear ones) need long strokes and produce big globs of fire. The light my fire ones produce the sparks with controlled short strokes.
 
mrgreen said:
Are some blade steels better then others for a striker? I was using 154CM.
Click to expand...
Not really. What is important is having a enough sharp striker (generally well squared corner).
Apart from the fact that shallow steels will loose hardness quicker (wearing off or rolling) not much difference between them.

About RM's method, I'd say he slowly scraps a few shaves keeping them attached to the rod (a bit like feather stick), and ignite the whole pack with a last strike. That require a certain level of ductility in the fire steel material.

There are many firesteel blends, so I guess if you want to reproduce RM's method you should probably use the same firesteel brand. He most likely uses a light-my-fire since it's what he sells.

On the other hand I've always been under the impression that LMFs were a bit stiffer than average so I don't know.
 
Last edited:
I use a nobrand made in hong kong firesteel ( got them for like 50 cents each but had to buy 50 of them .. so everyone i know pretty much now has one too )
I do some slow scrapes to make a bit of dust off the rod on the tinder , then a firmer one to send a bunch of sparks into the lot .. the dust sparks up and just helps the tinder catch

Also if I havent used the rod in a while , its not just to make some dust , its to get the oxide layer off the rod so it will actually spark . I cant get it to work easy unless its shiny where Im striking it

I do not know different experts methods of using a fire steel tho . I just bought a bunch , gave some to the kids , and got out int he yard with them and we lit fires till our hands hurt .

If you want to find the easy way to do something , make a lazy teenager to do it , theyll work it out real fast .
 
Useful thread, I've been using a light my fire and a Strike Force for a few years now and they've been great using the supplied strikers, recently i did pick up a couple of the going gear ferro rods and have been trying to use the spine of my knife to get them going, I do eventually get it but it's not as easy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top