Starting a fire w/ firesteel.

G

GEC

Joined
May 8, 2007
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950
Okay, I have started many fires with my firesteel or a ferronium rod in a controlled environment by only using tight and small curls of dried lumber or wood(fireplace wood that is seasoned and dry)

I tried with only 2 successful fires by using a couple of dead branches of my Oak tree out back. BUT....I have tried many times by using all types of wood. I shaved really tight curls so that they are very small and some are flat & thin to catch the spark. No such luck with it. I have tried using even green wood to start too, just for fun.

For those of you who have started a fire with accellerants like PJ cottonballs, fatwood, hand sanitizer, Mag bar / striker, Etc... How do you do it? I know birch bark, dead and dry moss, and cats tail fuzzy will take a spark. What happens if you don't have one of those types of starters. Let just say you only have pine trees around you and you can't find any fatwood or any other thing like that. What do you do? What would you look for to start a fire?
 
With pine you can get a spark to catch if you sort of grind up the bark into a rough powder. Along with the high amount of resin, this will usually catch quickly if it is dry. Make a nest of dry grasses around it, and it will flame up quickly.
What I like do is when I'm out on a hike, I will gather up different pieces of wood, dried plants and grass, moss etc. to bring home and practice firestarting with. This way you get to practice, and also find what works well in your area.
 
That is what I want to do. I just need some guidance in the right direction. So I take the dead pine bark off and grind it up?
 
That question is really dependent on where you are, and what type of weather you're having.

Here in the PAC Northwest old mans beard during warm/hot weather works wonders. Even if it is raining you can generally find it on larger trees with a good canopy dry and ready to use.

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Also, I use the soft peelings out of a husked pine cone. Break off some of the petals and there is a paper like wrap inside that takes a good spark and turns it into a decent flame.

This is a very environment specific question, and is kinda hard to answer.
 
actually if you scrape the bark with your knife, you should be able to get some really fine pieces that will catch a spark.
 
rctk1 said:
actually if you scrape the bark with your knife, you should be able to get some really fine pieces that will catch a spark.
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Yeah, using your blade as a scraper works great. What you'll end up with is a rough powder and flakes that really can grab a spark. But you need to have some dried moss or grass around it, and quickly blow the ember into flame.
 
How are you "shaving" curls off your wood? I have lit just regular wood a couple of times, but I found that in no way can I shave thin enough curls to do so with the edge of my knife. I did find out however that if you hold your blade perpendicular(90 degrees) to the wood and "scrape" the wood, the scrapings are very thin and curly. You can also do this with the spine of your knife, like I do to save the edge a little. Use the nice square spine of you knife to SCRAPE, not shave the wood you are trying to use, then use the spine to strike you steel, and you should get fire, might take a couple of strikes though. Also, it helps to have a nice big pile of scrapings before you start trying to ignite it.

Also, by scraping instead of shaving, you can make a big pile of scrapings really fast, as apposed to taking so much time trying very carefully to get thin shavings.
 
Another trick we were tought in the boy scouts was to carry a pencil sharpener the type used to sharpen carpenter pencils you shave a large pile of dry paper thin shavings from a twigg broken from a tree will often work when every thing else is wet or covered with snow or ice
 
Take dry grass, pine straw or leaves and rough them up real good between your hands. Makes a kind of powder. This catches a spark really good. I tried all of the above in normal form and couldn't get squat until I tried this.
 
Old mans beard will not take a spark if its the slightest bit damp. Gotta be bone dry.

Skam
 
The absolute best "tinder", if it is available where you live, is birch bark. Birch bark will burn like a candle and is very easy to light - just scrape some of the inner bark into a pile about the size of a nickel and "shred" a small hand full. Spark the "dust" from the scrapings and once it lights hold the "shredded" bark over it. If you don't have birch, any of the coniferous trees are high in resin and can be used with the same techniques.
 
I have been pretty successful with a normal firesteel and knife/other striker using the above methods, but wanted to try some other products that are out there. I recently bought a Blastmatch, and it is ridiculous. I opened it up and pressed it down on my wood floor just to see what kind of sparks it threw. That was pretty stupid, since it started catching my finished wood floor on fire after only one strike! I played with it and tinder (outside this time), and it is much easier and faster than a regular firesteel. I highly recommend picking one up and giving it a try. It throws sparks like you've never seen, even on the first strike right out of the box. One of these days, I'll make a video of it and put it up on my site.
 
Bwilson said:
The absolute best "tinder", if it is available where you live, is birch bark. Birch bark will burn like a candle and is very easy to light - just scrape some of the inner bark into a pile about the size of a nickel and "shred" a small hand full. Spark the "dust" from the scrapings and once it lights hold the "shredded" bark over it. If you don't have birch, any of the coniferous trees are high in resin and can be used with the same techniques.
Click to expand...

100% agree. Birch bark is the best natural tinder thats readily available. It is also one of only a few tinders that will spark or light when completely wet as its full of resins.

Skam
 
GEC,

Mike's (Evolute) link is very helpful qand I think you'll learn a lot by absorbing what he has written.

I only wanted to add that if it is wet, you may have to go deeper into the wood than scaping. This is where battoning comes into play. Split a 2"-3" length of wood, then split one of the halves. Shave off dry curls from the inside of one of the quarters.

Also, an often-neglected aspect of firestarting is proper preparation. We are often in such a rush to set something on fire that we don't spend enough time gathering and preparing first and second stage tinder, kindling, and fuel wood. Gather a LOT of tinder. Have your subsequent stages seperated and positioned within easy reach. This is not a task applicable only to starting fires with a ferro rod, but is an important discipline for all types of firestarting.

-- FLIX
 
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