Striking a FireSteel with a knife?

T

Texas Slim

Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Messages
566
I got a fancy Army model with a green micarta handle to match my NWA BladeForums knife but I can't seem to strike the steel worth a damn with the spine of the blade and I hate to dull the edge on such a sharp knife.

It throws a wicked spark with the regular striker that came with the smaller model I bought a while back but since the Army model I bought didn't come with a striker, how do you guys recomend I strike it?

BTW: The Army FireSteel is a perfect fit in the sheath that Nick made up for my knife. I should also add that the NWA BFSK is now my go to knife. It's SWEET!
 
Save the edge of your knife,just break of a couple inches of a carbon steel hacksaw blade,they work best if you grind the teeth half off and at a slight angle.
 
I'm hugely jealous of your setup. Freaking cool stuff. I demand pics.

As for a striker, just get some paracord and attach a piece of hacksaw like the above poster said. They work great. I got a box of like twenty blades at the dollar store. For a dollar. That's like a million firesteels worth of strikers. No sense in messing up your blade.

For best results, be sure to file the flat side of the blade totally flat so it has a good edge.
 
Texas Slim said:
I got a fancy Army model with a green micarta handle to match my NWA BladeForums knife but I can't seem to strike the steel worth a damn with the spine of the blade and I hate to dull the edge on such a sharp knife.

It throws a wicked spark with the regular striker that came with the smaller model I bought a while back but since the Army model I bought didn't come with a striker, how do you guys recomend I strike it?

BTW: The Army FireSteel is a perfect fit in the sheath that Nick made up for my knife. I should also add that the NWA BFSK is now my go to knife. It's SWEET!
Click to expand...

To easy my friend, just get an old carbon saw blade off a hacksaw, cut in half or less, add the place on the inside or back side of your knife sheath,or i think you can add a spot to keep it on your belt, or tie it on to the firesteel its self, works great. Your friend at the post Donald S.
 
Texas Slim said:
I got a fancy Army model with a green micarta handle to match my NWA BladeForums knife but I can't seem to strike the steel worth a damn with the spine of the blade and I hate to dull the edge on such a sharp knife.

It throws a wicked spark with the regular striker that came with the smaller model I bought a while back but since the Army model I bought didn't come with a striker, how do you guys recomend I strike it?

BTW: The Army FireSteel is a perfect fit in the sheath that Nick made up for my knife. I should also add that the NWA BFSK is now my go to knife. It's SWEET!
Click to expand...

a new idea, use a part of an old carban file, or a part of a carban knife that is on it's way to the junk yard, or ask around to people you know, some one will have a bit of flat carban steel around the house or farm, just ask. Your friend at the post Donald S.
 
lotoblades said:
Save the edge of your knife,just break of a couple inches of a carbon steel hacksaw blade,they work best if you grind the teeth half off and at a slight angle.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good idea. I wonder if I could cut the blade down to the point that it would slip into the pouch right along with the FireSteel? Hmmmm.

I hate to admit that I haven't taken any pics of this setup. It really is a perfect package. Any of you who missed the initial order run ought to take a minute to see if Nick can make you one at the end of the run (whenever that might be). It's that good of a knife.
 
The spine one you NWA doesn't strike it??

I would also recomend using either the striker it came with or a hacksaw blade.
 
DLT sells the light my fire, fire steels which come with a striker and they also sell the custom BRK&T fire steels which dont come whith a striker but are available in all the colors and materials that BRK&T put's on there knife handles i suspect this is what Texas Slim bought.
 
I found heavy duty utility razor blades work well also. Throw a ton of sparks and can be cut to fit where you want them.
 
Certainly carrying a dedicated scraper out of a pice of hack saw blade will work, but it kind of violates the whole purpose of mating a firesteel with a knife. If there is room in the sheath, that may be an option. Otherwise, you should be able to rely on your knife.

I believe that a scraper just needs to be hard and sharp. The metal it is made of is irrelevant. (Many people have used a piece of broken glass.) Perhaps the spine of your knife is a little rounded. If so, squaring up a section should fix you up.

-- FLIX
 
The firetools I carry on my sheaths are generally variations of magnesium tools with a ferrocerium striker. I prefer this as it gives me an edge over just a plain ferro rod.

On my leather sheaths I also generally have a pouch for a diamond hone. The EZE-Lap hone is essentially a bar of steel with diamond impregnated onto one side. The end of the bar, on the non-diamond side makes a decent ferro rod striker.

I've really grown to like this knife I put together using a Mora blade blank with a full length tang, and it's rapidly becoming the main, fixed blade knife I carry with me in the field. The problem with using the backside of this blade for striking a ferro rod on this knife is that it's a laminated blade, and the outside, softer layers just don't do so well against the ferro rod. The blade spine has been filed flat with an abrupt edge, it's just that the edge is the outer layers which seem to be not hard enough.

If I use this knife's blade as the striker, my tactic is to use the edge of the blade right up against the bolster at the base of the blade, The center layer of the blade is extremely hard, like Rc61-62, and when you use only the a small part of the blade's edge in the area that gets the least use, then you've not really impaired the cutting ability of your knife.

I have given thought to inserting into the hone pouch a 3" length of hacksaw or sawzall blade. That is an idea that I'm seriously thinking about. It's very flat and it will fit nicely behind the 3" diamond hone.

I also keep a firetool in my multitool pouch, and my multitool is almost always on me or I'm carrying a SAK (usually a Swiss Champ) on a lanyard while I'm kayaking or similar activities. With the SAK, I have a small magnesium firetool on the lanyard also (also a whistle, small compass, and a DMT mini-hone). When I strike a ferro rod with the multitool or the SAK, the best surface to use is the back, unsharpened spine of the wood saw blade.

Rostov_Mora_2.jpg

FieldKnives3.jpg
 
The problem with firesteel-knife is because the back if the blade is too rounded. I use different Fallkniven knives and they spark both high and low. Its is like the difference between sharp skates and dull skates.
Put the knife in a wise and polish the blade back to "sharpen" the edges.

Before

edge <___) < sand here

After

edge <___| < sharper corners

You get the idea.
Since the steel is made to keep the blade egde sharp, the same goes with the "corners" on the back. Once they are sharp, they will stay sharp.
 
What nodh said!!!!!

All the ideas for making a striker are great, but squaring up the spine of your knife will do the trick. It doesn't need to be the whole length of the spine - just an inch near the handle will do great.

Then you won't need to carry an extra striker, or :eek: use your edge!

Good luck!
 
Texas, try the thumb serrations at a diagonal angle. That's How I throw sparks from mine. Or you could use some sandpaper and square up a small part of the spine as suggested.
 
Texas,

I'm curious, does the spine on your NWA blade have sharp edges or have they been slightly rounded?
 
I was taught to scrape briskly, rather than literally "striking." Works for me. and I second the hacksaw blade suggestion.
 
I haven't had any issues with getting a spark with the spine. I do not leave the spine SHARP but it is not rounded either. I'm trying to split a hair with this very subject. On one hand the spine needs to have a edge but on the other it should not be such a edge that it cuts your thumb or any other part of your hand. So what I figured I'd do is leave just the tip of the spine sharp and the thumb notches also can be used as a striker.

I hope that helps you out Texas Slim. If not please let me know If there is anything I can do for ya.

Nick:)
 
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