Stupid question on my firekit.

[kyhunt]

I'm having a hard time getting decent sparks from my firesteel. The only other firesteels I have are a LMF and a small mesch metal. I have no problems getting sparks from these. I even went from trying the spine of the knife to the edge of the knife to using the striker that came with my LMF. Spine = nothing. Edge= tiny sparks. LMF striker = a few more but not alot. Am I doing something wrong or is this the norm??

 

[smcclown05]

The edge should really give you some good sparks. I usually make sure to have the edge perpendicular to the rod and don't be shy with the pressure. I know when they first came out some folks had some difficulty with them because they required a sharper edge than the LMF ferro rods many of us are used to but keep at it. Seems like with those things its mostly technique and once you get it a time or two you'll be good to go.

 

[eloreno]

don't be shy with the pressure. .

+1 :thumbup:

 

[PayetteRucker]

alot of times the metal has an oxidized coat on it out-of-box and it takes some striking to remove that top layer of hard material before you can get a good spark.

 

[kyhunt]

Thanks guys. Funny thing. I just tried the screw driver off my multitool and it threw great sparks. I think I might et a striker from firesteel.com and try that.

 

[JV3]

Thanks guys. Funny thing. I just tried the screw driver off my multitool and it threw great sparks. I think I might et a striker from firesteel.com and try that.

yup, strike it hard and fast. i have both strikers from goinggear and firesteel.com (they're exactly the same except firesteel's has their name molded into the handle) and they work really well.