thinkin

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martino910

Joined
Apr 2, 2006
Messages
91
last week i mentioned smthng about not being comfortable with a LMF firesteel...and makin fire with it...allow me to explain...

today i tried an experiment...i was gna grab some oldddddddddddddd twigs and dry earth mix ( like 3years old)...well i got all the stuff i wanted

next was to use a LMF firesteel to make a fire...even now...if u can make a fire on your own, then things are not too bad...

however...the firesteel let me down ..if you dont have any combustible material alongside that steel...YASOL

any experiences ?
 
martino910 said:
last week i mentioned smthng about not being comfortable with a LMF firesteel...and makin fire with it...allow me to explain...

today i tried an experiment...i was gna grab some oldddddddddddddd twigs and dry earth mix ( like 3years old)...well i got all the stuff i wanted

next was to use a LMF firesteel to make a fire...even now...if u can make a fire on your own, then things are not too bad...

however...the firesteel let me down ..if you dont have any combustible material alongside that steel...YASOL

any experiences ?
Click to expand...

I generally make my own tender by making small shavings and scrapes. Even with Red Oak and White Oak, I can use a LMF to get a fire going. Dry grass, ground dry leaves, fatwood the list goes on. Practice up with a 1 stick method, and you will find once you can light the hard stuff, you can light the easy stuff even faster. Good luck, keep practicing, it makes perfect, ya know.

Moose
 
Moose...
Ima be bold...and say this...

you need some real fine stuff for that LMF to ignite!
and if its wet, it aint gonna work..

this is why i always say that LMF is not a natural source of fire...
and i would go with a bic..then a match...then that darned firesteel...

as to the guys who swear by it, ima take their cottonballjelly things away...then lets see what happens....
 
Even taking a lighter to a random stick is not going to necessarily ignite. No mater what the means of ignition, it's all about preparation. The smaller your ignition source, like sparks from a firesteel, the smaller and finer your tinder needs to be.
 
martino910 said:
you need some real fine stuff for that LMF to ignite! and if its wet, it aint gonna work...
Click to expand...

It takes practice but it's certainly doable.

Here are a couple of Iawoodsman's videos:

[youtube]c90jBC31lrU[/youtube]

[youtube]grWSLbl19Ns[/youtube]
 
Taking away cottonballs really won't do much to hurt any of us. Using a firesteel to ignite shavings works for me every time. If it is wet, I can baton into the wood and get dry wood to make shavings. :)
 
i gave it sum...and then again


that darn firesteel wudnt just work for me...
ima give it some more tho...

its got to be as fine as it gets...or....and i throw the sparks like 4th o july..no deal...

your PJ balls working just fine...and thats where it ends with me...
Im always hearing that you must have pjballs with striker...in case you get lost etc...
and that the firesteel works...just works...lol

let me tel you..its a bic..now if that fails, its a match, after that, its those rods...no fail ...you tell me...
 
Taking away cottonballs really won't do much to hurt any of us. Using a firesteel to ignite shavings works for me every time. If it is wet, I can baton into the wood and get dry wood to make shavings.

Now that is what I want to see...(this is my problem)
 
martino910, I have three of the LMF firesteels (Mini, Scout, & Army) & have used all of these for several years. Today I just received the misch rods I ordered from Going Gear to try. The LMF's all have worked for me, but the key was to make sure I had the right tinder for the right condition. Plain and/or soaked cotton balls, grass, fatwood, birds nest, Tinder Quick fire tabs, etc. all worked great. Like all the other "posters", if it was wet, you had to dig into it to get the dry stuff out and make it as thin as possible. Pretty excited to see what the misch rods will do on this week-end's camping trip.
Be safe.
 
Martino, here is some East Tennesse Red Oak. It had been out in the rain for a few days at this point, and was still a little damp on the out side, I used a pull cut to get in to the dry wood, and whittled shavings into a pile, too a couple of minutes, but these are THIN. Pile them up, put your steel slightly off center, and use your striker to SCRAPE down the rod. Stop short of the end. You should get a tirade of sparks all concentrated on the tallest and thickest part of the heap of shavings. You got fire. I'll try to do a vid, but I hate being on camera. Check out the November Challenge thread, for some ideas of how we roll.

Used my Mora Triflex to make the Red Oak Shavings, a couple of deep cuts and I was in the dry.

100_1602.jpg


100_1603.jpg


Thanks. Moose
 
martino910 said:
Moose...
Ima be bold...and say this...

you need some real fine stuff for that LMF to ignite!
and if its wet, it aint gonna work..

this is why i always say that LMF is not a natural source of fire...
and i would go with a bic..then a match...then that darned firesteel...

as to the guys who swear by it, ima take their cottonballjelly things away...then lets see what happens....
Click to expand...

Take em away!! Go ahead!! Don't use em anyway. :p:p(but I have some for a last ditch effort)

I use fatwood, a natural tinder. Dead pine stumps loaded with pitch. Shave off some curls, strike with the firesteel and presto!!

It does take some practice and is a skill that can save ya when your bic is out of juice and you have used your last match.


PS... It's plenty wet up here in the PNW and I love to practice firecraft in the rain!
(Thanks River-8 & Rescue Mike)

:)
 
martino910 said:
you need some real fine stuff for that LMF to ignite!
and if its wet, it aint gonna work..
Click to expand...

I carry a bic with pride, but honestly, a bic doesn't do to well with wet tinder, or with wind for that matter. I've been practicing with a firesteel this month, and I have to say that I'm impressed. I've been able to light plain wood shavings with ease, and if everything was so wet that all the wood was soaked to the core I don't think that my bic would save me.

Using a firesteel has made me better at lighting fires in general, whether I'm using matches, lighters, firesteels or road flares. I was skeptical in the beginning, but I've been converted.:thumbup:
 
Guys, I almost forgot. My dad used to keep some of those "trick" birthday candles in his hunting stuff. He would stand 2 or 3 of those upright on a piece of dry tree bark, & if the tinder was too wet, he would make a teepee out of some small sticks (pencil size) & light the candles. The candles would burn for about 6 to 10 minutes, in effect drying out the sticks and if the candles were still burning, this would start the fire. If not, they were usually dry enough to be cut into shavings & use his firesteel to get our fire going. Too bad I didn't pay the same amount of attention & listen to some of his financial advice as well . . . :)
Be safe.
 
The tinder has to be pretty fine and absolutely dry. I use bark that I break down till it looks like short hairs. I can also make a feather stick with minute feathers that will catch from just a spark. Wouldn't want to rely on this method when I'm cold and tired though.

When it's raining, I just use a lighter, particularly if I'm not feeling bushcrafty and just want a cup of tea.
 
Try cattails, they'll get you started. Then use the flash flame to ignite something a little bigger, like Queen Anne's Lace. Then use that to light something bigger, like dry twigs. Lather, rinse, repeat. :)

[youtube]gOypYi_iyD0[/youtube]
 
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I only use natural materials I find in the wild and the small LMF firesteel regardless of the environmental conditions. Typically it is just super-thin wood shavings or duff with or without resin. I generally can get a fire started in 7 scrapes on average. It literally took me two months and wearing out two steels before I figured it out. Training, practicing daily, and tenacity is what helped me. Boy, I can remember when I couldn't get a fire started in one hour of scraping on that darn thing in the garage under ideal conditions!

I've never used cotton/jelly tender as I won't find it in the wild so I instead took the time to figure it out. I start my fire in my wood stove every day with one to reinforce these lifesaving skills. I've tested myself in 35 MPH snow blinding blizzards at 5 degrees above to sideways blowing rain storms. Here is the secret: find a Mentor who has this and other wild skills real dialed and get some coaching! Learn from their mistakes and experience. This forum is good but no substitute to a real hands on mentor. You can indeed learn this on your own...but finding a mentor will accelerate your learning and fun. Otherwise you'll just end up frustrated and will relegate to using matches or a BIC lighter.

Don't find an excuse to fail or not succeed but rather look for a solution to survive and win!
 
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I probably shouldn't reply since i have no LMFs. If you don't like those surely you can get another type?

before joining the forum I never tried one. my first attempt with jelly ball was indeed easy. Turning to natural tinders was much more of a challenge. I am still quite the novice having more failures than success. The biggest part is learning for yourself what an ignitable bundle is going to look like.

A few weeks back I spent several days camping and just wanted fire; not class room exercises. Using what I'd learned playing with ferrorod I was able to start the quickest and easiest fires with a bic by using similar degree of prep.

good luck.
 
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