who makes the best fire steels?

S

stewey1

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Nov 14, 2010
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Im in the market for a new fire steel, which ones are good ? Ive only used cheap ones and I want to up grade, any suggestions?
 
I've used Going Gear's and just recently tried Firesteel.com's

I have to say the Firesteel site has the better selection and throws better sparks.

Look into the video on their website and you'll see they are way better than Light my fire
 
I like the ESEE fire steel. Has a little place for tinder as well.

Regards

Aubrey
 
I'm partial to the Light My Fire models. But the best value for the dollar has to be the ebay $3 (shipped) mischmetal rods.
 
xtestifyx said:
I've used Going Gear's and just recently tried Firesteel.com's

I have to say the Firesteel site has the better selection and throws better sparks.

Look into the video on their website and you'll see they are way better than Light my fire
Click to expand...

Those look to be mischmetal rods. I've decided I like ferro rods better. I'd try both types.
 
I have firesteels from ESEE, Light My Fire and Primus.

My preferred one is the Light My Fire with the Primus coming in at a close second.
 
I've used going gear, lmf, coghlans, and primus... but my favorite is the BCB firesteel. Seems to easily throw the most aggressive sparks. Unfortunately, it fell off my sheath last weekend while hiking! Ah well, I have others. They all work just fine regardless.

I will say that my least favorite is the GG one; I dislike how hard you have to scrape it to get a spark. I have no need for "molten globs of metal" or whatever the benefit of the misch metal steel is... prepare your tinder correctly and any old firesteel will do. And in that case, the easier to strike the better.
 
I like Going Gear, but the problem is that you have to strike with a faster motion to get a spark otherwise it just scrapes off like a magnesium bar; if you're tinder is real fine, it can make it difficult. As mentioned, if you have your tinder well prepared, you don't need a flame thrower, but wow, those GG steels can create a massive amount of molten sparks:eek: It seems the mischmetal rods are softer than most of the others such as LMF, but if once you get a good flat section on rod, it will shower sparks quite well.

ROCK6
 
The stuff I've used from Going gear has been top notch in my opinion. Its my favorite thus so far.
 
I like my LMF but you do need to make sure you do some good tinder prep or any firsteel will suck
 
You can't go wrong with either Light my Fire or Going Gear. I used both and both work great. I have no experience with other models - didn't need to.
 
The Strikeforce is my favorite. A bit bulky but worth it. You can add tinder, PJCB or just keep the wet fire cubes in there.
Scott
 
I have a LMF Army steel and really like, never letting me down.
I have also made about 15 horn Scout steels from blanks (LMF) which folks are real happy with. I have not used any other brands than LMF.
 
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