How To Make Fire With Natural Flint

[crashdive123]

This video shows how to catch a spark with char cloth using natural flint.

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[your_comforting_company]

Awesome vid! Can we get a close up of the edge you used on the flint? I saw you tried a different side or two looking for the best edge.

[crashdive123]

I'll snap a few pics when I'm back to two handed. Some of the repositioning was tomove the char cloth a little to clear a striking area on the stone.

[pete lynch]

Good one. I'll be looking for that char-cloth making video.

[crashdive123]

Good one. I'll be looking for that char-cloth making video.

I'll do one when I'm able. In the meantime, here's a how-to on char cloth - with pictures. http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4163&highlight=making+char+cloth

[pete lynch]

Thank you, Crash. Hope that paw mends soon!

[gryffynklm]

If you consider that you want the flint to shave off a bit of the metal you are looking for a square edge. It doesn't necessarily need to be a sharp edge just not rounded. Like the video showed repositioning the char cloth to a different edge, you can try different edges until you get a good spark. I have dressed the edge of my flints to make a worn edge square again. I do that by striking the rounded edge to flake a new edge. I have broken flints in half If you start with a small flint this can be a problem.

Perhaps a flintnapper here can suggest a method of dressing the corner.

[Pocomoonskyeyes3]

Great Video Crash! That Flint sure does look familiar.... Think I've seen it at one of the Jamborees. Which brings me to what I wanted to post....
At the last Jamboree Crash's curiosity was piqued, and he decided to try something....
Crash took a piece of his baked fossilized Coral and struck a spark with it, just as well as with a piece of flint. So if you think you don't have the right type of mineral to use, try what you have available! It seems (Totally guessing here) that if it is suitable type of material for Knapping that it would also possibly work for Fire starting too.
It seems that there are so many possible types of minerals that are suitable, that the type of steel is what is important. For this reason I always have on me one pocketknife that works well as a striker with flint. Stainless steel won't work at all.... not even O-1 steel will work. So I think the Chemical composition of the steel is crucial. Just my 2¢ worth... Probably only worth 1¢ though.:whistling:

[Rick]

That's an excellent point, Poco. You don't even have to have steel to get a spark but it's obviously an advantage.

Quartz and Pentlandite work by striking them together as do Marcasite and Flint. Iron Pyrite will also spark against itself.

Pentlandite is an Iron Nickel Sulfide so I do not know why iron ore wouldn't work (although I haven't tried it).

Look for Hematite or even Magnetite. Hematite is mostly iron and according to Erun it gives off good sparks.

Here's a good article by Allen Beauchamp on stone on stone fire making.

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/twostones/abbww/index.html

[Old GI]

There was guy at a gun show in Colorado Springs yesterday. He was teaching, doing demos and, of course) selling the little kits in cans like this guy had. Real likeable mountain man.