flint and steel

[randyt]

The last few weeks I've been practising my flint and steel method. In the past I thought flint and steel would be to much "bother" but as I practised it became quicker and quicker. I use cut up blue jean material for char cloth, a chunk of Pocos flint and a C striker I made. Of all the primitive fire starting methods I think this is the quickest. For tinder I've been using shredded birch bark and shredded cedar bark. One goal for me is to find a natural alternative to char cloth. I've heard that chaga is good but all the chaga I've found has been too hard. Good spark catching chaga is soft like a cork, that's what I've been told. All this is probably old hat to a lot of y'all but to has me jazzed.

[Rick]

And jazzed you should be. I like flint and steel. It's a pretty easy method to start a fire. The preparation of the "nest" is key to getting a fire going. You'd be surprised how much tinder you have on you. The lint in your jeans pocket or you can pull fuzz off your socks (if they are natural fibers). As for natural tinder, True tinder and False tinder fungus, birch bark and cattail fluff all work for me.

[crashdive123]

Well done.

[crimescene450]

toilet paper also works really well with flint. except its not a naturaly occuring tinder. so i guess that doesnt help much.

[jbtusa]

Now the real task begins. Charcloth is easy, anyone can do that. Now the test is to find alternatives to charcloth like tinder fungus, shelf fungus, char punk or charred plants and to learn how to get them to catch the spark.

[randyt]

Now the real task begins. Charcloth is easy, anyone can do that. Now the test is to find alternatives to charcloth like tinder fungus, shelf fungus, char punk or charred plants and to learn how to get them to catch the spark.

that's the truth!!!!

I managed to get some chaga to take a spark but not with any consistently. The nice thing about chaga is once it's lit, it stays lit.

[Pocomoonskyeyes3]

Randy I just did a "Spark test" with some knives I have(Different Steel types) in the Thread "Best steel for a knife blade?" Showing which knives that could and could NOT produce sparks.

[randyt]

I'll check that out.

[FirstActionArticles]

I find shaving of bark usually works pretty well

Im Australian though so I dont know if the type of bark makes a difference

[klickitat]

A little side note on this topic. When I was black smithing and building a few hawks, I started hardening the top of the head. I would use a torch as it was easier to control.

This allowed me to use my hawk as a steel. I have relied on flint and steel but the idea that I can pick up and agate out of the creek and make fire is a nice feeling.

[Rick]

Australian? Your IP is out of Malaysia. What's up with that?

[crimescene450]

I find shaving of bark usually works pretty well

Im Australian though so I dont know if the type of bark makes a difference

eucalyptus bark is pretty flammable, so its possible. Theres alot of invasive eucalyptus in california. I might try using the bark sometime and see how it goes.

[Sarge47]

I find shaving of bark usually works pretty well

Im Australian though so I dont know if the type of bark makes a difference

So if you're an Aussie how come your IP address is out of Malaysia? We get a lot of spammers out of there.

How about an intro? There's no info on your profile page either.

[jbtusa]

randyt: I hope that you have perfected your flint & steel. As an addition, I want to suggest that you next try charring rotten punky wood. You will find that charred punky rotten wood will catch the spark as well as charcloth. You don't even need a tin to char it. Rotten wood is an abundant, inexhaustible and free source of tinder to catch the spark.

[randyt]

thanks, I'll give punk a try. I think it'll work good too. Last year I was burning a brush pile and a rotten stump started to smolder. it was a job and a half to get it out. Just little spots the size of a finger nail, they would just hang in there and not go out.