Flint

[Zachary]

Anyone know where good places to look for flint would be. I recently went camping and bought a flint fire starter and i was really impressed by how quickly i got a fire going with it when i used some old mans beard. However i'm not about to buy another when flint is just a naturally occurring rock so does anyone know where a good place to start looking for it would be?

[Rick]

Sort of depends on where in California you are.

[Kamel]

did the old man give you some of his beard or did you just walk up and snatch it off? :P

[randyt]

I would grab any rock that seemed similar to flint and give it a try. If it didn't work so well try another until you find a rock that does. Look everywhere there's rocks, dry stream beds, out cropping, petrified wood, etc.

[hunter63]

So what you bought is a 'flint fire starter kit with a piece of "flint" rock....or a ferro rod?
Flint is a loose trem as a lot of rocks will spark if struck with the proper hardness of steel striker.

If it is a rock, and strikes a spark with your striker, the striker is of the proper composition od steel......Then randyt advice of finding something the looks like it is very good advice.
You will need a sharp edge on the rock as you are shaving off hot filling of steel as the "spark".

[Zachary]

I'm almost always in the north half more toward the east and central parts. Thanks for the advice randy.
I couldn't tell you hunter most likely a ferro rod, thats good to know though i assumed flint was just the name for the rock.

[Cast-Iron]

I've got tons of flint here in the Texas Hill Country. If you'd like, message me with an idea of what you're looking for. If I can find it, I'd be happy to send you some (just cover the shipping).

[randyt]

a ferro rod is a "steel" rod that when scraped with a piece of "real" steel like the back of a knife blade or a chunk of hacksaw blade, spews forth massive amounts of sparks.

A striker is a piece of carbon steel hardened and when struck against a rock (generally a flint type rock) will throw some sparks.

[hunter63]

This is a piece or rock that will throw a spark, when stuck against the "steel" hardened, (and in this case happens to be a knife as well, most strikers are not)
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

A ferro rod might look like one of these.....page down to the bottom.
http://usaknifemaker.com/ferro-rods-...ping-c-69.html

[Kamel]

Cast-iron, whereabouts are you in the hill country?

[Zachary]

it was probably flint then because the type of steel didn't matter the striker and my knife both worked equally well. The part i struck the steel against was a black strip.

[hunter63]

You mean probably a ferro rod....flint doesn't normally come in strips.

I would guess that most people make this assumption when saying "flint and steel" in a discussion.

If you can find an old file,....... that will spark a "rock" flint" if that's what it is,..... even though there are a lot of rocks that will spark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint

Crashdive did several vids on fire starting methods: on this thread.....
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...rs-And-Tinders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__zZjMihD5U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCnaCTU8xHE

[Rick]

Does it look like this?

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

[Zachary]

magnesium flint firestarter is what i was useing, yeah rick the "flint" part of the magnesium flint fire starter looked like that

[Zachary]

Apparently i was only useing the flint part i had no idea the silver looking part was magnesium haha i thought it was a sort of steel handle for the flint.

[Cast-Iron]

Cast-iron, whereabouts are you in the hill country?

About an hour west of Austin.

[Kamel]

Oh nice Im from San Antonio myself, grew up 30 minutes away from ft worth in a small town called azle texas

[Rick]

It's not flint. It's actually ferrocerium. Some folks refer to it as mish metal but it's actually a man made metal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrocerium

[Hntrofdmnds]

I am in NSW. Are there any places you could find flint there?

[crashdive123]

I am in NSW. Are there any places you could find flint there?

We don't have many active members from Australia, but a quick web search revealed that flint is not prevalent in your area. However chert is.