Using flint without magnesium is hard... unless you have lint. It's by far my favorite tinder. It will go up in flames in less than 30 seconds if you have flint and steel, so I completely agree with bear.
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Using flint without magnesium is hard... unless you have lint. It's by far my favorite tinder. It will go up in flames in less than 30 seconds if you have flint and steel, so I completely agree with bear.
shoe lace, lopped around around 2 sticks, grab both ends and pull up one at a time repeatedly, friction=fire, i put wood fiber under, and lint,
how do you do this is there a link i can get to see pics??Quote:
Originally Posted by moses1moses
Is there any other way to start a fire? When you first start with flint and steel it can be a pain.
Altoids cans with a little pin hole through the top. Cut up a t shirt into little squares and put them into the altoids can. Stick the can into the fire, leave until you don't see any smoke coming out of the teeny hole. Needs to be a teeny hole. Pull out and let cool.
What works great for steels are the old American made files. Break a piece of file off, about 4 iches, Wear Safety Glasses, then get a rock, any hard rock and just hit the side of the file. You will get the hang of it, then when you can make a spark, stick the char cloth under it and strike away.
It'll catch eventually.
I have many prim. style steels and the old file ones work the best. As far as rocks, you would be surprised how many rocks throw sparks.
If you find an abandoned birds nest in the woods, works great to start fires. Put the char under it and just lightly blow.
Caution, don't ever try this with two like rocks as you can cut your fingers pretty bad.
Are you talking about ferrocerium or actual flint? Ferrocerium is what lighters and mechanical sparkers use. It's alot better and easier than actual flint. Just remember when you're striking it, it's the steel that flakes off and creates the sparks, not the flint or ferrocerium. So the harder the steel, the better the sparks.
Has anyone tried a magnesium bar?
you can make charred cloth also by puting it in the fire to just in a tin can like an alltiods can or some of that nature with a hole in it and wait until its done smokeing after that then you wait till its cooled down (lay thehole on the ground so the stuff inside dont get burned and start a fire) then nice charred cloth all and ready! :)
I'm talking real live mother natures rocks. You would be surprised at how many will throw a spark.
Had one of them magnesium things once, think it got old as it just did not work when I tried to use it. It was over 5 years old. The flint and chert I use is hundreds of years old, maybe even thousands.
I will be trying a few dif. kinds of punk wood and a really thick cotton tubed wick. I found a great dry rotting old tree during hog season, will be venturing back sooner or later.
Magnifying glass
Hey guys, im new and i think its really hard to use the bow technique. I've tried like 15 times.
yeah i tried the bow techinque it is tough by the way anyone how to remove spinters i got some from the wood
it took me 300 long tries to perfect the bow drill
geez i cound't get it to so much as charocal
the best tender is used will be (wool with kero)
u just need simpel things:
1-wool
2-kero
3-a good closed contaner (to keep the wool wet with kero)
i prffer chared cloth. just 1 spark and it will take off. easy to make to
a really good way to turn a match into a gaint fire is by useing a axe deroendt spary can i now have one in my survail kit
I try and keep multiple ways of starting a fire on or near me when I venture outside for example in my pockets I keep a lighter, mag/flint thingy in my vest more lighters, fresnel lens, water/wind proof matches, petro/cottonballs, paper and more of the same in my bag. guess I just like FIRE
I carry a Bic and also a magnesium starter in my daypack. I think the fire steels look pretty handy. I used to have a flint and steel set fom my black powder days and it worked really well with dryer lint.
my zippo uses flint lol flint is the easiest thing to use. all ya have 2 do it scratch steel to it an it sparks, i have this wyrd machine that i squeze the trigger and hundreds of sparks come out the end , i have no idea what it is or where i got it but i love it
I think that’s magnesium flint your talking about. Have you ever tried the flint you find in mother nature?Quote:
Originally Posted by marcraft
you mean banging rocks together? only whem i wana catch squirrels lol (theyr attracted by the sound of rocks rubbing together) i dont know much about flint though so i might have...
Magnesium flint is easy and good to have. Natural flint is just a smooth gray rock that natives made knives and arrow tips from. I’ve started fires with Natural flint but magnifying glasses and Magnesium flint are the easiest lol.
http://www.beg.utexas.edu/mainweb/pu...s/chert400.jpg
This video is the best instructions on how to use natural flint
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzeY1...elated&search=
When you hit the flint with the steel your trying to cut the steel with the flints sharp edge. When you get it at the right angle at the right speeds the metal shavings fly off as sparks.
Oh and the squirrels, if its red squirrels they are so territorial if they hear a gray squirrel though gray squirrels are three times their size the reds are after them like vicious dogs. The big grays are so scared of them. I heard if a red catches a gray he’ll bite his balls off to get rid of the competition of them multiplying I don’t know if its true though.
lol thats prty vicious, i usually go for the greys , theres more meat on em and if you hang a live one up by the tail as bait youv got a chance to catch a weasel , you know how thoes guys love killing there food, cause if they hear a trapped squirrel they come running lol
i carry a glass bottle of my special emergency fire starter, it makes a big hot fire quick , its actually alot like napalm but is great to start fires in rainy conditions
flint and steel is a very reliable method but only if done with a good tinder such as char cloth, tinder fungus works great as well but must be very dry yet not crumbly dry. And actually spark comes from the metal yes unless useing ferrocerium where as the rod is actually producing the spark magnesiium is ok however is hard to keep together in wind and burns very hot and fast. i use flint steel char cloth and ceder wood chips is simple to get fire in wind or any weather except torrential rain .
get yourself a good fire piston from like wilderness solutions incredible even soaking wet will produce a coal with charcloth or tinder fungus is also kind of fun to produce a fire so easily without matches lil practice , right tinder = fire most everytime
What is your favorite fire making tool? Matches? Metal Match? Bow Drill? other?
flint and steel work the best for me
Magnifying glasses work in seconds.
flint n steel and magnifying glass is very good but i must admit iam fascinated with the age old fire piston have yet to find something more reliable
i always cary a bic lighter those things are asome
:) As for being able to make a fire when needed, I always carry a mag stick with striker. I learned to do this while in the military (retired after 22 years). I have taught other friends that like to hike and camp how to make a fire. They all have used the mag stick numerous times when nothing else would work. My mag stick is with me ALL THE TIME!!!! I also carry other survival items at all times.
I like the old ways of doing it, like the Bow and Drill, also i use the battery way aswell :)
I think the bow way is the easyist to do if you dont have anything else but mostly i use a flint to light a quick fire
I think this is the easiest way to make a fire and for that I always use this method whenever I can
I carry a steel match, Flint, Sometimes a lighter
But it like to make it as reall as possible, say you where planing a walk threw the moutans and be back by daylight, you might bring food/water but i dought that you will bring things to start a fire with and thats where you need to know your stuff
i keep a magnesium stick, about 4 disposable lighters, a zippo, some steel wool(for use with flashlight), a fresnal lense, matches, waterproof matches, windproof matches, and several candels. i guess i just find comfort in knowing that if need be, i could cremate a frozen elephant.
i still need a ferrocium rod, too...
as for the axe, i find WD-40 works better.
I keep a zipo and 10 books of matches. And a fire starter at ingles stores called fire starters, 4 for 2.00 they wark real good at hunt camp
Bic lighter and Spark-Lite firestarter.
zippo lighter and napalm lol
In the October 2006 issue of "Backpacker" Magazine Les Stroud was one of three survival experts asked what essential piece of equipment he would never be without. His answer was a butane lighter to start a fire. I always carry several methods, including lighters and water-proof matches. The magnesium flint stick is so good that the US Air Force includes it in their pilots' survival kits.
I also have the military flint wheel and the Gerber Strike Force...Ya never know!
SARGE.