This is a cut and past of mjk123's article.
Articles
Pimp my mini firesteel.29.07.2007The popular method of wearing a firesteel on the knife sheath has several frawbacks. This article illustrates why, and suggests a more practical alternative.
But before I do, allow me to pimp my maxi firesteel.
The more astute reader will no doubt recognise that the object in the picture is a dirty piece of oddly shaped wood, and quite a large piece at that. The blue string and the split in the middle might lead some of you to believe that the object separates into two halves, which indeed it does.
One half has the firesteel glued into it and the other has the striker, more on that in a moment. So the question is “Why? What’s wrong with a small piece of wood/antler/mammoth tusk or whatever, carefully worked into an aesthetic fob?”. My answer to this question will probably leave me in a minority of one, but here goes.
I was never really convinced by the widespread fashion of pushing the firesteel into the sheath of the knife. I understand that it fits the romantic notion of “Man enters wilderness with nothing more than his trusty knife and ferro rod”, but is it practical? First off, you quite often see that the steel is held in place by just a push fit into a tube of leather. I accept that some sheaths have a kind of folding tab to prevent accidental loss, and that the whole issue can be solved by looping a lanyard somewhere safe but I would assert that you don’t use a ferro rod that often to warrant it being so close at hand, and that any space on or around the knife sheath could be better utilised to carry, say, a sharpening plate, or a small first aid kit for cuts. Personally I don’t use my knife that often either, so I keep it in my day pack, just taking it out to split and shave kindling. The extra three seconds to retrieve the firesteel isn’t too onerous.
We’ve all see RM reach to his hip and, brandishing knife and steel, he sets light to some natural fibre found along the way. All done in one smooth movement. The thing is, when you’ve been trying to light a fire in unfavourable conditions it’s very easy to over exert and either scatter your tinder, or cut the hand not holding the knife. Also, my favourite knife (Helle Harding, if you’re interested) won’t produce very good sparks. My other objection to the standard set up is that it’s nigh on impossible to operate with gloved hands.
So, having divorced the firesteel from its traditional place, I tried to make a device that would satisfy my criteria; namely, safe to use, produces good sparks and usable with gloved hands. Cosmetically pleasing didn’t enter into it at this stage, as you can see.
So, I took a piece of birch and carved away, trying for a kind of pistol grip shape into each half, until the wood felt comfortable in each hand. Next I drilled a hole for the firesteel and the striker and a couple of holes for dowels which would keep the pieces lined up in the closed position. A couple of holes for a cord means that the two halves will never be far away from each other.
Now for a word about the striker. I tried many different bits of metal. The rounded piece that came with the firesteel was pretty awful, really. Hacksaw blade was better, but the best sparks (or more accurately described “molten balls of steel”
were produced using a piece of hard steel that was lying around. I’m not sure of the providence of this material, but I believe it was once used as a cutting blade of an industrial planing machine. It seems to be very hard and quite brittle, but not particularly sharp. I can scrape it over my thumb without injury.
This picture shows the effect on the steel. Well, you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, and you can’t get droplets of molten steel without shaving something off the ferro rod. It might look destructive, but I contend that just one of the strikes from this combination has a better chance of catching on tinder than a shower of weaker sparks. Let’s go back to the scenario of wet and cold and wanting fire. Do you care if your steel lasts for 10,000 or 500 shots? I should also point out that this steel has been subjected not just to my experimentation, but also that of my three-year-old son. He delights in blowing his nose on a tissue then setting it alight; all under adult supervision out of doors. The output from the striker resembles something like you might see around a welding pit. From hip height, a spark will bounce two or three times along a concrete floor before dimming out of sight. Obviously, cotton wool doesn’t stand a chance; birch bark takes really well too, especially after being scraped a few times with the striker. Ripped up toilet paper works well too.
In a way, the maxi firesteel was a prototype. Having been convinced of its’ merit, and seeing a firesteel group buy, I decided to make a more refined model.
The Ministeel.
The main negative points with the maxi model were that optically it wasn’t very refined, and it’s quite big. It’s hard to lose, but you can’t put it in your trouser pocket either. The mini steels from the group buy lend themselves to something a little daintier. I had a piece of curly birch lying around so I had an attempt of carving an animal’s head into one end. The pistol grips from the larger model would have been too big and I found I hardly ever held the halves like that anyway. Basically, any smooth knobbly shape is sufficient.
It’s supposed to be a badger, by the way, to avoid any embarrassing questions. I should point out that the only badger I’ve ever seen was a victim of roadkill. This may have influenced my art. It’s supposed to be a badger, by the way, to avoid any embarrassing questions. I should point out that the only badger I’ve ever seen was a victim of roadkill. This may have influenced my art.
As you can see, I haven’t quite attacked the steel with as much vigour yet. If I let my son near it then the steel will last about 3 weeks. Still, I’ve got four replacement steels so I ought to have enough until the next group buy. However, bearing in mind the treatment given to the bigger steel I might try and lay my hands on some 1” diameter firesteel blanks.
