Are all firesteels created equal?

[Bushcraft4life]

I tend to use the metal scraper that comes with the light my fire steels. I know that this can eat away the steel but i have had mine for over a year (only a scout model) and it has loads of years left in it. On one trip a few weeks back i left the metal scraper and just used the back of my mora. Not a big shower of sparks but it still done the job .

 

[woodwalker]

My 'Light my fire' firesteel works great off the back of any of my knives (though they are carbon steel) and realy well off the little striker thing that its attached to (though i can never explain why the striker only works one side up )?

I think its because the reverse side is rounded and not a squared edge meaning it can't dig into the firesteel, unlike the back of your knife.

woodwalker

 

[addyb]

Honest, when I first had a look at the "Light My Fire" brand, (I almost chose it over the Primus) I didn't think that the striker looked all that sturdy. Yeah, it was sawtoothed but the Primus variety had a nice thick slab of steel for a striker. I squared it off and just as Viovode says, it does wonders. No, it doesn't throw massive sparks but it does a helluva job.

Adam

 

[Simon E]

The best one I have used out of 3 different brands is the rod (1/4 inch) from an Ultimate Survival Blast Match. The striker tab broke off the unit so I ripped it out and stuck a handle on it. It probably gives off double the sparks of my Fire Flash.

 

[OzaawaaMigiziNini]

I carried a Light My Fire, Firesteel for about a year. Gotta use a hard steel knife, like a Cold Steel, or Ka-bar. My Mora and Opinel would just make light sparks. Now I carry the Primus models. Anything hard, soft steel, hard steel, piece of glass, a flake of flint... makes nice hot sparks.

 

[nickg]

I have found that the speed you scrape the steel at is significant as is the pressure. A firm push slowly down the steel gets a much more concentrated shower than a fast scrape.

Cheers
Nick

 

[oldsoldier]

MY LMF rod didnt work all that well with the supplied striker, so, I trashed it & broke a piece of hacksaw blade for it. My mora doesnt seem to want to spark the rod, but the hacksaw shoots a shower.

 

[demographic]

My 'Light my fire' firesteel works great off the back of any of my knives (though they are carbon steel) and realy well off the little striker thing that its attached to (though i can never explain why the striker only works one side up )?

Beacuse as the striker has been stamped out it has a blunt side and a sharp side, the sharp side casts good sparks and the blunt one doesn't.

Its a bit like knives with a rounded spine being a bit crap and ones with a crisp square edged spine being much better for casting sparks.

Remember what you are doing is quickly shaving the surface off the firesteel off.

Never seen the problem in using the bit of metal/striker that comes with them myself, at least if you lose your knife its attached to the firesteel, its not as if its heavy is it.

Is carrying a firesteel in a knife sheath and never using the 2 gram weight striker a bushcraft fashion thing?

Seems fairly logical to bung the firesteel in the stove kit to me.

 

[copper_head]

Heh I have both a 'fire flash' and a 'light my fire' flint, i would defenately say the 'LMF' is inferior. The fire flash works all the time every time, altho I do think its worth taking a file to the back of your knife to encourage sparks, altho those of you out there who spend £200+ on a blade probably would be loth to do so !

 

[Voivode]

Never seen the problem in using the bit of metal/striker that comes with them myself, at least if you lose your knife its attached to the firesteel, its not as if its heavy is it.

Is carrying a firesteel in a knife sheath and never using the 2 gram weight striker a bushcraft fashion thing?

Seems fairly logical to bung the firesteel in the stove kit to me.

Ditto that. I think the firesteel/knife sheath thing looks good, but I don't really see the point. Everybody knows that keeping all your important things in the same spot is asking to lose it all; that's why we're supposed to keep 3 different batches of matches (heh, rhymes) spread about our kit so that if we lose our pack, our pants or our jacket (or any two) we're still fire-ready. All the sources say that concentration of resources is never a good thing in the wild. I carry two knives for the same reason; My Mora stays close and my Leatherman Wave stays in my bag.

 

[Martyn]

there was some discussion about this on BB a while back. It seems that the alloys used vary and the harder alloys tend to produce fewer sparks but they often last longer and burn hotter. If you have got a hard firesteel (such as those sold by Cam at firesteels.com) then you need a harder and possibly sharper edge than for th Swedish firesteels that say outdoorcode sell. I have both and once you get used to this fact, they both light fine.

Indeed the group buy firesteels from firesteel.com proved to be made of a harder alloy than others. They work well making big, fat sparks, but can be harder to use because they need a harder, sharper striker and a bit more pressure. This meant that some people found that some of the knives they had been using as strikers with thier firesteels, didnt work so well (or not at all) on the group buy steels. Most people easily found alternetives though. As you say, the fireflash steels are a bit easier to use, they spark more readily with less pressure, but the firesteel.com steels work fine when you get used to them.

 

[leon-1]

'LMF' is inferior.

That is not a call that I would make, I have just been routing around my kit and I have 20 or so firesteels, from fireballs, light my fire and all sorts of others. I have been using Firesteels since about 1982 starting with the ranger firesteels and I would not say that LMF are inferior in anyway. To be honest they are all "much of a muchness" and arguing about whether they work or not is stupid as they still generate a far higher temperature spark than a traditional flint and steel (strike a light).

altho those of you out there who spend £200+ on a blade probably would be loth to do so !

I have knives which are in this price range, they are users. When I asked for them to be made I actually asked that the spine be squared so that the edges were very sharp, there is no need to take a file to the spine.

The majority of the time I use a Fallkniven F1, that requires no squaring off for the job either. One of my favourite knives is a frosts clipper and that I took a diamond file to the back of, as I had done on previous occasions with knives by Gene Ingram and Alan Blade, it all depends if you want a knife or a drawer queen realy.