I've been doing these for a few months now and after the North West meet arranged by Gaz Miggy, and showing these feather sticks to Gaz and Jonothan I have finally got round to sharing my ideas with you lot.
Firstly pick up a pack of dolly pegs like these or pinch one from your other half or mum / Granny / Nana etc etc....
I got a pack of 24 pegs for just £0.79p, so getting these wrong these will not break the bank and you will have plenty to experiment with.
There are two ways I carve the pegs to create feathersticks, firstly by carving the top of the peg along the centre where the gap is between the two " legs " of peg like this.
After a short time of carving you should end up with a featherstick like this.
The other way, which I prefer is to break the peg in two
then start carving along one of the spines of the split peg
Carve the second aswell so you have a pair. You can then either remove the shavings in one lump
or leave the shaving on the stick in order to light the stick aswell as the shavings later on.
Make a small pile of feather sticks, ensuring that there are no gaps that the sparks can easily fall through, and ensure that the rest of your fuel is ready to use
Two strikes on my firesteel got these going with no problems.
The peg wood is so dry they are easy to carve and after your first curl it gets easier and easier. The weight of an individual peg is exremely light too. I keep one or two in my fire lighting kit just incase I have trouble getting a fire going in damp conditions. Not only that they are really good to practice with when the weather is lousy, like today in my area
Hope all the above makes sense and is easy to follow.
The only problem I have encountered is one or two of the pegs may contain the knot from the wood they have been made from, and can't effectively be carved into feathersticks. But as they come in packs of 24, this isn't really a huge problem.
ATB....Stu
Firstly pick up a pack of dolly pegs like these or pinch one from your other half or mum / Granny / Nana etc etc....
I got a pack of 24 pegs for just £0.79p, so getting these wrong these will not break the bank and you will have plenty to experiment with.
There are two ways I carve the pegs to create feathersticks, firstly by carving the top of the peg along the centre where the gap is between the two " legs " of peg like this.
After a short time of carving you should end up with a featherstick like this.
The other way, which I prefer is to break the peg in two
then start carving along one of the spines of the split peg
Carve the second aswell so you have a pair. You can then either remove the shavings in one lump
or leave the shaving on the stick in order to light the stick aswell as the shavings later on.
Make a small pile of feather sticks, ensuring that there are no gaps that the sparks can easily fall through, and ensure that the rest of your fuel is ready to use
Two strikes on my firesteel got these going with no problems.
The peg wood is so dry they are easy to carve and after your first curl it gets easier and easier. The weight of an individual peg is exremely light too. I keep one or two in my fire lighting kit just incase I have trouble getting a fire going in damp conditions. Not only that they are really good to practice with when the weather is lousy, like today in my area
Hope all the above makes sense and is easy to follow.
The only problem I have encountered is one or two of the pegs may contain the knot from the wood they have been made from, and can't effectively be carved into feathersticks. But as they come in packs of 24, this isn't really a huge problem.
ATB....Stu
...............but you do realise that you'll have irate womenfolk from one end of the country to the other now, too 
