fire steel help?

[longshot]

i jsut bought a fire steel, my first one. it says it will ignite paper so i went to the firepit in the back yard opened the package and crumpled the sheet of paper into a loose ball and using the striker i made good sparkes, i think. but no flames not even any smoke, i tried using a knife still no go. i tried a handfull of shavings and sawdust from my workshop. not a gig. what am i doing wrong? help, please


dean

 

[Ogri the trog]

Hi Longshot,
Its not that you're doing "it" wrong, you just need to learn this new technique.
Try tearing the paper into long thin strips, this exposes the fibres that should catch light from the sparks.
I'm also guessing that your shavings and sawdust wern't ideal either, maybe lack of air to support combustion.

Have a look through this thread, http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=13749
post number 11 IIRC.

Good luck

Ogri the trog

 

[Big John]

Hi,

You're not helping yourself to be honest, they are pretty tricky things to light from a spark - comparativley speaking.

Try some cotton wool, tease it out so that it's really thin and whispy. There are lots of things that can be lit, try thistle heads, dandelion heads anything that's light and fluffy - but make sure they are bone dry.

I would say char cloth is the easiest thing - have a look at this thread, he's using a flint, but the principle is the same only the fire steel gives more, hotter sparks so it's easier. The char cloth will be glowing with the slightest spark, then you 'just' have to blow it into life.

Once you've got the hang with them then go on to the more 'solid' stuff.

 

[Goose]

What type of paper are you using?
Try cigarette papers they seem to work well (very thin and light) or
try some plumbers hemp, get it from B&Q,
get some natural (hairy) string and split it into threads,
thistle down works REALLY well, looks like dandelion but a denser,
the seeds from the reed that looks like a big cigar on top of the stem( don't want to get into the debate about their name but I call them bullrushes)
birch bark is the most useful, you need to scrape some powdery bark into a pile with your knife and mix some shreds of bark with it, it goes up well and the flame lasts unlike some of the seed heads the downside is it is more difficult to light.

The trick is to scrape some of your fire steel into a pile without sparking, takes a bit of practice, then throw a spark onto your shavings the shavings will ignite and give you more success than just a shower of sparks on their own.

Keep practising , master the firesteel and then try a flint and steel

 

[kb31]

loo roll teared up or cotten wool n paper at first
just so you don't feel like ya wasted a tenner
a fire steel takes a bit to get the hang of.
it's one of them things that looks easy when ray dos it but isn't when you try it-at first anyway ...karl

 

[longshot]

thanks for the quick replys folks. lots of great suggestions i'll let y'all know how i get on.

dean

 

[Martyn]

How to light paper directly with a firesteel...

Fold the paper around the square spine of a knife...

...and drag the knife and paper over the firesteel, so that the spine of the knife bites through the paper and sparks the rod.

Here's a video of the technique...



Scrunched up paper wont light by striking sparks down onto it. The above technique works because the sparks are caught in a bunch on the edge of the paper where the knife bites into the firesteel. There is a dense ball of 3000 degree sparks all concentrated tightly in one place, creating a hot-spot just next to where the knife cuts through and bites into the rod, so the paper ignites.

Here's a pic of a piece of paper that failed to ignite first go. Another strike or two and it would've gone up. You can see the cut where the knife bit through and the hot-spot from the sparks...

You can use the same technique on dry leaves etc.

It's just one of many techniques, most others involve making some kind of fibrous, dry tinder ball. A very fine fiber ball will ignite easily - try showering a ball of cotton wool with sparks - it will light straight away. Once you learn the process, you can adapt your understanding in all sorts of ways and to all sorts of materials. But if you are striking sparks onto a ball of something, it needs to be finely shredded, fibrous and dry.

Firesteels are increadibly versatile, but you need to understand their limitations and learn the different techniques.

 

[scanker]

Great post Martyn. Liked the video too.

 

[Martyn]

Thankyou sir.

Credit to Bear Stone for sharing the technique many moons ago.

 

[rich59]

While on technique that is the first time I have seen a direct link to a video file on this forum. How did you do that?

 

[Martyn]

While on technique that is the first time I have seen a direct link to a video file on this forum. How did you do that?

It's all part of the photobucket account - they allow uploads of video files and convert them on the fly to flash videos - they give you the BB code to paste into forums under the uploaded video. In fact the reason I made the video was to test the service. Works well, though you are limited to 3 minutes of video per file.

 

[JoeG]

I used to have a problem with getting stuff to light. Someone said something about balls of cotton wool, it works well, i can get it to light with just a small bit of the fire steel used. After that someone said about bamboo cane and if you get your knife and run if up and down,i have my knife 90' to the garden cane, but a angle is better because it saves the knife.You will get alot of little shavings after a while, when you have some of them, you can light them with the firesteel easy. If you try on a number types of woods, you will be able to see which you get a better number of shavings from. Failing that i got birch bark to light easy aswell. it took some practice, but when you get the right shape, the sparks go onto the birch bark and it lights. I found if i rolled it out, put the firesteel down near the end closest to you, and let the rest curl up, you can get it to light.



You can also light a camping gas stove with it. It takes some practice to make the sparks go in. Be careful doing this, dont turn the gas up too much and stand back. The gas flames will/can go up high, very high, i was amazed of how high it went. I dont know why it went so high, does anyone know?

 

[longshot]

thanks Joe good suggestions. as for the stove, if it was a calm day and the valve was open all the way the vapors may have "stacked up" in a colume, ive done this and yes the eyebrows do grow back. lol


dean

 

[JoeG]

thanks Joe good suggestions. as for the stove, if it was a calm day and the valve was open all the way the vapors may have "stacked up" in a colume, ive done this and yes the eyebrows do grow back. lol


dean

Thanks Dean, it was a calm day but the valve wasnt open too much, i had a wind break around the stove so this might not have helped. I didnt loose any eyebrows, i wasnt too slow. I've had another go with paper, and i cant get it to light. I get it glowing, and if i blow on it, it spreads out, but only a flame for a short while. I keep thinking about that maya dust, or something i can take to help me get fire going. The problem i am having now is that when i get what i lit with the fire steel going, i cant get anything else going. Its starting to annoy me now, i used to be able to do it, but know i cant. I can get enough fire to light a heximene block thingy going, but then nothing else. I've tried to make a fire bowl type thing using a old slab and having enclosing it a tad but with gaps to get air in. I keep meaning to make a wind break thing, but still havent got round to it. Can anyone shed any light on this. Is it a common thing? I do get alot of black smoke, so is this a sure sign my kindling is too wet?
(Sorry for the slightly off top from your thread Dean)

 

[Ogri the trog]

I keep thinking about that maya dust, or something i can take to help me get fire going.

Joe,
Forget the Maya dust, the best thing about it is the tin that it comes in - its good enough for demonstrations but forget it for real life firestarting. Keep the tin though - as a proper tinder box

Ogri the trog

 

[Bisamratte]

Thanks Dean, it was a calm day but the valve wasnt open too much, i had a wind break around the stove so this might not have helped. I didnt loose any eyebrows, i wasnt too slow. I've had another go with paper, and i cant get it to light. I get it glowing, and if i blow on it, it spreads out, but only a flame for a short while. I keep thinking about that maya dust, or something i can take to help me get fire going. The problem i am having now is that when i get what i lit with the fire steel going, i cant get anything else going. Its starting to annoy me now, i used to be able to do it, but know i cant. I can get enough fire to light a heximene block thingy going, but then nothing else. I've tried to make a fire bowl type thing using a old slab and having enclosing it a tad but with gaps to get air in. I keep meaning to make a wind break thing, but still havent got round to it. Can anyone shed any light on this. Is it a common thing? I do get alot of black smoke, so is this a sure sign my kindling is too wet?
(Sorry for the slightly off top from your thread Dean)

Im no expert at fire lighting but it sounds like you need to use more tinder and more wind. The extra heat from the tinder will dry out the kindling.

hope this helps,
Andy

 

[JoeG]

There was alot of wind, i closed it off a tad but the wind was really getting to the fire. I did use some dry grass i found, and i also did thin slices of wood but not even that lit. I'm off to the woods tomorrow so i am going to be looking for some better tinder. I found that sometimes i put too much on. So if i use more of what i used to get the fire going to make the fire bigger then put some fine kindling on and keep adding some more of what i made the fire going and wait for the fine kindling to get going it should work?
I wont use get the maya dust, i have been looking for some maya sticks, but what are other substitutes that i can dry myself?

Cheers,

 

[longshot]

joe i was chatting with a friend about tinder just the other day, he does a lot of hiking and he said that he puts his tinder in a inner pocket next to his body to dry it out as he walks and when he stops for lunch he has dry tinder to start his fire if he doesn't use his alchole stove.


dean

 

[Ogri the trog]

Joe,
Have a look at the thread and individual post linked in the second post,at the top of this thread. Once you get the technique sorted you'll be able to light fires wherever you are.

Here it is again , http://www.bushcraftuk.com/communit...ead.php?t=13749
post number 11.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[JoeG]

Thanks Dean and Ogri the trog,
I have some dry hay in the shed and i tried that, i got the hay going but not the wood again. It confuses me as to how much kindling you need to put on. I either put on too muh, or not alot and it doesnt seem to have a chance of getting lit. I did have some dry birch bark, but i have lost alot for some reason, but i could a small section and got a fir going on hay only, i've done this several times and i lit the heximine fuel blocks from that but then nothing else. What types of wood are good for drying out? We have a honey suckle bush in our garden and its huge, is this any good to dry out?
I cant get that link to work Ogri the trog, is it just me?
Cheers both for your help,