Flint and steel practice

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Sundowner

Full Member
Jan 21, 2013
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Practised a couple of days but only could get sparks with my opinel no. 8. As soon as I put amadou (well dried) onto the flint, the opinel was totally knackered. Got a fire steel now and will try after my hols here in France. Any flint in Provence?
 

Broch

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Jan 18, 2009
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Flint and steel has never been my strong point but I just spent 15 minutes with John Fenna at the bushmoot (he regularly demonstrates and tutors this method) and I had and ember and then a flame in no time :) - now I just need to practice!
 

Sundowner

Full Member
Jan 21, 2013
891
341
70
Northumberland
Flint and steel has never been my strong point but I just spent 15 minutes with John Fenna at the bushmoot (he regularly demonstrates and tutors this method) and I had and ember and then a flame in no time :) - now I just need to practice!

Now come over and show me?
 

Broch

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Jan 18, 2009
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Yep, that's the method I was always shown that I struggled with (me being the problem not the method). Doing it the other way round, holding the flint with a piece of charcloth above it and striking down with the steel worked very quickly for me! :)

I would expect that most cultures that used flint and steel would have tried both (and more) and people would have just had personal preferences.
 

Sundowner

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Jan 21, 2013
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Finally got a fire steel, flint at the ready and we'll dried amadou. DOES ANYONE THINK A SINLE ONE OF DOZENS OF SPARKS would hit the Amador, 1 or 2 perhaps but not the tiniest of embers!!!
Any pointers??? Pretty please?????
 

Broch

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Jan 18, 2009
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I picked up some flint over the weekend and gave it a quick go today - plenty of sparks on the charcloth and a good ember quite quickly.

You're getting sparks so how far are they having to travel to get to the amadou? As I said earlier I can't get the 'striking the flint down onto the steel' method to work. So, as John showed me at the moot, I hold a small piece of charcloth on top of the sharp edge of flint, strike down with steel and the sparks fly up into the cloth - but it's only a few millimetres they have to fly.

Listen to me pretending to be an expert :), I've only just managed to get this working! Better listen to Wayland instead :)
 
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Sundowner

Full Member
Jan 21, 2013
891
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Northumberland
Ha, charcloth!!! The easy way out, I'm sure I could do it with that!
I'm trying "natural" stuff like amadou and hemp........fluffed up, but still, NOTHING!!!! Mind you, I've only got small pieces of flint and will have to go to the beach again to get larger ones!!! I will prevail!!!!
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,976
7,755
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
Ha, charcloth!!! The easy way out, I'm sure I could do it with that!
I'm trying "natural" stuff like amadou and hemp........fluffed up, but still, NOTHING!!!! Mind you, I've only got small pieces of flint and will have to go to the beach again to get larger ones!!! I will prevail!!!!

Ah, OK, IMHO life is too short to be making good amadou :)
 

Sundowner

Full Member
Jan 21, 2013
891
341
70
Northumberland
Ah, OK, IMHO life is too short to be making good amadou :)

I hear you brother Broch. I myself have less and less hours on this planet. But, as with any fine wine, one has to start at the bottom. Been there for quite a while already so I'll crack on with the elementary materials available. Perseverance is everything!!
 

Wayland

Hárbarðr
With amadou I always use it on top of the flint and strike down with the steel.

I've never seen anyone manage it with the other method.

Fluff the edge and leave it just over the edge of the flint. Usually takes a few strikes but pretty reliable.

For my purposes, using it almost daily, I couldn't source enough amadou and processing it would be an almost constant job.

When demonstrating to a bunch of kids I need spark to flame in exactly the time it takes me to describe what I'm doing which is about 30 seconds. That includes opening the tinder box and preparing the bundle while talking about the contents, each and every time.

I had to slow it down for the camera in the clip above.
 
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