I'm reasonably experienced at firelighting as I'm sure most of us are. My prefered method is the flint & steel as I like the link to how our forefathers started fire, although I am practised at most other methods including friction firelighting etc.
I had heard that it was possible to generate sparks by striking flint and certain types of haematite nodules together, but that the type of nodule required was quite rare.
However, last night I was outside and happened across a piece of flint in the garden and decided to try and knock off a suitable piece for my firelighting kit. As it was dark, I couldn't see particularly well and at first tried to use what I later realised was a sandstone cobble to strike against the flint - all I achieved was to break the cobble in half. I then found a lump of granite which I used to break the flint, but in doing so I noticed that it threw a few dull sparks, I didn't have my firelighting kit nor sufficient time to try it further.
So, I guess my question is, have any of you used 'rock on rock' to generate sparks, and if so did you manage to catch the spark (say on charcloth) in order to progress it onto fire?
I had heard that it was possible to generate sparks by striking flint and certain types of haematite nodules together, but that the type of nodule required was quite rare.
However, last night I was outside and happened across a piece of flint in the garden and decided to try and knock off a suitable piece for my firelighting kit. As it was dark, I couldn't see particularly well and at first tried to use what I later realised was a sandstone cobble to strike against the flint - all I achieved was to break the cobble in half. I then found a lump of granite which I used to break the flint, but in doing so I noticed that it threw a few dull sparks, I didn't have my firelighting kit nor sufficient time to try it further.
So, I guess my question is, have any of you used 'rock on rock' to generate sparks, and if so did you manage to catch the spark (say on charcloth) in order to progress it onto fire?