Help with FireSteel

[JoeG]

Hi,
I bought a firesteel yesterday and i have tried to light dry grass and hay with it and it wont work. I get the sparks from it but it wont light a fire. I have tried moving the hay around but it still wont light the hay. I got 1 fire and it went out after about 2 seconds So i need help with it, i have seen some powder stuff you get in a tin thats done by the same company that sells the firesteel.
Help
Thanks

Joe

 

[scanker]

I personally wouldn't bother with the maya dust (I think that's the stuff you mention in a tin)

Other tinders to try with your firesteel:

Fluff from a tumble dryer
Cotton wool (better if rubbed with vaseline - the cw takes the spark and the vaseline burns well)
Silver Birch bark - the thin papery stuff is best
Bamboo Shavings - find an old garden cane and scrape your knife perpendicular to the cane to get thin scrapings.

The other thing to try is to put your tinder between the steel and the striker so the tinder moves with the steel and is very close to the sparks. Your dry grass might ignite better in this way.

 

[jdlenton]

you need to have a good look around at different types of tinder i have very little time this morning to type so please excuse my shortness there is lots of info in the data base here about natural tinders plat downs: thistle is good at the moment, plant barks: honey suckle, birch, clematis,
wood punks, feather sticks, and all manner of other interesting and fun things.
do a search and have a good read then come back and ask the questions you have in your head.

Just a word of caution though your mention of dry grass, hey and fire lighting makes me very nervous. Both grass and hey can burn well and usually come in very large very dry quantities please! please! please! be very careful practicing fire craft, it is a good skill to have but needs to be practiced in a controlled manner. If you are lighting fires either have a purpose for you fire, lighting the BBQ for example or have a method of putting the fire out so that it will no spread and can be easily extinguished. When i practice or demonstrate tinders i like to have a metal box with a lid close by at home i use the BBQ i can light my tinder and then put it in the BBQ watch it burn or close the lid and its safe.

enjoy and be careful

 

[Ogri the trog]

Hi Joe,
Much the same as the other guys have said - don't give up, its the technique that you need to find, not the magical tinder.
Try rubbing your grass quite hard to break up some of the stems. Then arrange it all into about the size and shape of a small birds nest - strike the steel into the middle of the nest and it should give good results. If you're doing it for real then you need to have already prepared a good sized bundle of fine kindling to take the short-lived flame onto the next and subsequent stages.
Once you get a regular fire using grass, go for the other natural tinders, Crampball Fungus, Birch Bark, Feather sticks etc.
Theres plenty of info around but heres one I posted on a few weeks ago -
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=13749&highlight=maple
Post number 11


ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Biddlesby]

With grass, if the flame goes out too quickly, perhaps it's slightly too damp (even if it feels quite dry).

 

[leon-b]

i find that common reed goes up so easily with a firesteel and it stays alight long enough to get a fire started
leon

 

[sxmolloy]

Hi,
I bought a firesteel yesterday and i have tried to light dry grass and hay with it and it wont work. I get the sparks from it but it wont light a fire. I have tried moving the hay around but it still wont light the hay. I got 1 fire and it went out after about 2 seconds So i need help with it, i have seen some powder stuff you get in a tin thats done by the same company that sells the firesteel.
Help
Thanks

Joe

Hi Joe. I find silver birch bark easier than grass, cotton wool / tumble drier fluff even easier. Maybe practice with cotton wool / tumble drier fluff then go back to the dried grass. If you are having trouble locating silver birch bark drop me a PM with your address and I will send you some, there's loads of these trees in my area and they are shedding lots at the moment. ATB....Stu

 

[jdlenton]

i find that common reed goes up so easily with a firesteel and it stays alight long enough to get a fire started
leon

you've been talking to fenlander again haven't you leon

 

[C_Claycomb]

If you want a tin of Maya Dust, the same stuff sold by Light My Fire, just PM me your address and you can have mine! it is nearly unused. Whatever you do, don't wasted your money on the stuff, not when you could buy Maya Sticks themselves. The dust lights well enough under controlled conditions, not bad to practice on, but pretty useless under field conditions.

This is not just my opinion, but seems to be one shared by everyone I talk to!

You don't mention what you are using to strike the ferro-rod with. While any material harder than the rod will work, some things are better than others. The little flat metal bits of hacksaw blade or similar are not as good as the square spine of a knife.

At the bushmoot someone was having a little trouble while using the provided striker, they had sparks (holding the striker still and pulling the ferro rod past it), but they weren't lighting much. I had a try using my knife spine and from standing was easily able to make sparks that reached all the way to the ground. That burn time would be a big help in getitng reluctant tinder to light. A bit of over-kill for plant down, but not bad for wood shavings, grass, or bark.

Whatever tinder you use, be sure it is packed tight enough to stop the sparks falling through it.

 

[leon-b]

you've been talking to fenlander again haven't you leon

lol, i am meeting up again with him this wednesday and we are going to concentrate on the bow drill this time, should be good
but keeping to the subject common reed does go up really easily
leon

 

[Buckshot]

I find that grass and hay aren't that good as a tinder, other types are much better.
It tends to be used by the schools and for demo purposes becasue it's easy to get the large quantities needed for teaching if everyone wants a go !
It will light but other tinders are better. Buffing the hay will help a lot as Ogri says. I think it breaks it up alittle and creates very fine strands that the sparks can light much easier. You loose a lot of material though so start with a huge handfull and expect to get a small nest sized ball at the end.

Mark

 

[rich59]

I have another question about fire steels.

Some wizards can generate a massive spark that can shoot several feet, or if close up ignite almost anything. What is the technique to this? Is it in the sharpness of the knife, the angle of attack, the pressure put on, or the type of firesteel?

 

[gregorach]

I suspect it's a combination of the striking edge and technique - I find I can generate a huge shower of sparks with the back of my Paul Baker Graduate, much more than with a hacksaw blade or something. The downside is that you get through steels faster...

As for tinders, my personal fave is a mix of shredded birch bark and thistle down.

 

[Ogri the trog]

I have another question about fire steels.

Some wizards can generate a massive spark that can shoot several feet, or if close up ignite almost anything. What is the technique to this? Is it in the sharpness of the knife, the angle of attack, the pressure put on, or the type of firesteel?

Rich59,
Yup, all of the above, with the exception of type of steel I think - though there must be some that are better than others.
Assuming right-handed, hold the fireflash in my left hand, palm uppermost, back of fingers holding the tinder in place. The tip of the fireflash amongst the "gold-dust" of the tinder. Knife in right hand with the tip of the spine pressed hard against the flash, push with your left thumb, quite slowly. If theres good geometry on the spine you should get big fat sparks that fizzle and crack for several seconds each. Sufficient time in fact to put everything down and pick up the burning tinder before the sparks stop fizzing.

It takes a while to get the hang of it but you'll see the difference between wizard and novice quite soon.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[C_Claycomb]

Some wizards can generate a massive spark that can shoot several feet,

The most important part is to shout "KA-ZAM!" as you point your wand............sorry, I mean firesteel

 

[JoeG]

Hi all,
I think i will leave the Maya Dust, it sounds rubbish. I got cotton wool going with my first strike and then moved on to a small strike at the end and that lights it first time. I'm going to put some vaseline on the cotton wool because it burns very fast. I was going to boil my kettle but i needed more wood and none was dry enough to light.
At the moment i'm using the striker to strike the firesteel. I did use my knife but it was making it blunter, and because its a multi-tool its folds in, i sort of found out the wrong way I will keep a look out for silver birch bark, i will see if there are any around me, i'm off to Holme Peirre pont with my stoves and i will look out for any silver birch bark on the floor by all the trees.
I have thought about doing some charcloth, will it be any easier to light. I like to cook on my solid wood stove because then i'm not having to spend money on gas, plus its fun to go looking for good wood to burn. I found that i couldn't light the wood from a apple tree, it was dry but it just wouldnt light, but the wood that was in the hedge( I think its a honey suckle) lights easy. I get the cotton wool alight then i put dry grass on then the honey sukle twigs and build up the thickness of the honey sukle. But i ran out of the thicker stuff today. I will look in the local surplus shop when i get down there for some Maya sticks, i dont know if they will have any in, if they down then the local camping shop might.

Anyway cheers to everyone thats replied, and i will look on the website for more information and i will go and keep trying.

Joe

 

[rich59]

Continuing the theme of wizard sparks - I have a Swiss army knife as my chief tool. It occurs to me that many of you wizards are using the back of a fixed blade knife? Sharpenned? So can I get the big sparks with a SAK?

JoeG
Well done mate. Fire starting with a flame is a bit different than from a glowing coal - such as charcloth. Char cloth is an absolute doddle to light. The skill is in nurturing a glow all the way to flame. That is where my magical abilities are reputed to be. Have a look at http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=14445 where I reveal all.

 

[scanker]

...I did use my knife but it was making it blunter...

You shouldn't be using the cutting edge to throw sparks, you should be able to use the back of the blade.

@Rich59 - My Opinel No8 throws good sparks and it's possible to use that with the blade closed - enough of the spine of the blade protudes from the handle for striking. I guess if stainless is as good as carbon steel and it's all about edge squareness, I presume you could square off a section on the back of your SAK for wizardry. Or use the awl or can opener?

 

[Ogri the trog]

Continuing the theme of wizard sparks - I have a Swiss army knife as my chief tool.

Rich,
If your SAK has a saw, use the back of it for a spectacular shower of sparks

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[scanker]

Cheers Ogri, good tip. I've just tried that and it works a treat. Enough of the spine of my saw shows at the tip to do it with the closed knife too (Farmer).