How To Correctly Deploy A Fire Steel

[Klenchblaize]

Any suggestions please in how to correctly and indeed imaginatively deploy this confusing but must-have piece of bushcrafting kit?

A good U-Tube link would be cool.

Cheers


K

 

[oldtimer]

Paul Kirtley has a good tutorial on his Wilderness Bushcraft blog. It is available on You Tube.
He has a new take on it which was news to me and is very effective.

 

[dewi]

Funny you should ask, there is a rant somewhere on here that there are far too many videos on the subject.

 

[Klenchblaize]

I guess it won't do too much harm to the blade if I restrict the 'strike' to the spine?

K

 

[crosslandkelly]

As good as any.
[video=youtube;D5R0uFHcfQw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5R0uFHcfQw[/video]

 

[Mesquite]

And by coincidence this offering from McQbushcraft, listed just today

[video=youtube;x19onD1azfg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x19onD1azfg[/video]

 

[Adze]

I guess it won't do too much harm to the blade if I restrict the 'strike' to the spine?

K

Carry a striker... just not worth the, albeit small, risk with such a beautiful knife. You can make a striker from a snapped hacksaw or old bowsaw blade that weighs virtually nothing.

 

[crosslandkelly]

I use this, bought from one of the members here.

 

[Klenchblaize]

And by coincidence this offering from McQbushcraft, listed just today

[video=youtube;x19onD1azfg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x19onD1azfg[/video]

Thanks for this and the vid above. Both are very enlightening, professional in viewing quality and well presented. I've learnt a lot including why some knives are best left in the drawer!

Cheers


K

 

[Macaroon]

I use this, bought from one of the members here.

View attachment 38435 View attachment 38436

I got one of these when they were on offer, too - one of the best bits of kit I ever bought. A really small, simple and inexpensive thing but I wouldn't be without it.

That being said, though, I've never damaged a knife with a firesteel and find it hard to imagine how you would damage one

 

[crosslandkelly]

The worst you would get is a brown mark, which wipes off.

 

[rik_uk3]

They ain't rocket science to get working, just play with it.

 

[Adze]

The worst you would get is a brown mark, which wipes off.

I use an Opinel 8 with mine. Call me careless if you like, occasionally a scraping gets stuck to the back of the blade and while the brown mark rubs off, the tiny nick it leaves in the steel doesn't, over time it's become quite rough. I used to use it with the blade closed, for 'safety', and the odd scraping would leave marks in the handle.

 

[Robbi]

These are the best strikers I've found, absolutely crap as a knife but very good as a striker, small compact, easy to use

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-EDC-...el-Webbing-Buckle-w-Tooth-Blade-/201322602919

I think you can find them on Amazon for very little money.

 

[Chiseller]

i use the metal saw on my sak. brutal on the ferro but gets the job done.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[rancid badger]

I use this, bought from one of the members here.

I recognise that set!

And this is how they are best used or "deployed":
[video=youtube;_BQ0-fAruzo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BQ0-fAruzo[/video]

I haven't used a knife in conjunction with a firesteel for over 4 years now, not since I watched a bloke sever two tendons in his left hand,(never properly repaired either) fannying about using a knife to scrape up tinder. That's when I started making first the scrapers and then the sets.

It's good to get some feedback on the sets I sold

Injury apart, in my experience, people tend to damage knives with firesteels when they mistakenly use the cutting edge to scrape sparks. This is something too often seen on "celebrity survival" or "reality" TV shows.

The firesteel is a simple tool. So is a carving knife, a spoon gouge, an axe or an artists paint brush. If you don't know how a simple tool works in the first place, you're going to struggle to make the most of it and probably never develop your skill levels to the point that you can make it look easy to use.

Get cracking, then practice

But ideally, avoid using a knife, at least till you've already mastered the spark and tinder production

best wishes

Steve

 

[crosslandkelly]

Are you going you make any more Steve? I'd take another.

 

[Steve27752]

Are you going you make any more Steve? I'd take another.

+1 on that.

 

[rancid badger]

I still make stuff on occasion but I'm not a "maker" on here anymore.

 

[Klenchblaize]

I recognise that set!

And this is how they are best used or "deployed":
[video=youtube;_BQ0-fAruzo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BQ0-fAruzo[/video]

I haven't used a knife in conjunction with a firesteel for over 4 years now, not since I watched a bloke sever two tendons in his left hand,(never properly repaired either) fannying about using a knife to scrape up tinder. That's when I started making first the scrapers and then the sets.

It's good to get some feedback on the sets I sold

Injury apart, in my experience, people tend to damage knives with firesteels when they mistakenly use the cutting edge to scrape sparks. This is something too often seen on "celebrity survival" or "reality" TV shows.

The firesteel is a simple tool. So is a carving knife, a spoon gouge, an axe or an artists paint brush. If you don't know how a simple tool works in the first place, you're going to struggle to make the most of it and probably never develop your skill levels to the point that you can make it look easy to use.

Get cracking, then practice

But ideally, avoid using a knife, at least till you've already mastered the spark and tinder production

best wishes

Steve

I think the desire - one might even say pressure - to use a knife as activator may be traced to the fire steel loop equipped sheaf that no aspiring Bushcrafter feels able to leave the house without.  

Those Chinese copies of the US $50 shiv look perfect for the job. ‎
‎
K‎