Swedish Firesteel vs Swan Vesta: Which is greenest?

[Stringmaker]

I was doing a fire lighting session recently to a couple who run a very environmentally friendly business. I was talking through the firesteel when the question was asked about how one of those impacts the resources of the planet.

I had explained that the rods are made from a mix of metals, which prompted an interesting discussion about all sorts of things and made me think the question through a bit. Here is what I have so far.

According to the makers of the Swedish LMF steel, it is good for 12000 strikes. If we assume that one match equals one firesteel strike then the comparison goes like this:

Average contents of 1 box of Vestas = 85

Therefore to get 12000 strike equivalents you need 12000/85 = 140 boxes of matches.

140 boxes of matches = 1680 grams ( 1 box = 12 grams )

1 LMF steel = 50 grams shipping weight

If you apply a factor of 2 LMF steels fitting the space of 1 matchbox then to ship the same equivalent firepower of matches (Vestas are made in Sweden now from Aspen) from the same departure port takes up 68 times more space and is 34 times heavier ( 1680 / 50 ). Even if you say 1 LMF = 1 matchbox then the numbers are interesting.

To further analyse it, you can get into the sourcing and processing of the sulphur and phosphorous on the matches, along with transporting it to the factory, as well as the processing of the tree from the point it is felled.

The upshot is that a seemingly green process (wooden matches from sustainable forest) still has a hefty footprint when you consider the entire chain from felling to striking.

Maybe I should get out more...

 

[Shewie]

Maybe I should get out more...

I think you're onto something here

 

[Humpback]

Maybe I should get out more...

As long as you wear locally sourced natural fibres spun by a co-op of .............*

(*please fill in your own words here)

 

[Stringmaker]

I think you're onto something here

Maybe I am...

 

[ged]

There is absolutely no doubt that mining rare earth metals has a significant impact on the environment.

But most of the mining is done for things like high-strength magnets and all the other toys that we use in our insatiable daily lives. Most people never even heard of a ferro rod, so giving up ferrocerium isn't going to make a lot of global difference.

On the other hand giving up driving (and, for that matter, surfing) might...

 

[Bowlander]

Maybe I should get out more...

As long as you wear locally sourced natural fibres spun by a co-op of .............*

(*please fill in your own words here)

*Knit your own porridgers!

 

[Stringmaker]

There is absolutely no doubt that mining rare earth metals has a significant impact on the environment.

But most of the mining is done for things like high-strength magnets and all the other toys that we use in our insatiable daily lives. Most people never even heard of a ferro rod, so giving up ferrocerium isn't going to make a lot of global difference.

On the other hand giving up driving (and, for that matter, surfing) might...

Oh I agree that mining rare earth metals leaves a dirty great footprint and that ferro rods are a tiny part of it.

If you can strip out everything else from the comparison then matches vs firesteel was an interesting thought exercise if nothing else.

 

[Big Stu 12]

Just use old files, and old tea towels, make some Steels and Charcloth... that must be better then just throwing them away, and they are known by most people... no need to mine ect, just pick up and old flint off the ground... well thats if you can.. lol, around Suffolk we got loads...

 

[leon-1]

It's a good question, but how much pollution is going to be created to create a Misch Metal rod. We think of them as firesteels, but they also inhabit lighters as well and I am pretty sure that they are used in other places.

So we have to first dig the minerals from the earth, refine it, Lanthanum, Ferrous oxide, cerium, praesodymium and magnesium.

They have to be refined, crushed dissolved in sulphuric acid. Run through a process of electrolysis and eventually combined without causing the combustible elements to combust. A lot of this is done in China, so our bright new and shiny Ferro rod is now shipped from china to the relevant "manufacturer" for branding where they then have to have plastic handles fitted before being packaged in a cardboard and plastic blister pack and are distributed worldwide. This is without mentioning the manufacture of the striker or the handle themselves.

To be honest I think iit's going to be quite a close call either way especially when you look at having to manufacture acids the use of electricity, the mining costs and the like.

Neither can you equate one strike to one match as it doesn't work like that. Not everyone who takes a firesteel to a cotton wool ball (or the like) will light it first time, but invariably a match will light a cotton wool ball first time.

Take 100 people of varying age and gender and get them to use a firesteel and see how many strikes it takes on average to light a cotton wool ball.

Then do the same thing with matches.

I have no preference either way, but teaching it and seeing people with varying abilities makes me think that it's nowhere near as simple as "yeah this is a rare earth metal that works", it makes me think it must take a fair amount of time and a shed load of nasty chemicals to refine the constituent parts of a ferro rod.

 

[General Strike]

I noticed recently that the newest Light My Fire strikers have got new grips, which are made of a biocomposite plastic - you can see the wood fibres embedded in the resin! I don't know if the resin is also wood-based. I wonder if this is a superficial kind of 'greenwash' decision or whether it is driven by real environmental and sustainability considerations? Either way, I'd have thought that the main environmental impact of firesteels is in the rare earth metal mining, as others have mentioned. That said, most rare earths were extracted as a by-product of mining for other materials. I don't know if that is still the case.