🤔 maybe try 'napping' or 'pressure flaking' the edges of that dull churt/obsidian/flint/quartz first before tossing it away......unless you live in an area geologically rich in those stones and you can collect them for free! Sage advice as always Dan, love the channel, glad I found it 🤗😊👍
My thought exactly, we should know how to "reset" the edge of our Flint/chert piece. Even Otzi carried a "retoucher* to "tune up" the edges of his flint/chert tools. If you are using this type of gear know how to retouch the edge.
That was my first thoughts when he said trash it. I'm teaching my young sons the way of the wild and it made me realize learning to nap stone is probably one of the most important things to know from fire to hunting. I do love these quick sharp videos though.
Good information here. Nice video. I’ve been using flint and steel since 1987. It’s my favorite method. My go-to fire starting technique. You can re-knap a sharp edge on most stones. I keep an oval striker on my keychain and will try it on rocks that I happen to find. I suggest to people who are new to the technique to keep your steel with you and practice all day. It will become second nature eventually.
I agree. I got a steel about 6 months ago and have learned a lot by trying an assortment of rocks and materials. It's great fun and really helps a person to get a feel for the technique.
Thank you for this encouragement!!!!!! Oh my goodness, I could have had a V8! Ive been researching ferro rods and I have so much flint in my back yard it is crazy! Thank you for your comment and thank you to Coalcracker Bushcraft for the video!!!!
Great hints on technique. The biggest insight I got was from Keith Burgess and the use of a tinder box with charred punk wood. Char cloth is good but requires cloth. There is punk wood (partially rotted wood) in every forest. I like catching the spark in the tin, blowing into flame with tinder and closing the tin to save the unburnt charred punkwood for later.
We use flint and steel all the time in viking re-enactment/living history. It's nice to keep old techniques alive, and also to get an appreciation for how much time it can take to do things that we take for granted nowadays. Thank you for another interesting video! :) All the best from Sweden!
I used to hoard all of my chert stones, even after they were too small to use and totally dull. I don't know why. So at 3:00 when Dan starts talking about exactly that, it reminds me of why I watch Coalcracker; because he understands bushcraft, and he understands the human mind.
Thank you for addressing the metal side of the equation! Most people assume it's the flint that needs to be sharper or the technique needs to be better, but sometimes it's just the darn metal--it's like how you need to scrape off the black oxide on a ferrocerium / firesteel rod before you can get good sparks off of it, too!
You can also try pyrite, or "fool's gold," with your steel. When it is unpolished, the natural structure of the formation is covered with sharp edges and corners.
Thank you for more tools for the toolbox !!! That will help me tremendously!!! I have gotten frustrated with it and I will try them all . Great video as usual Dan !! Take care and stay safe my friend !!
it is also the most plentiful rock on the planet for flint and steel use. Flint isn't easy to find for many folks (like us Aussies) so we have to use quartzite. I have found it sparks as good as flint but isn't as durable at the edge.
Hi Dan, What I´ve learned as a kid from my father was that you search for 2 stones (we always looked for rocks in a mountain river bed) and you rub them together. If they smell burnt, they´re "fire stones". I don´t know if that is a rule or not (or my old man just pulling my leg) but I do know that it has always worked for me. One of these stones on my (now very old) Herbertz Schneidteufel knife (in the 60´s a kids knife that my father gave to me when I was 6) always throws sparks. Truth be told, I never tried other stones than the ones that smelled burned (and maybe they all do) but, as said, it always worked for me. Kind regards, Alain PS, keep up the good work, your videos are much appreciated.
cool comment, thanks for sharing it! i also have a nice solid herbertz knife. would like to see what yours looks like. currently in germany and we’ve got a lot of these flinty like stones all over the meadows. will try to see what stones give off a smell 🙏🏼
@@spiritseas you can find the Herbertz Schneidteufel on youtube. It looks like a kids knife but it´s actually very sturdy. I used it during military service.
@@spiritseas which Herbertz do you use? Now, both camping and at home, the folding knife Herbertz Camping is my kitchen knife. Good slicer and easy to sharpen.
There is no flint in America, only various other forms of Chert. Flint is a black form of Chert found only in the area of England. America has lots of different forms of Chert depending on the region that you are in. When you break a rock or you see one that is broken, look for a colloidal break, looks kind of like a clamshell. Find a sharp part of it and shave off some steel from your steel and see if it sparks. If it does it is either a form of Chert out another stotone with a hardness of 7 or more. Diamond, Ruby, Emerald and most other precious stones will also work.;-)
Most C shaped steels can be used to freashen up the edge of your stone, it's a way of napping sort of. It's having a sharp edge that makes the difference. I watch all your videos, stay safe and stay in the woods, wow where did I hear that.
You can carry your steel with you and practice making sparks when you have any down time. It’s also handy to test out rocks that you may find during your day.
Get a new set?? Finally found a decent deposit of chert here in Central Florida. Got to earn it. Been striking it on the back of my silky saw. Works like a charm. Didn't know I could use obsidian, have a chunk or two lying around the house.
@ Robert Tetrault There was also a Star Trek episode in Season 3 with somebody named "Flint" who was iortal. He created some Android female named "Raina" who Kirk fell in love with but she was torn between him & Kirk. Later, you had a character named the same thing in Stephen King's Dark Tower series & also appeared in a Dean Koontz novel whose name I forgot. BTW, I think Coburn's 2st outing was called "In like Flint" from which a Flintstones episode was also based off of.
I find the quality of the striker to be critical. I bought one off the Interweb..... and cursed it up and down. A real challenge to get decent sparks. Made one out of an old file and it was like the second coming!
Good info! Although my biggest struggle with fire building is getting through to my son that he needs more than a handful of tinder when fire building!
While I agree I also disagree. I do use alot of tinder with my flint and steel, however if I'm using my ferro rods or lighter or matches then I usually dont use more than a 50 cent piece worth of fatwood or I use 2 or 3 strips of birch bark. I use less tinder for less primitive methods lol
@@appalachianoutdoorsman5769 Thanks for the comment! I do agree with you. I’m talking more about beginning fire building with Boy Scouts. Cant say how many times I’ve seen them immediately jump from easy combustibles to large wood, fire burns out because we haven’t gathered enough easy combustibles. All part of the learning process...
@@jeffclark4623 yeah that's for sure. I remember being a little kid watching my dad build fires and teach me lol. Now I'm 21 and can build a fire a ton of different ways because he ingrained it into my mind lol. A suggestion I'd give for teaching the kids to build a fire, teach them simple fire lays. Sure a teepee or log cabin looks awesome when they're built right and they light up good when built right. But nothing beats laying sticks over a log to let the tinder and kindling burn. It's the simplest fire lay around but one of the best.
@@appalachianoutdoorsman5769 A funny story with making fire. Me & while we were still together GF went to Lake Tulley in Royalton MA. where she got me into Kayaking & the place had pull up islands that could be explored. One of the things we did was bring brats to cook over a fire. Well, one day we decided to go on one of the smaller islands & I had tinder galore with us & well, let's say the darn island almost went up in flames because a breeze kicking off of the lake REALLY got more stuff going then I wanted to! The stupid joke was "Ugh ( caveman joke name) make fire!" which became "Ugh make big mistake!" We're still friends & refer to the area as "fire island" to this day.
Fire starting blow pipes. I put a couple plastic straws in my fire starting kit. They don't weigh anything and they direct a high volume of air right where you need it and keeps your face out of the smoke and flame.
I’ve had incredible, hot sparks using driveway gravel. My driveway is Louisiana citronelle chert. I’m always testing candidates. My kit came with Arkansas novaculite.
If one has a flintlock rifle, or smoothbore, save the old flints. There are still sharp edges on the sides of the flint that can be used for striking fire.
while great info, I think you need to demonstrate, I was confused by the props you have ... A D shackle would not be something I would consider a goto lighter against flint. But in an emergency would of course try - if I could get a sharp enough endge on it as well (this is all about contact/friction yeah?) I saw the post about napping. That is maybe a critical thing to change a blunt flint into sharp again. Maybe something for a new video :)
Also...if you want to focus more on your striking technique and less on the birds nest, tinder and fire building use steel wool to catch the spark. I found with kids it helps keep them interested because its much easier than charred material
Can you link to your older flint and steel videos? I've just recently discovered you and have not once yet successfully made a flint and steel fire (it's honestly really frustrating to me...)
Try making some char cloth, it's easy to make, be sure to use 100% cotton material, once you've made the char cloth go back to the flint and steel and you will have a fire in no time
Have i read somewhere in some comment on here, that dan has been in one of the showes about alone in the wildernes ore is that just something i have dreamt? If yes, wiche show and season is he in?
@@asmith7876 Jayy perfekt, im just about done with season 2. I live in denmark, and have only just startet whacing the show last month😃 Have only seen the danich vision of the show so far
Can't you sharpen up your stone. I did it with a piece of flint that was the size of my thumb nail. I just took an antler prong and knapped a few flakes off until I got a nice, clean and sharp edge. If I could find a piece of flint that was the same size he's working with here, I wouldn't need another one for at least another 10 years.
@@ianjames1179 the whole process is marcasite (iron pyrite) and flint and amadou (or some sort of tinder fungus) it is old, at least 5000 years if not longer. It is very old technology and wonderful technology.
Putting a new edge on your flint isn’t rocket science. And it’s not like you’re trying to knap an arrowhead in perfect form. Try hitting the dull edge with another rock.
I'm your real competition. I would challenge your flint and steel in not perfect conditions. You ever hear of a Bic lighter? Flint and steel I'm against.. it 2021. You like flint and steel? Buy a Shepherd's rope lighter. 😑
Why R U Not trying to get on Alone or R U? When U say your Stone is dull, why Not chip off an edge to resharpen? U talking ordered stones, what about finding in the woods. Do u not need to work the stone for your benifit?
And when your $1 lighter runs out of fluid, or you lose it, what then? Lighters run dry, or can get lost, flint/chert doesn't/can't. While flint and steel may seem irrelevant in today's world, it's still a useful skill to have, though it takes more practice to learn.
Chert is simply a Native American word for FLINT. We have more flint/chert then you can shake a stick at. Because we pick it up off the ground all over here. I have always used flint off the ground and generally a knife blade. Since I have tons of knives that is never a problem. I don't' buy that stuff as there is no need to. And out of all the vids of ur's that I have watched this was the least informative thus far.............................
