This is the useful stuff. Condition dependent (something bad in the air? Far enough away?) of course, but knowing fire, agriculture, foraging, repairing/making tools/clothes etc would get you far further than a limited supply bunker.
You are absolutely right about punk wood char catches easily. Not hard to find and make char with it. I have never used the cloth myself but it's good to know. I would also like to mention I get flint from Crazy Crow.
Little late on the review. Lol. Very informative. Wasp nest remnants (from pine/spruce, because of smell)flint and steel, and mother nature’s gasoline (birch bark). Yes under summer conditions, surprisingly, started quickly without birds nest. I live in northern Canada (close to Alaska). I will try on a frosty day. Great information, in a non-a$&hole way.
My wife bought me a flint and steel set for Christmas, and I was able to get a few little fires going with little trouble, even though I'd never tried it before.
Best dang vid on Flint n Steel Basics I have seen. Trying to learn this (Flint n Steel), this has helped me tremendously! Thank You for the great content. Love the channel! Stay Safe!
as far as prepared man made chars go I prefer slow matches, treated in potassium nitrate, flat lamp wick so treated works so well for this, it is easy to store in your kits, lays well on your stone, takes a spark well and smolders evenly.
Just recently subscribed, and I love both the instructionel (is that a word in english?) approach and the humoristic (hmm perhaps I should start looking up the words) you take in explaining things. Please keep it up. It’s very educationel👍
Pretty cool about the quartz. We have tons of granite & quartz all throughout the Dakotas. Very easy to make do with that. Tell ya what, it's truly a nightmare to get a spark/birds nest going here on the prairies if you're not smart enough to prep your location and provide enough of a 'wind block'. I learned how to light bird nest fires here from a USAF survival instructor on Ellsworth AFB. It was really cool.
So I've been very interested in all your videos, I also just saw something called a Fire Piston? I thought that would be the absolute best way to make an ember to make a fire, much better than flint & steel and even better than the magnifying glass. Just wanting to know your thoughts.
I still use char cloth on the flint, then swing the steel. When I try holding the steel and swinging the flint, I am never sure if I will scrape sparks off the steel, or skin off my fingers.
I was wondering about the stone to use. If I got a smooth stone that was broken to get a sharp edge could it be used and can I get any stone with sharp edges to strike with? I bought a kit with a large piece of quartz and would like to break it to make a second kit.
Any stone hard and sharp enough to shave microscopic particles of the carbon steel off will work....with practice. Try anything you see/find, rocks are everywhere and often are deposited/left from far away. Glacial and river deposits, road cuts, gravel pits etc. Chert, flint and quartz are primary materials.
I live in western Pennsylvania and was wondering if it is likely or even possible in this area to find legit flint. I’ve found quite a good bit of chert but never spotted any flint. If not where is a good area to find it? Or does a lot of the bulk of it have to be found elsewhere and shipped in? Thank you greatly
Glacial material is scraped off mountains and boulders, rocks and gravel get deposited further south in valleys, washes, rivers and lowlands. Also train tracks and sometimes road bedding can come from many diferent places. Then there's road cuts and gravel pits. Your looking for ANY rock hard enough to shave atoms/molecules of carbon steel off. So chert, flint, quartz just try anything you suspect, its all part of the learning process. But be very careful with obsidian as it'll open you up real quick! Small atoms/clusters of carbon steel have More surface area to react with oxygen generating more heat. Because they've been seperated from main body of steel theres nowhere for that heat to dissapate. The process of rusting is the same as combustion but in slow motion. The heat is absorbed by the steel so its dissapated before it can be put to use.
Im planning on making a steel in my forge, did you make yours? Im going to assume it’s high carbon but honestly don’t know if mild has the same effect. Any input would be appreciated
No, mild steel won't work because you can't harden it through quenching. This is why people usually recycle old files. These are usually made from W-2 or 10XX carbon steel. Trying quenching it in water or brine (if it cracks in water) to get it the hardest you can get it. The harder the steel the better the rain of sparks, so don't normalize it or draw out the temper like a knife or tool after working. Leaving the file teeth on helps too. Have fun
I have a question I am not to good at flint and steel but I am better with a ferro rod and striker can char cloth or car material be used successfully with this method?
