Hey, thanks for this video- very informative! I was under the impression that you had to find flint. Boy, was I glad to see that other types of rock will work. I'm currently learning fire starting techniques and I'll be out tomorrow morning striking sparks! Thanks again.
Railway lines use a lot of crushed rock as a bed for their tracks most of the time the rock is limestone because it readily available in bulk for cheap and where you have limestone you will always find flint/chert. So walk along a rail track and check out the rocks you will fine stones with flint in them.
I like how this guy talks plainly and shows that you don't need a bunch of knowledge to able to accomplish what matters..... Plus... I recognized this dude as the angry guy from the TV show called Alone! I was rootin for ya
Mr Roberts, almost 5 years have passed since you made this video, and guess what? Its just as informative today as it was 5 years ago. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction for finding the correct rocks. Knowledge is the key! I learned alot from your video-Thank You for sharing!
I remember when I was 11 yrs old and was sledding down a hill... sled had metal rails... and the snow was barely covering the ground... and not sure what kind of small rocks I skimmed over while going down the hill... but it sure sent up some sparks ! I've never had an actual fire steel... wondering if I can get a railroad spike to do the same... I heard that either the old spikes or the new spikes are of high carbon steel... not sure. I have some experimenting to do !
Thanks for showing that you can study the properties of the rocks you find to see if they might work with your steel. Brilliant! Good stuff for this rookie.
Hey Larry Merry Christmas! I eventually bought 2 pieces of Flint from a dealer overseas and got some nice chunks for a fare price, and how I still love going to the river or on the railroad tracks near me and hunt for rocks I find it very satisfying to find some, thanks for sharing this.
Rivers; creeks, streams... and then... railroad tracks! In America we are never too far from one or the other. Couple of weeks ago I found lots of quartz and even Iron pyrite walking the tracks a very short distance.
Just a couple picky things: generally speaking, rocks don't spark of course, except possibly for pyrite. And the best pieces of rock will basically be chips that have an extremely sharp edge. The sharp edge is key to shaving flakes off the steel that will ignite into sparks. The fracture pattern you're referring to is called conchoidal. It is the classic fracture pattern of flint/chert. Once you see the shiny surface on the chip, you never forget how it looks.
Hi Larry, Skeeter here, I realize that I came on this video a little late (couple of years) by it’s a really good video. Thanks for putting it together.
Great Video! I was reviewing some videos and they would say just what you mentioned, find a 7, that means nothing to me. But your video was wonderful and now I feel I could find a rock that would work if I can't find flint.
