Firesteel Fire Starter

Thought you guys might enjoy this. A while back I started a fire in the back yard for the kids and used a fire steel from firesteel.com. It worked far better than I thought it would. The grass wasn't super dry but it still caught quickly. Don't tell the wife I was outside in my socks :).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUYfP1E4WVg

I've tried many times to start a fire with only firesteel and stuff I could find around the yard. I've never been able to do it until recently. It took a heck of a lot longer than this as well.

Try rolling a pile of grass (or other small vegetation) back and forth in your hands to break it up into smaller fibers. I've found this helps pick up the spark.

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Originally Posted by schapman43

Try rolling a pile of grass (or other small vegetation) back and forth in your hands to break it up into smaller fibers. I've found this helps pick up the spark.

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+1 you want "fuzzy" grass and wood fibers.

milkweed down is as good or better than any commercial tinder

Oh yeah,we got a fire.

I use dryer lint for tinder. Firesteel will ignite that in about 4 nanoseconds. I also have a few magnesium firestarters that the Army kept sticking in my flight vest. Not the greatest, but put the metal shavings in the lint and you get a quick hot fire going.

I read an article awhile back that due to the newer fabrics we wear that dryer lint sometimes just melts because there's no natural fibers in lint anymore. I guess that would depend on the clothing we wear though. Just my .02 [Coffee]

I have a few firesteel's in various bags but have largely switched to a blast-match, which allows one handed use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYRKzdSXH34

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Originally Posted by hatidua

I have a few firesteel's in various bags but have largely switched to a blast-match, which allows one handed use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYRKzdSXH34

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Blastmatch, they are sooooo awesome! They produce a HUGE amount of sparks! The rod is also Beefier in my opinion, and you can scratch some of the material off and into a pile if you do it slowly before you strike it to get sparks.

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Originally Posted by StagLefty

I read an article awhile back that due to the newer fabrics we wear that dryer lint sometimes just melts because there's no natural fibers in lint anymore. I guess that would depend on the clothing we wear though. Just my .02 [Coffee]

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I usually grab it after a load of towels, all of ours are cotton. And it's fluffier that t-shirt lint.

I take the lint or cotton balls and work some petroleum jelly into it, makes it almost waterproof and burns easier and longer.