Well, if anyone asks glorn if he has a light, the answer is; emphatically, yes!
Is there anything in particular I should be looking for in a ferro rod/magnesium block?I am more motivated than ever to up my fire making repertoire. I buy lighters buy the dozen at the dollar store and have now have some Zip fire thingies. You can smell the accelerant thru the box they came in. I saw a guy throw a spark on the unopened package and it lit no problem at all.
Quote from: Aloha007 on November 14, 2014, 03:29:43 PMIs there anything in particular I should be looking for in a ferro rod/magnesium block?I am more motivated than ever to up my fire making repertoire. I buy lighters buy the dozen at the dollar store and have now have some Zip fire thingies. You can smell the accelerant thru the box they came in. I saw a guy throw a spark on the unopened package and it lit no problem at all. Best thing to do is get a good fat ferro rod. That is all you need as for making fires that way. Also, the problem with the combo ferro/magnesium block is you will use up the ferro way before you will the magnesium. A neat to trick to do though, get a cheap combo one and slowly drill a bunch of holes in it and save the shavings. You can use those for the really hard starts. Way easier than trying to use a blade or what have to scape some of the block. Once you get some practice, you will be able to light most fires with just the ferro rod.
Glorn, that esee steel looks sweet! Does the steel get hot when using it for a bow drill?
For $30 on Amazon, it is a bit expensive for a hunk of carbon steel, but.. it is quite nice. Again, paying for the idea. I doubt you'd be disappointed. Thicker, wider, and shorter than a Pocket Wrench II, but similar form factor. Could be carried on a cord or carabiner. Easily pocketed as well. It does throw sparks with flint easily. Though that is more about the edge on the flint I think.
This last weekend I went out and done practiced some of my firemaking skills and now I wondering, what is in your fire kits. Any ideas, or tricks that you want to share.
Ok so I think I got my kit worked out but please chime in.My goal was simple for fire starting and at the most basic of ideas is a lighter. I wanted to be able to start a fire easily with the least amount of effort and in difficult conditions.The lighter is the simplest lets face it but for fun let's go with the scenario that my lighter fails, what's my next approach? Accelerants. The name says it all right? I want to hedge my bet on getting a fire going. My choice is the very flammable Zip fire starter block broken down and carried in a small crazy glue tube. This stuff takes a spark like crazy and can be lit by spark without taking it out of the package. Charcloth. While this is a process to make its a fun process and very lightweight. Steelwool 0000. Lightweight and can be lit by spark or battery.Magnesium. This stuff burns and takes a spark pretty easy. Aluminum foil. To be used as others have suggested as a platform ( wet ground ) on which to work to contain for magnesium shavings, charcloth, Zip fire starter also as a wind screen. Flint steel and striker. I'll need something create sparks right! Everything fits into a Altoid tin wrapped with electrical tape ( offer some water resistance ) and ranger bands holding a Spartan to the top.To me its simple and covers a variety of scenarios. Fire starting is more of a fun thing to do for me. I seem to always reach for the lighter honestly when I light something at camp. It is neat however to create fire.
Bicycle inner tube pieces are a new "must-have" for me. I also carry matches in a waterproof case, a ferro rod and a jet flame butane lighter. I normally gather tinder when out and about but the inner tube rubber is a great backup for when things get really tricky.The most useful fire starting technique (IMO anyway) is getting good at making feather sticks.NOT MY PICS, but here is what I'd call a poor example of a feather stick:(Image removed from quote.)Better is something like this (again, not my pic):(Image removed from quote.)If you really want to go all out, then you can aim for this. Though, personally, I think that's a little more than it needs to be.(Image removed from quote.)
Quote from: Gareth on November 14, 2014, 02:51:32 PMWell, if anyone asks glorn if he has a light, the answer is; emphatically, yes! Heh heh.. true. Just got the Esee steel recently. Very nice bit of kit. Simple, and not exactly high tech, but well thought out and has multiple uses. A bit spendy for what it is, but you pay for the good idea and execution of design. A bow drill socket can be a pain to sort out in the field, so adding that to a steel is smart if not at least clever. The sharp edge strikes ferro like a champ too. If one lives in an area where flint is common enough, and wished (unlike me) to have a small fire kit, I would say this is a good place to start. Comes in a tin, so making charred cloth would be easy. Toss in a small ferro, some cotton, a few matches, a mini Bic, and maybe some pre-made charred cloth and you'd be good to go for sure in the size of a candy tin. Wrap with cord and you have yet another option. You could have 4-5 fire making options in that tiny box. (Image removed from quote.)I had considered posting a review in the OPMT forum, as it truly is a multitool for fire making. (strikes ferro, strikes sparks with flint, drill socket) But I suppose it would get shot down due to lacking a bottle opener or what have you.The patina on mine is lovely too BTW. It would appear that they actually apply an acid to them on purpose for the looks alone.http://www.eseeknives.com/fire-steel.htm