Carbon knife and flint?

[ReamerPunch]

The Wave's blade is carbon. Would it thow sparks with a piece of flint?
Would make the Signal kinda redundant. 

[Steinar]

Step 1: Time making fire with flint and steel.
Step 2: Time making fire with firesteel.
Step 3: Compare amount and temperature of sparks from firesteel vs flint and steel.
Step 4: Buy a Djeep or a Bic.

Personally, I would really not enjoy striking a knife blade repeatedly with a piece of rock, especially not with cold hands, but that's just me.

(I do suspect throwing nice sparks from stainless may be harder than from carbon steel, but I haven't tested and haven't got the necessary theoretical knowledge. I'm just thinking of all the chrome possibly protecting the “flammable” parts.)

[Aloha]

Not sure if theres enough carbon on a MT to effectively throw sparks from flint .  You can use a file that been modified which from videos works great.  I've done similar however the rock I used just wasn't good enough to throw sparks that would ignite my tinder. 
http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-A-Flint-And-Steel-From-An-Old-Carbon-Steel-/

[Nix]

Reamer, I've used high-carbon blades to throw a spark. Stuff like 1095. Never tried with a multitool.

The trick to using a knife is to get a good safe grip, and strike the flint with the spine of the blade. Just from the description you can see this is a dangerous thing to do, since the razor sharp edge of the blade is now oriented toward your hand. Using a dedicated, hardened striker is the way to go.

The key to using flint and steel is to have a specific tinder that can catch one of these weak and fleeting sparks. I've found the 'char cloth' works best for me. Char cloth is a thin cotton cloth that has been heated and 'cooked' in the absence of oxygen until it is carbonized. A bit like one of Vidar's cakes. I know there are other nice tinders out there, but I've had the most success with char cloth.

The char cloth is held on top of the flint, close to the striking edge. The spine of the knife is struck, lengthwise, against the flint, cutting tiny bits of molten steel off. These tiny 'sparks' land--with some luck--on the char cloth and start an ember. After that.....use the ember to catch some fine combustible tinder and start your fire. Easy. 

[Nix]

Thought I'd go ahead and post a pic of my flint and steel fire kit:




Char cloth is at the bottom of the box. Hardened steel striker. Nice piece of flint. Waxed and unwaxed jute for tinder. The unwaxed works better for igniting with an ember; the waxed is brilliant for catching and holding a flame to get a fire started. And the waxed is more water-resistant. Which can be nice. It's very important to have a large and loose bundle of tinder for the ember to 'nest' in, so the heat can build up, and oxygen can keep the embers burning.

In addition to flint, one can use hard chert or obsidian with good results.

[Smashie]

420 HC is high carbon, but it's still a stainless steel

[zoidberg]

Thought I'd go ahead and post a pic of my flint and steel fire kit:

(Image removed from quote.)


Char cloth is at the bottom of the box. Hardened steel striker. Nice piece of flint. Waxed and unwaxed jute for tinder. The unwaxed works better for igniting with an ember; the waxed is brilliant for catching and holding a flame to get a fire started. And the waxed is more water-resistant. Which can be nice. It's very important to have a large and loose bundle of tinder for the ember to 'nest' in, so the heat can build up, and oxygen can keep the embers burning.

In addition to flint, one can use hard chert or obsidian with good results.

Awarded.   

[Nix]

Thanks, zoidberg!

 

[smiller43147]

(I do suspect throwing nice sparks from stainless may be harder than from carbon steel, but I haven't tested and haven't got the necessary theoretical knowledge. I'm just thinking of all the chrome possibly protecting the “flammable” parts.)

This is absolutely correct, the chromium dampens the sparks.  You can put a piece of steel against a grinding wheel and get a rough idea if it's a high carbon, low carbon or stainless steel by the size and "sparkle" of the sparks it produces.  Stainless has the weakest and smallest sparks.

[ReamerPunch]

Thought I'd go ahead and post a pic of my flint and steel fire kit:

(Image removed from quote.)


Char cloth is at the bottom of the box. Hardened steel striker. Nice piece of flint. Waxed and unwaxed jute for tinder. The unwaxed works better for igniting with an ember; the waxed is brilliant for catching and holding a flame to get a fire started. And the waxed is more water-resistant. Which can be nice. It's very important to have a large and loose bundle of tinder for the ember to 'nest' in, so the heat can build up, and oxygen can keep the embers burning.

In addition to flint, one can use hard chert or obsidian with good results.

Nice kit! 

[ReamerPunch]

420 HC is high carbon, but it's still a stainless steel