Light My Fire Original Swedish FireSteel Army 12,000 Strike Fire Starter - Black

CUSTOMER REVIEW



This is a high quality firesteel and works very well. It takes a little practice and some basic firebuilding skills to be able to use it effectively. With a little coaching even my 9 year old son was able to light several fires with various types of tinder. You need to use good tinder and practice your technique to get a good shower of hot sparks right where you need them.



My son recently did a science fair project where where we experimented with several different types of tinder and ignition sources to see which was the best way to build a fire in the wilderness. We tested everything we could get our hands on in both wet and dry conditions. Everything worked OK when dry but after we soaked tinder, matches, lighters, etc. the list got a lot shorter. The lighters and regular matches were all useless. The lighters (butane) eventually dried out and worked again)Waterproof matches still worked but you can only carry so many of these - some broke and some didn't light. The firesteel and Coughlin magnesium block still worked but it took forever to scrape the magnesium block, the shavings kept blowing away, then when we applied the spark the magnesium shavings flashed and were gone almost instantly. We were able to make it work but it was a pain and dulled my knife. Some say to use the back of your knife blade to avoid this.



The best combination(s) when wet was waterproof matches or the fire steel and cotton balls soaked with vaseline and some of the commercial tinders including wet fire pellets and coughlin fire sticks. We scraped the wet fire pellets and fire sticks and scraped the firesteel to send a shower of sparks into the the small particles of tinder. The result was an instant fire that didn't blow out easily. These things lit even when wet. I can usually get a fire going in 1 - 5 scrapes. The resulting flame from the tinder was steady in the wind and also lit our kindling (dry sticks, pine needles etc) easily.



We gathered all sorts of tinder at home and in the woods and found lots of things that worked. Cotton balls and dryer lint work great. Any cotton or fuzz from plants works, fine dry leaves as well. I can light shredded paper without too much work. Fine dry grass (shredded / pounded and fuzzed up if necessary) and certain types of tree moss light easily. The finer the tinder the easier it is to light. Cattail fuzz is extremely flammable and lights easily. I had difficulties lighting pine pitch scrapings with sparks but included them in my tinder nest to sustain a fire long enough to get kindling going.



Bottom line is these things work and are a fail safe way to start a fire if you have basic fire building skills. This includes carrying or gathering dry tinder, making a nest for the spark, and having kindling and larger firewood pre-gathered to build and sustain your fire once you get it started. I carry one as an absolutely reliable way to start a fire if I need one. I also carry some waterproof matches, a Bic butane Lighter and some commercial tinder (wet fire or fire sticks). Of all these methods I have the most faith in the firesteel. It was also a lot of fun to learn how to use.