How to Use A FireSteel
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A FireSteel.com FireSteel and scraper |
Before we get down to actually using a FireSteel, we need to understand one of the most important survival rules of all:
Survival Gear is only as good as the ability of the person who uses it.
As an example consider a very simple tool, the axe. In my area there are men who were just about born with an axe in their hands. Give them a well sharpened axe and with three or four deft blows they can slice right through a six-inch thick hardwood tree as though it were made of butter.
Hand the same axe to someone else and after 30 or 40 hacks into the tree they may throw the axe down in disgust and declare the tool is poorly made and does not cut worth a damn. After all they declare, they were in the Boy Scouts or in the army and used axes and cutting implements a number of times.
To be fair, they probably are familiar with the axe, compass, or some other survival related gear that is the subject of problems. But that does not mean they are using it optimally or correctly and it certainly does not mean they are an expert at its usage.
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FireSteel Scraper Teeth These teeth and ridges, located on the backside of the scraper, are the key to generating sparks on a FireSteel. |
Having started some campfires in Boy Scouts does not an expert fire maker make. As with every human endeavor, there is a scale of abilities that range from neophyte to expert. Getting to the expert level can take a great deal of experience in all conditions mother nature can dish out and is certainly not based on a scrap of paper given at the end of a seminar or class.
Another problem arises. Human nature being what it is, once someone takes the stance that the gear is at fault it can be very difficult to get them to believe it could be the user instead. That is why people will sometimes disbelieve the reading from compass when they are lost. After all, they have used a compass a number of times and they never got lost before!
FireSteels
Now that we understand the vital importance of the User of survival gear, we can learn how to optimally create sparks using a FireSteel.
First of all, try to remove all prior notions you may already have about using FireSteels and follow my instructions to the word. Even if you are already a proficient user of FireSteels, you may discover a tweak or two that can improve your abilities. Secondly, read the following carefully – because I cannot know your particular knowledge and abilities I will have to start with the very basics and work from there.
To make sparks with a FireSteel.com FireSteel requires threee components.
- The FireSteel itself
- The scraper
- User Technique
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Scraper Nock Fit the FireSteel snugly into the nock formed by the wide and the narrow portion of the scraper |
Because the FireSteel “is what it is” there is little we can do to tweak it. However the scraper and user technique bear further investigation.
FireSteel Scrapers
Although I have been able to scrape sparks from FireSteels using a shard of ordinary glass, some objects work better than others. Good scrapers for making sparks include:
- Blades of knives - including survival and bushcraft knives.
- Backs of knives
- Hacksaw blades – both the toothed edge and the opposite side.
- Various other thin metal pieces.
- FireSteel.com specially made scrapers.
It is important to note that not all materials when used as a scraper for FireSteels will perform in the same way. For example, some knives when scraped along a FireSteel will produce more sparks than others. In general high carbon steel blades are harder and more spark producing. The bottom line is you will have to experiment with a variety of FireSteel scrapers to find what works best for you.
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The Angle is Important For optimum sparking, the angle you hold your scraper is important In this photo you can see the proper way to hold the scraper. Make sure the word "UP" is facing toward the hand and fingers holding the firesteel. Place the FireSteel in the scraper "Nock". Hold the scraper at about a 45-degree angle to the firesteel. Scrape the firesteel in the direction away from you. Scrape hard and scrape fast. |
Tests I have performed show that with prolonged usage some blades, including hacksaw blades, will degrade. This may be due to mechanically rubbing the metal of the blade against the metal FireSteel rod and the 5,500 degree temperature of the sparks the FireSteel produces.
Because the edges of some scrapers degrade with use, you may have to occassionally obtain a fresh scraper in order to optimally create sparks from your FireSteel.
An important quality of FireSteel.com scrapers is that they are not prone to degradation during repeated use with FireSteels as are many knives and blades.
Using FireSteel.com Scrapers
In talking with many users of FireSteel.com scrapers, I am surprised to find that some are using the scrapers upside down or even scraping the FireSteels with the wrong end. Using the scraper incorrectly will of course lead to sub-par performance.
Once again, survival gear is only as good as the ability of the person who uses it.
If you take a close look at your FireSteel.com scraper you will note there is
- A front side, where the word “UP” and the “FireSteel.com” logo is engraved into the metal.
- A back side where there are no words.
- A right-side up (with the word “UP” in normal readable position).
- An upside down (with the word “UP” being upside down).
- A left side (the narrow portion where the word “UP” is printed).
- A right side (where the “FireSteel.com logo is printed”)
Take a look at the back side of your FireSteel.com scraper (the side that has no wordage). If you closely observe the narrow portion of the scraper you will see and feel a set of “teeth” with raised ridges. In the picture a pencil is being used to point directly at them.
These teeth are the working portion of the scraper. You want them bite into the FireSteel as you move the scraper along the FireSteel rod in a quick and fluid motion.
To optimally use the FireSteel.com scraper:
- Grasp the right side of the scraper firmly in your right hand so that your thumb covers the “FireSteel.com logo. You want a good solid grip.
- Grasp one end of the FireSteel firmly in the fingers of your left hand.
- Place the FireSteel in the “nock” of the scraper (where the narrow part meets the wider part), being sure that the word “UP” on the scraper is readable and facing the fingers holding the firesteel.
- Tilt the scraper so that it makes an angle of about 45 degrees with the FireSteel. This will allow the teeth on the scraper to dig into the FireSteel.
- Press the scraper down hard onto the firesteel.
- In one fluid motion, while continuing to press the scraper down hard, scrape along the entire length of the rod in the direction away from you. The key is to scrape hard and scrape fast.
- Sparks will fly.
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Big FireSteel Sparks When correctly used, a FireSteel.com FireSteel will produce a shower of big, robust sparks. Survival Topics sells FireSteel as a service to its readers. |
If you scrape the FireSteel rod hard enough and fast enough with correct technique then a shower of big, beefy, very bright 5500° F sparks will fly off. Bouncing through the air and on the ground as they sputter and hiss.
These sparks from the FireSteel.com FireSteel are used to start the fires you need to survive.
Troubleshooting Your FireSteel
Veneer Coating
Some FireSteels come with a thin veneer coating that must be scraped off to get to the silver-colored metal below that does the actual sparking.
To remove the veneer, simple scrape the FireSteel rod several times.
Smooth Surface
Sometimes with repeated use the surface of a FireSteel will become very smooth, so that a scraper is merely slipping over its surface and not biting in at all. This problem can be remedied by roughing up the surface of the firesteel. The teeth on the FireSteel.com scrapers can be used for this purpose.
Not Enough Sparks
Remember, you need to press down the scraper onto the FireSteel with force. You also need to scrape along the FireSteel with speed. You will need to experiment to find what works best for you.
Length of scrape is also a factor. Try to scape along as much FireSteel as possible. You can do this by placing the scraper as close to your fingers as possible and then scraping the entire length of the FireSteel.
Be an Expert in FireSteel FireStarting
So there you have it, the basic how to use a FireSteel.com firesteel instructions. In our next Survival Topics we will make sparks with FireSteels and use them to start fires in actual outdoor conditions.
Huntington, West Virginia
Ron, Thank you so much for the article on the correct way to use a firesteel. Although I had already talked to you via e-mail and you helped me figure out what I was doing wrong, it was still nice to read the article. It should help everyone out that own's a firesteel. Thank's for a great article.
Hawthorne california
Clothes drier lint and cotton balls work well with firesteel. Toilet paper, pulled apart to make it fuzzy, also works (and it has other uses).
Survival Topics - and if you add petroleum jelly to the cotton ball or dryer lint the spark catches much more easily and the material burns for a couple of minutes. This should be plenty of time to get even damp tinder to burn.
WI
I see how to create sparks but i cant for the life of me start bark or even dry grass as the instructions say you can, it produces TONS of sparks but none of them light can anyone tell me what im doing wrong?
Survival Topics - the material you use to catch the spark must be very fine and very dry. I recommend using cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly, which you should be carrying with you as an aid to starting fires using damp or even wet wood.
Lake Havasu City, AZ
I liked the video of you sloshing around in icy water, starting the fire on the first strike. My words to the lady were the same, just before yours!
I have been using a magnesium fire starter with a steel insert along the side for years, not knowing about your fire steel Firestarter. I wonder, is it the same thing only smaller? If so, I am still ordering a few Firesteels, as it seems that the larger the diameter, the more sparks will fly.
The problem with my magnesium fire starters is that you have to first slice, grind, or file off some magnesium, get it into a proper kindling starting spot, hope it doesn't blow away while doing this, and then direct the sparks into the little pile of magnesium! It works, but it sure looks like yours is better. Did I read that the alloy in the Firesteels has magnesiumin in it already?
Also, are the Firesteels strong enough to do other 'steel rodlike" chores or are they too brittle an alloy to be used as a shim, prybar, punch, hammered on, or the like?
Survival Topics - when it comes to using survival gear, it's "all in the user technique". You are right about the magnesium firestarters. When you want to build a fire quickly it can be very difficult to scrape enough magnesium into a pile to start a fire.
The larger firesteels tend to give larger and more robust sparks. Again, that also depends upon the user of this gear as well as the characteristics of the firesteel scraper being used.
These FireSteels are more than strong enough for the uses they were intended for. Of course, the thinner the steel the easier it is to break, though in typical use they will not.
Metal tools are specially made for the jobs they are expected to perform. FireSteels need to be relatively soft so that tiny pieces can be scraped off to produce the hot sparks that start fires. In short, a metal pot or a FireSteel would not make good tools for the uses you mentioned.
Charlotte, NC
FIELD TINDER NOTES: Cat tail fuzz can be used as tinder, but burns up quickly. Sea oats work extremely well. In the southern United States, there is a flaxy looking weed that grows in many areas, even right by the interstate. Not sure of its name, but the fuzzy tops of the plant catch the spark from a FireSteel very well.
I have a big plastic bag which contains a mixture of all 3 (cattail, sea oats, and weed x). A handful of this stuff will light with a single strike, producing a hot flame that burns with gusto for several seconds. I enjoy starting fires with this method.
Jackson, MS
These fire steels are worth the money. I own two. Keep one in my survival pack and the other on my belt. Can take shredded and pounded cedar bark or other dry and fluffy tender and have a fire in no time.
I took my magnesium fire starter, cut it in half and put one half in my tackle box and keep the other in a leather pouch in my fanny pack. Both ends work just as well as a whole one.
A cold day in the woods with a broken leg is the last place I want to be without some easy and waterproof method of making a fire. You can make a really good tinder from dryer lint, too. Mix it with crushed dried oak leaves or dry and fluffed up cedar bark, and you'll have a fire in no time. Once you see how easy it is to ignite dryer lint, you'll be motivated to keep your dryer vent cleaned out.
Ontario Canada
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Sapulpa OK
Well done. I know there are many, if not most, who needed this instruction. Me, of course, not being one of them. Another small tip--if you place the tip of the firesteel (the one farthest from you or the tip not being held) against the tinder on the ground, you will find the sparks are easier to make. This way as opposed to just holding the firesteel in the air. While both will work, give my suggestion a try.