Swedish Firesteel
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Survival Topics firesteel offers one of the best firestarting methods for survival situations. Like flint and steel on steroids, these Swedish firesteels literally send out a shower of hot sparks when a sharp object is rubbed along its shaft.
Impervious to the wet conditions you are likely to encounter in wilderness survival, a good firesteel is more reliable than matches and will start more fires too.
Swedish Firesteel was developed by the military in Sweden for starting fires even in extreme conditions. Swedish firesteel is tough, dependable, and one small peice can light as many fires as twelve thousand matches. Even if the firesteel has been totally immersed in water it will still light fires, making this a valuable piece of survival gear.
Recently I purchased two versions of the “Swedish Firesteel”, the Army and the Scout models to compare with Survival Topics firesteel. All three firesteels are made of the same material; the Army Firesteel being longer and thicker than the Scout Firesteel in order to start more fires before wearing out. This makes the army version a bit heavier and more bulky.
Survival Topics Firesteel is quite a bit longer than either and very thick. Its length is optimized for a greater amount of sparks per stroke, igniting your tinder more easily.
The one you choose to carry will vary according to your needs.
Alternative Names for Swedish Firesteels
I have seen the following names given to what are commonly known as Swedish Firesteel
- Swedish Firesteel
- Swiss Firesteel
- Fire Steel
- Firesteel
- Blast Matches
How Firesteel Works
Swedish Firesteel can be thought of as a modern version of the flint and steel fire making combination that has been used for centuries. The main difference between Swedish firesteel and regular steel is that fire steel itself is made up of special metals that spark more easily and profusely than traditional steel composed mostly of iron.
Like flint and steel, you use Sweedish firesteels to start a fire by quickly scraping off small pieces of metal using a sharp object. The heat of friction is enough to ignite the particles of metal into a shower of hot sparks.
With old fashioned flint and steel the flint can be a hard, sharp object such as quartz, glass, or the rock known as “flint”. This “flint” is struck against a piece of high carbon steel to create sparks which are caught in a char cloth and transferred to tinder where it bursts into flame. There is some skill involved with starting a fire using flint and steel, especially under adverse conditions.
Sweedish Firesteel works much the same way as flint and steel except that the combination of metals in the “steel” portion makes for easier sparking. Instead of striking the firesteel a hard glancing blow with a flint, the flint is quickly drawn against it. The resulting shower of metal sparks has a temperature in the order of 3,000 degrees C or 5500 F. This increases the chance of catching the tinder ablaze and reduces considerably the skill level needed for kindling a fire using regular flint and steel.
Composition of Swedish Firesteel
The difference between Sweedish Firesteel and regular steel is the composition of the metals. Ferrocerium rods used as Swedish firesteels are made up of a combination of rare earth metals known as “mischmetal” with some iron and magnesium added for strength.
Typical mischmetal is an alloy composed of about fifty percent cerium, forty-five percent lanthanum, and small amounts of neodymium and praseodymium. During the extraction process these metals are very difficult to isolate from one another. Since they behave in similar ways they are often left as an alloy. One property of mischmetal alloy that interests outdoorsmen and Survival Topics is that it easily creates sparks when a sharp object is drawn against it.
In the picture you can see can see the two sizes of Swedish Firesteel I recently acquired. The Scout firesteel can be scraped up to 3000 times – imagine trying to carry 3000 matches – while the Army firesteel claims it can be used twenty thousand times!
Each of these Sweedish Firesteels came attached to a lanyard along with a metal scraper. I found that replacing this scraper with a piece of hacksaw blade produced an even more prodigious amount of sparks, perhaps because the blade is thinner and sharper. The blade can also double for uses such as cutting metals. As a survival expert I enjoy having survival gear that serves multiple purposes.
How to Use Swedish Firesteel
Although Swedish Firesteels produce sparks more easily and in a far greater amount than flint and steel, there still remains a learning curve for successfully building a fire.
The tinder onto which the shower of sparks lands must be carefully prepared in order to ensure success in starting a fire with this method. The drier and finer the tinder the better it is at catching a spark that either turns into an ember or bursts into flame. If the material you are starting with is damp or wet, like that which you may find in a wilderness setting, it can be very difficult to start a fire even with a Swedish firesteel.
When your survival is at risk you do not want to be messing around with making tinder to start a fire. An excellent homemade fire starting aid I like to carry with my firesteel are cotton balls partially soaked in petroleum jelly. Dryer lint works just as well and has the added advantage of recycling material that is often thrown away.
Cotton and petroleum fire starters will be ignited very easily by the Swedish firesteel and burn for several minutes, giving tinder that is wet or damp a chance to dry out and catch fire. I also use homemade wax based fire starters with a cotton and petroleum combo core. Such as fire starter will burn for more than ten minutes, producing plenty of heat to dry out tinder for kindling a blaze or even boil a small amount of water.
Firesteel Review Sizes
Survival Topics Firesteel
- weighs just 1.1 ounce - 32 grams
- overall dimensions 3.937 inches x .315 – 100 mm x 8 mm
- firesteel shaft 3.937 inches x .315 – 100 mm x 8 mm (longest useable shaft)
- 12,000 strikes
- Buy Survival Topics Firesteel here.
Army Swedish Firesteel
- weighs 2.5 ounces – 71 grams
- overall dimensions 3-3/4 inches x 7/8 x 5/8 – 95 mm x 22 x 16
- firesteel shaft 2-1/2 inches x 3/8 – 64mm x 9.5mm
- 12,000 strikes
Scout Swedish Firesteel
- weighs 1.9 ounces – 54 grams
- overall dimensions 3 inches x 7/8 x 5/8 – 76 mm x 22 x 16
- firesteel shaft 1-3/4 inches x 1/4 – 44.5mm x 6.35mm
- 3,000 strikes
Other Firesteel Products
You may already be familiar with fire steels if you use the commonly available magnesium fire starting blocks. Magnesium fire starters typically have an attached rod of the same material as the Swedish Fire Steel only of smaller diameter.
The magnesium bar used with magnesium fire starters provides the tinder for catching the spark. By shaving off thin strips of magnesium into a pile about the size of a dime and lighting them with sparks from the attached firesteel, a white hot flame of thousands of degrees is produced. This can be used as an intermediary step toward igniting natural tinder even if it is damp.
The beauty of using a magnesium bar as tinder is that the bar will not become wet or damp, insuring you have viable tinder for fire making. However shaving off bits of magnesium can be difficult, especially in less than ideal conditions such as when it is very windy. The firesteel on the magnesium block is also usually much smaller than that of a Swedish Firesteel.
Whether you carry a Swedish Firesteel or a magnesium fire starter containing a firesteel, I recommend you also carry dryer lint or cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly as a fire starting aid. This great combination can save your life should you need a reliable means of making a fire but naturally available tinder may be damp or wet.
California
This is a fascinating survival site, very interesting to read. A question about the firesteel - I couldn't tell from the little video, in which direction do you scrape the steel, away or towards yourself? Do you risk burning your hand with the spark?
Survival Topics - it doesn't matter in which directon you scrape a firesteel, it will spark profusely. I have used firesteels thousands of times and have never been burned. Simply point the firesteel away from your body when scraping it, just as you would when striking a match. It's that easy.
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oregon
I also have the swedish firesteel its a very good source for fire.