Fire Steel (Ferrocerium)

I have been using fire steel (Ferrocerium) and flint to make fire for a long time and I have found that the best value fire steel comes from http://www.firesteel.com/. Their fire steel is high quality and very inexpensive. I keep a fire steel rod with me at all times, including a small rod that I keep in my wallet. If you get caught in a survival situation, fire can be the difference between life and death. Fire has many uses including warmth, light, cooking, protection from animals and insects, as well as being a real boost to moral. Learning to make fire by a primitive means is difficult, but rewarding when you succeed. It gives you a sense of accomplishment, as well as a connection to the earth and to our past. I believe that everyone should know how to make fire with several primitive methods and learn to identify the needed materials that are found in their area.

I also have a good method for making char cloth if anyone is interested in primitive fire. For those who don't know, char cloth is carbonized cloth that is used to catch and grow a spark that mimics the natural fungi that primitive peoples used in fire making. What I do is take any old, 100% cotton fabric, cut it into 3" x 3" squares, take 10 squares and fold them inside a piece of aluminum foil, and poke a few small holes in the foil. I then put it on the gas grill for 15 minutes or so. You will see smoke exit the holes, and when it stops, you should be ready. The idea is that you are burning the cloth outside of the presence of oxygen, and you leave behind the carbon. This char cloth that is produced will catch and grow the smallest spark. This is great for any primitive fire starting.


If anyone has any general questions about fire, I also have experience with several other ways of producing primitive fire, like friction or compression. I have been very successful in the past making fire with methods like flint, bow drill, or pump drill. 


-Richard