Anyone ever tried Firesteel?

[Skeeterbait]

I saw "Swedish Firesteel" advertised on ThinkGeek, and I was curious if anyone has ever tried using this stuff. Is it worth the money? I'm tempted to buy it just to see if it works.

[Lamebeaver]

It works....just as well as a bic lighter, but costs more and is heavier. Most of these things are basically magnesium, which burns very well.

[Dusty]

What the heck is a Firesteel? I have never heard of one of these before. Is it a decent product with a real use, or is it a gimmick?

[Grandpa]

Originally Posted by Dusty

What the heck is a Firesteel? I have never heard of one of these before. Is it a decent product with a real use, or is it a gimmick?

Think starting a fire with a flint and steel. Only instead of flint, use magnesium and get a whole lot more sparks. Yes it works but a bic works better and is lighter and costs less. But as an alternative fire starter, it probably fits right in there behind a bic and matches.

Just reread lamebeavers post. If he says it works just as well as a bic, I'll regress my statement and agree with him. I know what it is but have never used one.

[dinosaur]

Magnesium firestarters have been around for a long time. I have two. They cost me no more than a Bic and they are better. A Bic has to be kept warm or the butane won't flow properly. Also a Bic isn't windproof. Magnesium doesn't have this problem. Touch it to a spark and it lights.

[oldsarge]

Magnesium fire starters have a small rod afixed to them to produce the sparkes needed to ignite the magnesium, these rod are normally composed of ferrocerium which is an aloy of iron and mischmetal (an alloy primarily of cerium). when struck they produce a hot spark which will light the magnesium shavings. You don't always need the magnesium, so they sell the strikers as fire steel which you can use to shower any combustable tinder. Youtube has videos of how to properly and safely use it, Starting a Fire with a FireSteel - YouTube One thing I learned was if I draw the fire steel away from the tinder and hold the knife steady, it produces a shower of sparks concentrated in one tight area. Sometimes running the knife down the fire steel will knock over your tinder pile. Every one has a technique thats works best for them, you just have to play with it and learn. Practice, parcatice, practice!

[wvbreamfisherman]

That is an awful lot like the old "Metal Match" . I probably still have a couple of well-used ones ratting around in the bottom of a drawer someplace.

They actually work pretty well on dry tinder, not so hot on anything very damp. I keep a maganesium firestarter block and some firestarters in my emergency gear at all times, along with a box (or two) of waterproof matches.

[ghostdog]

Originally Posted by oldsarge

these rod are normally composed of ferrocerium which is an aloy of iron and mischmetal (an alloy primarily of cerium).

That is exactly what a Firesteel is.

Yes they are very dependable, been using them before they were available in the US. Its the only thing I use to light any stove or fire. It will pop a flame first go with my White Box alcohol stove or Dragaonfly white gas stove. They will work when wet unlike matches and they will work when it is very cold. They don't run out of fuel like a lighter can and you can see where you are in your thousands of scrapings that produce showers of intensely hot 3000 degree sparks. They last a long, long time.

[ponderosa]

I carry one in my survival kit as a back up to matches; they work well.

[Pathfinder1]

Originally Posted by ponderosa

I carry one in my survival kit as a back up to matches; they work well.

I rarely trek very far,
when without Firesteel I are.




Hi...

Good idea. I carry four methods of firemaking in my BOB, and one of them is a Firesteel-type...and it works quite good.




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