A firesteel is a rod of material including magnesium that is scraped with an engineered scraper or perhaps the back of a knife to create sparks that therefore set light to tinder along with thence your kindling and also primary content for the camp fire. Typically employed in bushcraft or camping, wild camping, hiking, cruising or walking with a rucksack lying on your back and as part of your your survival tin or kit these basic fire starters are a very useful bit of tactical kit. The capacity to start a fire using a firesteel could mean the real difference between life and death in survival scenarios. Therefore an important essential inclusion in your survival kit, but what makes a good one? Firesteels are available in many different diameters and lengths as well as in general terms the longer and wider the higher quality. Slim and short firesteels give fewer lights and break after only a relatively very few strikes. Thicknesses vary from 4mm to 12mm or even more and this makes a difference towards the weight, the best thickness for a firesteel is 8mm because this size gives a good balance concerning durability and weight depending, needless to say on the length.
Exactly what is the ideal size for a firesteel I hear you may well ask ? Well I'll tell you that i believe the best length is around 100mm or 10cm, 4 inches in imperial measurements. That enables an individual to push the striker over the length of 2 - 3 inches or 50 - 75 mm or 5 to 7 cm that if you work with a high quality firesteel to light your tinder to start your camp or bushcraft fire ensures that a goodly shower of sparks burning up at approximately 3000 degrees centigrade will result. The more sparks the better so a very good solid grippy handle is really a necessity in a good quality firesteel, make it possible for the camper, walker, fisherman, outdoors type to securely retain the fire steel even if wearing gloves or in the rain or snow or hail as it is simple to use a firesteel to start a fire to keep you warm or cook the meat and dry your clothes when it's raining. All these are vital tools and even Ray Mears uses a firesteel.
To correctly use your fire steel to light your own camp fire or bar-b-que or gas heater or oven even your gel stove or c4 used for a burning material or more often hexamine solid fuel oven you need to make a great shower of sparks. First of all however on solid fuel or if you're lighting tinder created from birch bark, maya dust, tumble clothes dryer fluff, cotton wool, cotton wool soaked with petroleum jelly or Vaseline, you should cautiously scrape some particles of magnesium from your firesteel without making them morph into burning sparks. The idea behind this really is that after you strike sparks from your magnesium rod with the striker they are going to fall on the scrapings and set them alight therefore creating the fireplace more powerful.
To strike sparks from your firesteel hold it about 1 or 2 inches over the tinder that you've prepared by impregnating it with magnesium filings, and holding the striker at right angles in all directions a couple of inches from your end of the firesteel firmly strike forward with a flick at the end, the ensuing sparks will spark your tinder.
To conclude a firesteel is the central piece of kit for any person serious about bushcraft, who is camping out or elsewhere chilling outside. Bear in mind these tools might be lifesavers so be sure you get one in your bag next time you go out.
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A Firesteel is an essential bushcraft item that must be included in every bushcraft enthusiast's backpack
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