Firesteel vs. Natural Tinder

check out this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_OlYjeCcJE&feature=player_embedded

I have been using beeswax imbibed cotton dental rolls forever, but the jute twine looks sweet.
My last few trips have been with only a woodstove and it has been all i needed. Even in deep snow during the course of a days hike, (in the east) you WILL pass one good limb. That should be enough for supper and breakfast. Good tinder and the ability to light from the middle or bottom is invaluable with wet wood. I normally light from the top for a much more mellow and long burning fire.

my motto.."Just one Limb".

The fluffy cotton makes it easier to catch. The jute twine carries a bit more fire to it, and the wax supplies the fuel to keep it hot for a time.

Every time I purchase some OTC medicine, I break the seal and remove the cotton ball in the top. That gets used for the next season of tinder balls.

One guy got a little carried away. He was inserting a match head into the center of the jute twine and wax. That was nice, but it makes the thing flare up when you least need it.

–B.G.–

Alright, here's my take on it. The tinder you "need" to carry with you is dependant upon your firesteel and your ability to use it. This is pretty obvious. What's not obvious, until you compare them side by side, is the quality and performance of the firesteel you're using. I bought the BPL Firelite mini firestarting kit and I was pleased with it. It works marvelously when paired with those little fire starting tabs.

However, when it's not paired with those tabs and you're forced to find some tinder on your own, things become rather difficult. The sparks are too small and they don't burn long enough to light materials which would be appropriate for other firesteels.

So, I had a taste of the BPL Firelite and I wanted more. I bought a LightMyFire Sweedish Firesteel 2.0. It's probably 2x heavier than the BPL version but I think that if somebody is going to be using it every time they cook, it's worth it. The sparks are larger and burn longer. You'll be able to ignite a wider variety of tinders with less effort. I certainly was able to.

If you wanna get serious about it then look up goingear.com's firesteels. Here's a vid link. It looks like you could boil a cup of water just from the sparks it throws!

This might sound odd but I have a "tinder bag" at home that I fill with two things – dryer ling, and the hair from my girlfriend's brush. Sometimes I dab the mixture in a bit of petroleum jelly, then roll into little balls. Seems to work awesome. The girlfriend thought I was a weirdo at first, but I tried explaining it to her by likening it to when a fair maiden would give her knight a lock of her hair before he went into battle. I guess she liked that way of looking at it, because now everytime she cleans out her brush the stuff gets deposited directly into the tinder bag!

oops

I've done a bunch of experimenting since I posted the original post. Here's what I found:

The firesteels throw sparks roughly in proportion to their diameter – after the coating is worn off for about 1/8 of the diameter. I think the micro-flats that form are responsible, and larger diameters just have more micro flats in contact with the striker. This makes a BIG difference with natural tinder that is "freshly harvested". If I put in the garage to play with later, it only makes a little difference.

Longer firesteels are a little bit easier to generate lots of sparks. I think it's because you can see the results and correct the angle so that you are making maximum sparks by the end of the stroke. With enough practice, maximum sparks happen even with short strokes / rods.

The LMF, BSA, Doans & Coglans bars all seem to be made of VERY similar Ferrocium. ie: You can scrape with medium pressure at medium speed and get sparks. The sparks are not super hot though. The "mischmetal" rods being sold that advertise they have a significant magnesium content make much bigger & hotter glob-like sparks. But you have to scrape both hard & fast to get sparks at all.

So for young scouts, I find they can't spark the Mischmetal rods reliably. For starting fires with natural tinder, the LMF scout is the minimum the younger scouts can make generate enough volume of sparks to eventually start natural tinder. The LMF Army size is easier, and lasts a LOT longer for scouts (who make fires more than once a day). For cotton balls, the BSA hotspark works just fine and fits in a pill bottle that is just long enough to hold some wooden "kitchen size" matches.