Reliable, instant, matchless fire

Wow, that's really cool! They say you can use batteries other than a 9 volt but I don't see how you would have both end touch the steel wool at the same time with something like an AAA.

Jason,

I agree, really cool. However, how much steel wool do you think that we could get by with to start a fire? Might be an idea for if nothing else an emergency kit????

Rich

4/O steel wool catches and holds a spark well. Any of the sparking fire-starters will work, as will a match.

Never tried it wet. Just fooled around with it a few times. It's light and can be compacted fairly well.

It does rust very quickly and makes a bit of a mess as it crumbles easily.

YMMV

Used to use this for fire starter back when I was a Boy Scout. (That would have been just after fire was invented .;-) Any kind of spark will light it and if memory serves we even got a magnifing glass and the sun to work, but the steel wool must be one of the finer grades to work right. We used to use a ping-pong ball size wad of the stuff to get a small campfire going. Blow on it after it is lit to enhance the burn. This is rapid oxidation of iron (rust) in action! I believe it should work wet, but not sure. Good luck!

-Mark

Back in scouts I could never get this to work… I could do old school flint and steel and a number of other ways… but the whole battery and steel wool simply never worked for me…

the steel wool must be one of the finer grades to work right.

Definitely! … and more specifically, 4-ought grade (aka OOOO)