Saturday, August 12, 2017

Flint And Steel Fire Starter Kit Information

By Deborah Collins


People like going camping, hiking or trekking into areas where nature has grown with minimum or no human intervention. These places may have structures for accommodating participants there but some could be into forests, hills and mountains with no shelter available aside from the tents they brought. You could also bring food for your consumption and cook it there.

Fire is required though when you cook which could be started using matches or lighter but weather conditions sometimes make using them impossible. This is where the flint and steel fire starter kit would be useful when matches and lighter are unavailable. The following are a few materials included with the kit in helping you produce flame.

Flints and are cherts are rock family with different kinds that has various colors depending on their hardness and chemical content. They could be easily harvested in some unglaciated areas and should ideally have sharp edges which will bite the steel out. Sometimes, they need a proper edge by knapping it with a hammer.

Common misconception people have is that the spark is made from the flint particles because a little one is seen inside disposable lighters that wears down unlike that metal wheel which strikes it. That is actually an iron and cerium compound which burns if scratched. Chert will not spark but instead the little steel curl would that was peeled when exerted with a high pressure.

Steels with high carbon are a good kind which can get their proper hardness when quenched in oil and resist the pressure except for that little piece that ignites. If this alloy is treated properly, it could thousands, or even millions, of sparks before losing its effectiveness. They are usually shaped like the letter C and those for bigger hands, letter U.

Char cloth is cotton or linen which was burned down inside a small tin or somewhere with low oxygen but has a hole to let escape the smoke and pressure. The sparks would land on them and because of it, it will be lighted up. Make one by placing it in the tin and cook it on the campfire or fireplace until the smoke has subsided and cool it overnight or it will catch fire when opened.

Lastly, a tinder is needed which is an easily burned material such as dry grass or lint where the spark could land on. You could find these in different places that depends on your terrain but the people usually use oakum as a substitute if needed. This is from jute fibers which were traditionally used for caulking wooden boats.

First prepare the tinder so it will be ready to accept the ignited char cloth. Then create the nest where you could reach it easily. Fuel and kindling must be ready for burning tinder at the fire bed.

Place a small char cloth above the flint then shave off a little steel strip which will ignite the cloth. Blow gently on the cloth where the spark landed until a glowing crescent is seen. If successful, fold it and blow gently to help the spark spread.




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