Flint & Steel Fire Lighting For Wilderness Survival, Then & Now.

Figure 3.

Figure4.

figure 4.

figure 4.

Figure 5.

This is my brass tinderbox with tinder, musket flint, beeswax candle stubb and my fire steel which is early 18th century English design. The beeswax candle stubb is for use when having to use damp kindling, the stubb is placed under the kindling to dry it out and make fire.

This is taken from my book Primitive Fire Lighting-Flint and Steel. Unfortunately this book has not sold as many copies as I would have wished, mostly I think because people THINK they already know all there is to know about flint & steel fire lighting. WRONG! There is always more to learn about primitive skills, it is an ongoing learning experience for all of us, including me.

I was reading another blog today with several posts on flint & steel fire lighting and it is not so much that the author was wrong, it is more that there are better ways and more correct ways of making fire with flint & steel, and in a survival situation this is IMPORTANT!

So here is some info on flint & steel fire lighting. Forget about using so called CHARCLOTH! And forget about using a so called charcloth tin. There is no need. Learn which tinder plants grow in your area and use these.

You can place some tinder in a grass nest and strike sparks directly onto that and blow it into flame.

As soon as the kindling takes fire place it in your prepared fireplace and PUT THE LID ON YOUR TINDERBOX! This will stop the tinder smouldering all to ash!

To prepare tinder that needs charring, simply char directly in the fire and then place it in your tinderbox and close the lid. It is as simple as that.

FLINT AND STEEL FIRE LIGHTING.

“Fire making is a simple process with the mountaineers. Their bullet pouches always contain a flint and steel, and sundry pieces of “punk”-a pithy substance found in dead pine trees-or tinder; and pulling a handful of dry grass, which they screw into a nest, they place the lighted punk in this, and closing the grass over it, wave it in the air, when it soon ignites, and readily kindles the dry sticks forming the foundation of a fire.”
Ruxton, 1848.

Flint and steel fire lighting was the method used during the medieval period through to the late 19th century. Although matches were invented and marketed during the mid 19th century, they were not considered reliable enough for use in isolated or wilderness situations. Matches are not reusable and if not protected are easily damaged through wet weather and dampness.

Flint and steel is a sustainable method of fire lighting, providing you continue to prepare a supply of tinder from available plant materials. Matches are easily blown out in the wind, where as with flint and steel fire lighting the wind only hastens combustion. Learning how to make fire with flint and steel will teach you skills that will enable you to make fire by other means in adverse weather conditions.


CAUTIONARY NOTE: The author advises anyone practicing these skills to always wear eye protection and to be careful not to cut one’s hands or fingers with the sharp flint.




The following instructions are for right-handed people, left-handers simply reverse.


Hold the steel in your left hand, (see fig 3).

Now, holding the flint shard in your right hand; strike the edge of the steel with the flint using a downward blow, (see fig 4). To get the correct angle, imagine you are shaving or whittling a piece of wood, like sharpening a pencil with a pocketknife. The sparks you need to create, by striking the steel with the flint, are in fact steel shavings cut from the steel with the sharp edged flint.


Once you have mastered striking sparks from the fire-steel the next step is to strike sparks onto tinder. (See fig 5). This is best done with the tinder contained in a tin. You need to make sure that the smouldering tinder cannot be blown about in any wind or breeze, and perhaps inadvertently start an unwanted fire. When the sparks catch they will be seen as small red glowing spots, which will slowly spread. If you use a tin with a lid (tinderbox), like a shallow tobacco tin, you can place the lid on the tin to smother the smouldering tinder.