Flint & Steel Fire Lighting Methods.

Flint & Steel Fire Lighting Methods.

Flint & steel & the use of a tinderbox has been in use since before the middle ages. One common method was to strike sparks onto tinder in the tinderbox by striking flint against steel. Once the tinder has caught the spark from the steel & produced an ember, several methods of making fire can be employed.

1.    You can hold kindling material (dry grass or similar) to the smouldering tinder & blow the kindling into flame.

2.   You can use a spunk (sulphur headed match/splint) to make fire by simply holding the sulphur tip to the smouldering tinder & blow gently.

3.   If you are using tow rag as tinder & have charred this material directly in the fire, then there will be patches of cloth that have not completely charred. If you blow on the ember on the tow rag, the uncharred parts can be blown into flame.

4.   You can hold a candle close to the smouldering ember & drip wax onto the tinder. If the tinder is punk wood or tow rag, it can then often be blown into flame.

The Tinderlighter.

Using a tinderlighter you can employ methods 2 & 3 to create fire. You can also tip the smouldering tinder into a nest of dry kindling & blow the kindling into flame. This method works best if you add additional tinder.

The Flintlock Gun.

Using the pan on the flintlock gun in the same manner as using a tinderlighter, you can make fire by adding the smouldering tinder to a kindling nest. This method is improved by adding additional tinder to the already smouldering tinder in the kindling nest. You can also use a spunk/sulphur match.

No Tinderbox Methods.

Personally I think carrying a tinderbox is a good idea, especially for processing tinder charred directly in the fire. Without a tinderbox you need to find some other method of extinguishing the smouldering tinder. This can be done by using some type of lidded container, or you can bury the tinder under dry earth. The earth does make the tinder less effective, so the method I used was to wrap the smouldering tinder in a piece of leather before burying. Using a tinderbox is the preferred method.

1.    You can place your tinder in a nest of dry kindling & strike sparks onto the tinder & blow the nest into flame.

2.   You can hold a piece of tinder material on top of a piece of flint between thumb & forefinger & strike the steel downward against the flint. This will cast sparks upward onto the tinder held on top of the flint. Once the tinder is smouldering, you can add the tinder to a kindling nest. Again, this method works best if you add additional tinder to the nest.

Detail of the altarpiece of the Saint Georges church in Haguenau, Bas-Rhin, France.

In this lower image Joseph is holding flint & tinder in his left hand, & is about to strike downward against the flint with the steel held in his right hand. Below you can see an open wooden tinderbox & some spunks/sulphur headed matches/splints/tapers.

13.   You can use plant tinders even if they are not charred, by adding “a very little” pinch of gunpowder to the piece of tinder & striking a spark onto the gunpowder. Be very careful using this method. Only use very little gunpowder, & keep your face clear of the area. The powder will ignite & start the uncharred tinder smouldering.

For further instruction please visit my video channel & check out my fire lighting videos covering all these methods above. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHEOMSZJETfj3GnoyONuvCQ?view_as=public

Tinderlighter Fire Lighting.

I repeat the use of tinder in this one, but probably better than not mentioning it at all! Be careful if you make spunks, the fumes can be a bit much! The sulphur does not run much when you melt it, so you could heat it over the fire on a flat piece of tin if you wish. Do not put too much on the wooden splint, just dip the splint in the moulten sulphur and wipe off the excess on the tin. You will note that after I have lit the candle, that a flaming drop of sulphur drops from the splint! A sign of a little too much sulphur.

Plant Tinder Preparation.

A quick word about using cotton or linen cloth as tinder. Using cloth in the 18th century was probably mostly restricted to the homes, and not used in wilderness situations. Cloth was a valuable commodity and was not thrown away lightly. Cloth would probably have been used as cleaning rags before it was finally used as tinder. Tow rag was a very course cloth and probably the first to be used as tinder.


The term tinderbox can be used to describe a box or container itself used to contain tinder, and to prepare tinder. The tinderbox comes in many forms and is made from a variety of materials including iron, brass, silver, and wood. The wooden tinderbox was the type often used in homes, and it had a damper lid which fitted neatly inside the box for smothering the smouldering tinder.

The term tinderbox can also be used to describe one's fireworks, or all the items used such as flint, steel, and tinder. A lock from a flintlock musket for instance was termed a "tinderbox" by Daniel Defoe in his book Robinson Crusoe.

This flint lock on this gun can be used to make fire on or off the gun. In Robinson Crusoe Defoe chose to have Crusoe use just the lock alone. Whether he removed the lock or found it as a spare lock I can't recall.

In the same way this tinderlighter was used in homes to make fire, and this one also has a candle holder so one can light one's self around the house at night. The tinderbox and the tinderlighter often were combined with the use of spunks, a sulphur tipped splint which would catch fire from smouldering tinder.

Spunks.

To prepare tinder material it often had to be charred. Amadou, a tinder material produced from the fungus Fomes Fomentarius, was treated with potassium nitrate and sold on the streets and in apothecary shops.

Tinder material that had to be charred, such as tow rag, was charred directly in the fire and then smothered in the tinderbox. This method I believe was also used in wilderness places using plant materials. Sparks were struck directly into the tinderbox to make fire, the kindling dry grass or teased rope or other being offered to the smouldering tinder in the tinderbox and blown into flame.

In this image above you can see the damper in place in the tinderbox, and the illustration also shows that sparks were in fact struck directly into the tinderbox. Of course in reality the damper would be removed before striking sparks onto the tinder.

Also it is important to note that the steel is struck a dowward blow with the flint, not the other way round. Striking the steel with the flint directs the sparks downward into the tinderbox.

This is my tinderbox which I carry with me inside my greased fire bag which is carried inside my belt pouch so it is always with me.

Note the uncharred tinder material in the tinderbox, this will become charred from using the charred tinder in the box. Also note I am using a musket flint. This one is an original Brown Bess musket flint.

Period Terms. Tinderbox, Tinder Box, Fire box

Note the damper for the tinder box above and the square one for the wooden tinder box below. This is to put out the smouldering tinder after use.

This tinder box appears to have its own conical candle snuffer. All three tinder boxes have candle holders on the lids.

The author's tinderbox with charred tinder fungus, uncharred punk wood and a musket flint.

A Fire Box was a Tinder Box. Both names might be used to describe the equipment used to make fire, for instance a musket lock used to make fire could be called a tinder box as mentioned in Robinson Crusoe By Daniel Defoe. So by the same rule I would think that a tinderlighter could also be termed a tinder box or fire works.

'fire or Tinder-boxes the groce, containing twelve dozen boxes' [Rates (1660)].
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=58765#s1