Flint and Steel

Advanced Scout Skill

Flint and Steel techniques were the method of choice for starting fires in the age of Lewis and Clark.  It requires a hard carbon steel, a harder piece of rock and ember tinder such as char cloth.  Learning this skill helps you truly understand how fire works and how to respect and grow and ember into a flame.

How does Flint and Steel Work?

Metal and a rock is hit in just he right manner that a tiny sliver or iron is shaved off.  Heat from friction and exposure to oxygen causes the fleck of iron to ignite.  This blob of molten iron is hot enough to create an ember in certain tinders such as char cloth.  The ember grows in the tinder by blowing on it until it bursts into flames. 

Flint

Flint is generally what you think of when using Flint and Steel fire techniques; its in the name.  But other rocks will work, with varying results.  What you need is a hard and sharp rock.  A hardness of 6 or more is important.  And for beginners, your stone should be ideally razor sharp.

Don't know what each of these rocks looks like?  No worries.  Just go to river and select random rocks.  Smash them with larger rocks to create sharp edges.  Try stone on your steel.  If it creates sparks, it's a keeper.

Ember Tinders

The sparks created with Flint and Steel Techniques aren't very hot.  You need prefect ember tinder to catch a spark and turn it into an ember. 

Tinder Bundle

After you establish an ember in your tinder, use it to ignite a tinder bundle.  Tinder bundles can be made from all sorts of available materials.

• Jute fibers (unwound jute twine)

• Sisal fibers (unwound sisal rope)

• Dry grass

• Dry moss

• Cedar bark fibers

• Cottonwood inner bark

• Juniper Bark

• Very fine feathers from wood shavings

• Newsprint (aka newspaper)

  • Get at library, some grocery stores and sometimes from your mailbox

  • Loosely roll up a single page and bend it in half (similar to using grass)

  • This allows you to easily run last minute training during the wet time of year

Technique

Flint and Steel requires a lot of practice.  Some people pick it up quickly, but most will need a lot of practice.  The key is hitting your steel against your rock in a way that the steel moves as fast as possible and just barely hits the rock.

Force equals 1/2 mass times velocity time velocity.  This means that speed is exponentially more important then how hard you hit your stone.  Don't try to hit your rock Hard.  Hit is Fast!

Ember Fires

Carefully place your ember in your tinder bundle and blow some life into that fire!