Flint & Steel

If you are having trouble with a flint and steel outfit, you should know how it works. Steel has carbon in it. Yeah, like charcoal or coal. Iron also oxidizes, but not self sustaining. Does your steel have enough carbon in it? Dixie Gun Works at dixiegun.com sells a good steel just for that purpose. The idea is to scrape minute particles of steel mixed with lots of air using enough friction to ignite them. Remember, a quick scrape gets a shower of sparks. A quick hit may or may not get a couple of sparks. Learn to knap and keep your flint sharp. Once you’ve got lots of sparks, they may not light anything unless it’s very dry. It’s not a metal match. In the Eastern US especially, you will need char cloth. Poke a pinhole in a shoe polish can and bake some cotton t shirt material in it on the barbecue. Don’t smoke up the wife’s oven or you will have an emergency at home.
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