On this page you can buy a high quality, handmade firesteel and arrange for free international delivery to any location worldwide. A piece of flint is included with each item sold. In times past a firesteel (in the olden days also referred to as a steel striker) was the only widespread means for building a fire. At Flint and Steel, it's our goal to keep this venerable tool alive and pass on traditional fire making skills to future generations.
Making A Fire With Flint and Steel
A steel striker consists of a forged metal plate, one or both ends of which are bent or intertwined. Upon striking a hard stone with this metal plate, sparks are produced. Flint is generally the stone of choice for this purpose, but you could easily use quartz or chert instead. When a spark falls upon a piece of tinder, the tinder will ignite and begin to smoulder. It is then easy to add this smouldering tinder to some readily combustible, dry kindling such as moss, linen, fluffy down or grass. Lo and behold, a fire is born.
Why use a traditional firesteel?
Since the initial development of the flint and steel approach many centuries have passed and some people argue that there’s no longer a need to make fire using a traditional firesteel. Though the ability to make fire is not a matter of daily survival for modern man, methods of fire making are still being improved and simplified, thus seemingly leaving the steel striker far behind. This is not quite true, of course, and the more fire making methods you have learned, the better you'll get on when out in the wilderness.
Where To Find Firesteels
Nowadays it’s rare to find someone who knows how to make a fire using a firesteel. It would appear that we no longer have any need for this ancient tool. But, in actual fact, this isn’t the case. As with many things that demand a certain set of skills, abilities and the right knowledge, the old steel striker and the ancient techniques of primitive fire making that go with it are making a comeback and now have many fans. Just as there will always be blacksmiths, potters and wood carvers, there will always be those for whom a real fire is one which has been made with an old firesteel. That is to say, a primitive fire made without the use of matches.
The problem is that it’s not so simple to buy a good steel striker these days. The best ones are those which have been made by hand, that is forged by a blacksmith, and then hammered into the proper shape.
Unfortunately, it is all too often that some blacksmiths make beautifully shaped, ergonomic steel strikers that only end up giving very weak sparks used to strike a piece of flint. Sometimes, they don’t produce sparks at all. Such products are not fit for purpose at all and it would be completely pointless to buy one.
On the contrary, we at Flint and Steel have made sure that we follow the old ways to the letter. This gives you a top quality high carbon firesteel that is a joy and pleasure to use.
Get your very own traditional firesteel
In our store we only sell firesteels that we have made ourselves. In order to guarantee their quality, we consider it mandatory that we check each one twice. Each firesteel is checked just after it has been forged and then a second time just before it is shipped to the customer.
We give you the opportunity to choose to buy firesteels in whichever shape and style that suits you best. We provide you with working copies of steel strikers from different regions of medieval Europe, including Britain, Scandinavia and Northern Russia. Each firesteel is always sold with a piece of flint to get you started.
Firesteels For Sale
- Firesteel No. 1 (Novgorod) $35.00 Add to cart
- Firesteel No. 2 (English) $35.00 Add to cart
- Firesteel No. 3 (Pskov) $35.00 Add to cart
- Firesteel No. 4 (English) $35.00 Add to cart
- Firesteel No. 5 (Small Viking) $35.00 Add to cart
- Firesteel No. 6 (Finnish) $40.00 Add to cart
- Firesteel No. 7 (Swedish) $35.00 Add to cart
- Firesteel No. 8 (Scandinavian) $35.00 Add to cart
- Firesteel No. 9 (French) $35.00 Add to cart
- Firesteel No. 10 (French) $35.00 Add to cart
- Firesteel No. 11 (Finnish) $50.00 Out of Stock
- Firesteel No. 12 (Hand Forged) $40.00 Add to cart
- Firesteel No. 13 (Hand Forged) $35.00 Add to cart