AY Honors/Camping/Fire/Metal match

Firesteel is a piece of high-carbon steel used for striking a spark, usually kept in a tinderbox together with flint and tinder. From the Iron Age onwards, the use of flint and steel was the most common method of fire lighting prior to the invention of the friction match.

More recently the term 'firesteel' has become synonomous with so called 'artificial flints' which are metal rods of varying size composed of a combination of several metals including magnesium. Small shavings are torn off the rod with either a supplied metal scraper, a piece of hacksaw blade or commonly the back of a knife ground at a suitable angle. These shavings then ignite at high temperatures, and are much more effective than their historical equivalent.

While it takes practice and properly prepared tinder to create a sustained fire, the modern firesteel is considered by survival instructors and serious outdoorspeople to be one of the most reliable ways of making fire in severe conditions. Two good examples of firesteel are made by Light My Fire and Blastmatch. The sparks produced by these products are extremely hot (3000 degrees), and easily light toilet paper or small pieces of wood or commmercial tinder products. Template:Tool-stub