Fire lighting with a fire striker and flint is a process that, when carried out with the right tools, turns out to be quite quick and effective.
My fire lighting kit is specially designed to allow anyone to light a fire, using a fire striker and flint to generate sparks and charred linen as the primary tinder.
Method
First of all you need to get hold of some dry straw, or another similar material that lets air through and is dry and combustible. At this point, simply follow these steps:
1. Tear off a stamp-sized piece of charred linen from the supply provided.
2. Hold the fire striker in one hand and, in the other, hold the stone and the piece of linen between thumb and forefinger, as shown in the picture. It is important to hold the stone correctly, so that one of its sharp edges faces the fire striker.
3. Strike the sharp edge of the stone firmly with the fire striker, so that the surface of the striker is “scraped” by the very edge of the stone. The tiny shavings of iron that come away will become red-hot through friction, producing the sparks.
4. Repeat step 3 until a spark lands right on the piece of linen and it starts to burn. Blow gently to make sure the ember doesn’t go out and place the glowing piece of linen inside the straw nest.
5. Wrap the piece of linen in the straw, press gently so that the straw comes into contact with the ember, then blow steadily.
At first you will get more and more smoke, and finally flames.
Below are some videos showing the fire lighting kit and how to use it
Here is a video review by Michael Bolognini