My search for the perfect flint striker

[admin]

My search for the perfect flint striker ended by accident, and at ACE hardware of all places. The strikers that come with flint sticks such as the FireSteel and the Mag fire are pretty pathetic. They are not hard enough or sharp enough to perform very well or last very long.

I started out with the Sterling Superior knife sharpener, which did a very good job, and I was very happy with its performance. That is, until I ran across the Swiss Istor knife sharpener, which easily outperformed the Sterling for use as a flint striker.

Last night I ran into ACE hardware to get some wood putty for a project. I also needed a small cheap spatula for spreading the putty. As I reached for the spatula I needed, I noticed, on the hook right next to it, replacement blades for a Hyde scraper. The fact that they were tungsten carbide caught my eye. I wondered how they would work out as strikers so I bought one. Well, I found out they work fantastic. If you have a good striker you should be able to easily rip a spray of sparks from waist high and see the sparks bounce off the pavement. You should also hear a distinctive sizzling sound as the sparks fly through the air. The scraper blade excels on both counts.

In the original package. They come in 2 sizes – 2″ and 2.5″. That gives you 4″ and 5″ respectively of tungsten carbide scraper blade to work with

One side has a mirror finish which could be used for signalling if need be.

Need to add a handle and a way to put them on a keychain. Just used 3 layers of heat shrink tubing extending about a 1/4 inch over the end for a keychain hole.

Total weight, including clip, is 0.25 oz

If you happen to wear down the scraper blade (unlikely), just cut off the tubing and put a new handle on the worn end. You also have the middle to work with. With that much tungsten carbide edge, you can chew through a lot of flint sticks before your striker wears out.

FYI, cost of the scrapaer blades was $5.59 for the 2″ and $6.39 for the 2.5″

[Author]

Posts