startingafirebystrikingflintontoflint-steel 3faction edit

Mountain men and early settlers often carried a pouch containing what they needed to start a fire: some flint rocks, a c-shaped piece of steel that would fit over the fingers, and dried tinder or charred cloth to catch the sparks.

First, you needed to have your wood ready. Then you made a “nest” of dried material, such as dried moss or grass. This nest served as tinder to get the fire going.

Then you put the C-shaped piece of steel (or any piece of steel) and struck it against the sharp side of the flint rock. This takes some practice and skill to make sparks. The object was to have the sparks fly onto a tiny piece of charred cloth. The cloth would not immediately ignite, but the spark would begin to burn through the cloth, making small embers. Then you'd put the cloth into the nest of dried material and blow on the cloth, trying to coax the embers into flame. If it flared up, you'd transfer the nest to your pile of firewood wood.

Making a fire this way wasn't always easy or even successful.