Period Fire-making Tips and Techniques
Making fire with flint and steel is an art that requires some practice and preparation, but with just a little work you will be able to start a fire or light your pipe in the period way with relative ease.
Some equipment is needed before you start:
Making Char Cloth
For the best results, use 100% cotton or linen. Do NOT use any polyester or poly-blend fabric; these will melt and defeat the purpose. Cut your fabric into small squares; about two inches per side is a useful size.
Place them in a metal box or can with a secure lid. The idea is to have a fire-proof container holding the cloth pieces that is vented enough to allow it to char but not burn completely. Most small boxes have enough room for the gases to escape while charring. If your box is very small and you are having trouble getting the cloth started, you can punch a hole in the top to help it vent. Most likely you will not need to do this.
Shake the container up a little to get some air pockets between your fabric pieces, then place the box in the coals of the fire - you should see smoke coming out of the container after a few minutes. Leave it on the heat until the smoke stops, then remove it from the fire, block the hole (if there is one) to stop the combustion process, and allow it to cool completely. DO NOT REMOVE THE LID UNTIL THE CONTAINER IS COOL. If you open it while the contents are still hot, the added oxygen will cause your char cloth to burst into flame - pretty to watch but frustrating if you wanted to use it.
When it has cooled, the cloth should be completely black and is actually fine charcoal. If your cloth is still brown, or if it doesn't tear easily, it didn't cook long enough. If it has completely disintegrated, it went too long. If it burst into flame when you opened the box, you didn't wait long enough to check on it.
Setting up
First, prepare your fire pit, lay your fire, and get your tinder and other materials close to hand. Once you've got the char to light, it is too late to start preparing your fire pit! Get your tinder ready - tinder can be anything that catches easily and burns quickly. Linen tow is the best, but you can also use such things as bird's nests, dead grass, or the inner bark from dead trees. Form your tinder into a rough bird's nest shape and place some char cloth into the middle of the "nest."
Now for the tricky part. Hold the flint with one sharp edge a couple of inches above the char cloth. Take the steel in your other hand and strike downward against the flint with a series of sharp glancing blows. You are actually shaving off tiny pieces of the steel which are the sparks you see if you did it right. You may need to practice with your flint and striker until you know the force and angle required to reliably make a spark. Keep striking the flint until you have an ember or two on the char cloth. Then, gently fold the tinder around it, take a deep breath and blow steadily until it ignites. At this point you may wish to light the candle - if the fire goes out you can re-light it more easily (and save some char cloth). If you prefer, you can hold the char cloth and flint in one hand while striking the sparks; then, when the char cloth catches, drop it into the prepared tinder and blow into it as described above. Many people have found this technique to be more reliable; if one method doesn't work well for you, try the other.
Lighting Your Pipe
If you're just lighting your pipe, you don't need to worry about tinder, just dry pipe tobacco. Hold the piece of char cloth on top of your flint with your thumb and strike the steel down across the edge. This will throw the sparks directly onto the char cloth, and you can then drop it onto the tobacco in your pipe and draw a few puffs until it is lit.
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