Sometimes you just have to " bite the bullet" to learn some of these skills. I got a flint and steel kit to start fires, and spent a little time learning how to get sparks, but I was inconsistent. So, when my club put on a demonstration over a long weekend at a local park, I volunteered to demonstrate fire starting for the visitors. We were suppose to switch tasks every two hours, but somehow no one showed up, and the club president was no where in sight. ( Funny how that works, isn't it?) So, i kept on making fires. I was using a tree stump to elevate the material up so visitors could see what I was doing, and giving my back a break, too. The stump was wet, from lots of rain, but by the end of the first day, I had a fire going in the end grain, and had to flip the stump over to put the burning end into the mud underneath.
I thought we would at least switch for the second day, but no one wanted to show fire starting, so I did it the next day. I figure I started more than 200 fires with flint and steel those two days, using char cloth, and then tinder, to get flames. That is 10 fires per hour, for more than 12 hours each day, with some time out for potty breaks, and getting something to eat.
I can start a fire with flint and steel now in my sleep! My friend, Don, drafted me to help teach girl scouts at camp how to start fires with flint, and we put on a seminar every Sunday morning for 5 weeks one July. I never got an ember on my first strike- second, but not first- but Don did once, in front of a troop of scouts, and their scoutmaster. He had fire blowing on the charcloth ember in his tinder ONCE, and had a fire going in less than 10 seconds. The Scout master muttered, " It took me longer to get a fire going at the cabin this morning using lighter fluid and a lighter!" Don knew how Lucky he was, and laughed with me. Talk about being the MOUNTAIN MAN for these kids! We managed to get the girls to start a fire with flint and steel before they left, all except a little 3 year old who just didn't have enough strength to hold the flint chard tight enough to get sparks. But, once we got sparks into her charcloth, she blew up her own fire. I think she was the happiest kid there. If you learn these skills, offer to teach the kids at the Scouts and 4-H programs around you. You will be able to influence a new generation of kids about our sport, and teach them a skill they won't be able to forget. They may never use it, but they won't forget it, either. :thumbsup: