Swedish Firesteel Fire Starter - Army Model - Black

I bought one of these for a 72 hour emergency survival kit. Of course I had to test it out first. I used it camping before placing it in the kit. It is very easy to spark this thing. If you have good tinder it should be pretty easy to turn that into a fire. It's really thick so it's going to last for thousands of strikes. They say 12,000. I don't think that's an unreasonable expectation with how thick it is. That's probably more than I'll ever need short of an Apocalypse situation. Matches are easier but they don't last forever and to store 12,000 strikes worth it would take up a lot of space. You'd also need to keep them completely dry. It would be good to keep some matches too but I highly recommend one of these for every survival kit and camper. You don't want to be stuck in the cold without a fire.

Remove black coating before use!!! Awesome product! Spend tons of time outdoors. Good to have as a back up. I used a bic most times but when a buddy doesn't return after a cigar. Todd!!!! Good to have to on hand when on the trail. I would highly recommend this product. Just don't try to be "He Man" when trying to get a fire going. If you go hard against it...it will break. Practice. Practice. Practice. Then when everyone else trickles in to camp to a nice fire. You can boost about having to use two sticks rubbed together to get A fire going since you didn't have a lighter. TODD!!

Works well as fire starter

This is a superb fire starter. I purchased the cheaper emergency fire starter and it was really bad. That one was difficult to ignite, and involved shaving bits of magnesium of first. This fire starter just requires you to strike it and your done. Once you remove the initial surface with a few strikes, this gives lots of sparks wit a single strike.Pros: Lots of sparks, easy to use, lasts a long time.Cons: Have not come across any yet!Spend the bit of extra money, it is worth it, and you will be happy.

I purchased this product for a survival kit that I have for teaching Scouts and for my personal use. IT WORKS. What more can you say about a product. Used it for a class I taught for the, "Wilderness Survival", merit badge and the young men had a great time using the flint and steel to start a fire. Used the Mayadust just to show them how flammable it is, but used shaved, "fire sticks", to show them how to do this if you have to and do not have Mayadust or other commerical products available.

This fire starter works really good once you scrape off the black paint coating on the fire rod. This is easy to do with the attached striker. I may have to order some more of these as gifts and spares as needed. The cord attaching the striker and the steel rod is very sturdy and well made.

Works great. I've started two different types of fires with it. One with the items that came with it, and the other with mountain man char cloth. Both worked well. I'd recommend this for anyone.

a must have ....I have one in all my bug out bags as well as my truck