Fire Kits, Fire Kits, and More Fire Kits
Tag: flint and steel
Flint and Steel
This will be the last one for a while as I have other projects in the hopper.
This is available at our online shop Lost World Crafts where you can find a more detailed description of the kit.
Please check out the shop and consider following us as things are constantly being added and sold.
Improving on a Design
I decided that my kit bags, although nearly perfect for their function, could use a little more room. Outdoorsmen and women can never have too many nooks and crannies about themselves to store little necessities. With this in mind, I have made the bellows sides bigger to accommodate about an inch in thickness. It might not sound like much but it does add up as survival gear can be a very fluid thing.
This is a traditional fire kit with TINDERBOX, FLINT, and FIRE STRIKER. This handmade leather belt pouch is constructed from 7 oz veg tanned cowhide and closes with a vintage pewter button. The pouch measures approximately 5 x 3 inches and bellows out approximately 1 inch (interior). The pouch is hung from a belt loop that will accommodate a 2 1/2″ belt.
The FIRE STEEL is a collaboration with my good friend Eric at Colonial Iron. It is hand forged high-carbon steel and sparks beautifully. I am including a flint blade made from Knife River Flint (North Dakota). The sheet metal TINDER BOX is a mint tin that is perfectly sized for the job of making and storing charred cloth or punkwood.
The body of the bag is double needle saddle stitched sewn freehand using yellow saddle thread. The bag has been treated with dubbin (beeswax – neatsfoot oil formula made here in the shop). The pouch works well independent of the kit if you carry the fire kit in your pack.
This is a handmade item so please look carefully at the photos for details of the construction and appearance.
This kit is currently available in my Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LostWorldCrafts
Fire Kits Again
These Flint and Steel Fire Kits are hard to keep in stock. Since I don’t mass-produce things, I’m pretty slow at filling the shop. We did well enough last year that I still haven’t caught up but hope to in the coming weeks and months. Please check out the shop and consider making it a Favorite to keep up on the new listings.
With the addition of a little tinder, the first few fires are on me.
Fire Kits on the Production Bench
The shop has been a little slow with outside projects and day work taking over my hours. However, I do get a few things done along the way and some projects are coming to a completion. I have a load of FLINT & STEEL fire kits on the way for late winter purchase and have put the first up in the shop today (https://www.etsy.com/shop/LostWorldCrafts). There are a surprising number of steps to getting even a simple composite toolkit like these together from the metalwork, leather cutting, dying, sewing, adding the findings and closures, and finally photographing to get them posted in the shop.
I had already designed the pouch style early in the summer and a few sold quickly so my next step was to get some high quality fire steels from within my Maker Family. I put in the order with my old friend Eric and he produced these extremely beautiful strikers for the project.
I decided to sew up this round without measuring or marking the stitch line to give them a rustic look. I have mixed feelings about this so I may go back to the more uniform looking stitch marker for the upcoming bags. Each bag will be a little different, with variations on the closures and any added features as whimsy strikes me along the way.
If you aren’t familiar with flint & steel fire-making the tinderbox serves a two-fold purpose; to provide a chamber to make charred tinder and to hold and protect the tinder from moisture over time.
To up the ante, so to speak, on this kit I included a flint from Knife River North Dakota. Some real primo stuff. Needless to say, the high carbon steel strikes very well and produces great sparks. A kit like this will become an heirloom and will only improve with age.
As always, my designs are informed by 18th Century style and are designed for hard use in the wild. If you are interested, wander over to the shop or follow the blog to find out when the next round will be in the market.
All the best to you and thanks for stopping by!
The Caveman Catalyst in Your Tinderbox
It’s always time to up your fire-building game. Survival Sherpa Todd Walker does just that in this post. Check it out.
by Todd Walker
The human love affair with fire is intimate and ancient. Over the flames we cook, celebrate, spin tales, dream, and muse in the swirls of wood smoke. Fire is life. Its warming glow draws us like moths to a flame.
It’s not a stretch to believe that a Stone Age chemist recognized the idea of using carbon for future fires. Disturbing the leftover carbon ashes from the night fire, she stares at sparkles of light glowing like the pre-dawn stars above. She carefully nurses a baby “star” back to life to warm her hearth and home.
It ain’t rocket surgery. Even cavemen knew the importance of the sixth most abundant element in the universe.
Carbon and Future Fires
The game of chasing lightning strikes for each fire was no longer required. This unreliable practice was abandoned for twirling sticks together to create enough heat to initiate the…
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Preindustrial Craftsmanship 