There are people who doubt the effectiveness and profitability of steel. For them, I give my vision of the situation, in relation to survival and fire (as its first element)

Flint

1. How many teals does the tinderbox have? on different sites, they write from 5,000 to 50,000. Let's take the average value, 20 thousand.

Bottom line: if you spend 20 teals on one fire, we get 1000 fires. Considering that with each fire, dexterity in handling increases significantly, there are many more than 1000 real fires!

2. The flint does not deteriorate, does not get wet, does not catch fire on its own (not flammable), no storage conditions are needed. Also, the temperature of the sparks does not change even in the most severe frost.

Matches.

1. There are 45 matches in a box. Even if two matches are one fire, boxes = 22.5 fires. Which is an obvious exaggeration, it is real only if you burn gasoline. Well, okay, let 23 fires, it's not a pity. So for 1000 fires, you need 43 boxes.

2. Matches deteriorate, are afraid of water, break, and are inconvenient to store and transport. For survival - not very convenient. But they are cheap.

Lighters.

1. Silicon in a lighter is enough for 300 teals. Gas usually runs out much faster. Let's take the average value: 2 teals = 1 fire. The result is 150 bonfires. 1000 fires is more than 6 lighters.

2. The lighter is capricious, it should not be overheated, wet, left in the sun or warm, it is afraid of the cold, and in frost it can let the survivalist down.

Outcome

It is for survival, as a spare, almost eternal, reliable and trouble-free source of fire - there is nothing better than a flint in the world, and it is unlikely to appear. If you go on a difficult campaign, and without a flint, then you are a desperate or stupid fellow. Matches and a lighter, of course, should be at hand, and in huge stocks it is stored in a byze, cache, at home. But in a campaign or a sharp dismount - a flint and steel should be sewn into shorts! (IMHO) :)

I will also say that I am an old tourist, I owned the first steel flint in Russia, from the Expedition. Taking advantage of the monopoly, these bastards were pushing them around 80 bucks for the thinnest. I don’t remember exactly, but for one tinderbox from the Expedition, you could buy a trunk of matches! Either an insane marginal or a paranoid survivalist like me could buy it.

Now, thanks to Survive.rf and the like, as well as all sorts of ebays, the cost of a flint and flint in relation to a fire is close to the cost of matches and lighters.

Summarizing. There are a lot of show-offs on the net about the crapness of Chinese fires, regarding all sorts of Swedish and American rods, made to an excellent standard. They are softer, the chips with teal are much thicker, there are more sparks than those of fire starters from China.

I am an ardent opponent of these show-offs! Chinese steel is much more economical and cheap. His teals, although duller, produce 3-5 times more teals!

It is better to get used to the skill of ignition than to shred a valuable fire starter into extra sparks.

Yes, I am also against the technique of chipping from a flint and shavings, followed by igniting a hill of these chips. For the same reason - overspending and anti-economy. It's better to kill one rod per workout.

Thank you for the opportunity to express your opinion Survive.rf.

Test and video instruction for the fire starter:

Fire starter large, 7.5cm ∅ 8mm "Survive" 330 rub.

Someone somewhere said that Chinese steels are bad... 10 seconds, without any paper or fleece, and the fire is ready. Hands - not hooks, or flint and steel good? ;)

Large fire starter. Whistle, compass, armchair, adjustable cord. Has no expiration dates, maximum reliability. A steel flint must be in every NAZ! An elongated thick rod, the simplest design.

Many people think that lighters are the invention of modern society, but the principle of operation that underlies the operation of this device - flint, steel and fuel, has been used in various cultures for many thousands of years.

Lighters are quite simple. One of them positive qualities- is the ability to produce fire with one hand, while expending minimal physical effort. Like all mechanical devices, the lighter can break or simply fail. And the more moving constituent parts, the more likely it is to break. Even when the fuel supply in the lighter has run out or leaked out, in the hands of an experienced person, the sparks from under the ignition wheel can be used to kindle. Although this may not necessarily work with piezoelectric type lighters.

Although lighters are not completely waterproof, a quick spin of the wheel on a smooth, uneven surface will generate enough heat to dry out the elements and bring the lighter back to life. However, the gas lighter will not work if it is cold. You will have to spend some time and effort to warm it up. It will be especially difficult to do this in severe frost.

Lighters on the market are different and have various properties. Petrol lighters Zippo, IMCO, Bowers and the like are unusual and attractive, their main advantage is automatic operation. Once you turn the wheel and ignite the fuel, you can put the lighter down and it will continue to burn.

On the other hand, they are heavy, give off a strong smell and take up too much space. The biggest reason that makes it difficult to use petrol lighters in an emergency is the need to fill them with liquid fuel. In hot desert conditions, a full gasoline lighter can completely evaporate the fuel in just a few days. And what's even worse. These lighters do not show the remaining fuel level. There are two ways to check if there is liquid fuel in the lighter.

The first method involves trying a gasoline lighter empirically. It should light up at least on the third try. The second method is unique and applies only to gasoline lighters. If it smells, then there is fuel in it, but how much of it is unknown. If you do not have the ability to constantly monitor the presence of fuel in a gasoline lighter, then such an item has no place in the set (kit, stock, NAZ).

Branded gas lighters Bic, Cricket, etc., are a fairly high-quality product. How good can a disposable item be? But unfortunately, for the most part, they do not have the option of regulating the flame. In other words, you can't make a lighter flame bigger or smaller. Numerous Chinese-made gas lighters, which are sold in many stores right next to the checkout, are much better suited for completing an emergency kit (set, stock) and especially for mini ones.

These lighters usually have a flame control function and are available in many different colors with transparent bodies. So you can see the amount of fuel left inside. Wrap brightly colored duct tape or scotch tape around the body of a gas lighter to increase its visibility, especially at dusk and at night, but leave the top and bottom untaped so that you can control the level of gas inside.

Don't expect to be able to tell how much gas is left in your lighter just by shaking it and listening to the sounds it makes. Before each trip or trip, in addition to visually checking the fuel level in a gas lighter, be sure to check its performance. Even in arid climates, the top metal part of a gas lighter corrodes, and since we are dealing with a mechanical object, there is no need to risk it.

If you live in an area with high levels of humidity, you will most likely need to replace the lighters in your survival kit quite often. And even though your gas lighter may look like new, it's still best to replace it with a fresh lighter after a couple of years of storage. Gas lighters commonly available, cheap, lightweight, compact and easy to handle devices. While not a panacea for all problems, they provide us with enough reliable way immediately receive fire, but like all things, they must be used carefully and with the right degree of common sense.

Hello dear readers :)
I have been wearing gasoline for a long time, everything in it is good except for the size, like a fire backup is normal, but as a main thing, even in the forest, it’s not very comfortable, I’m generally silent about smokers.
In short, the thing is convenient, but not as reliable as a capsule, and requires peeling.

Do you know what are the advantages of such lighters? Work at negative temperatures without any preparation, refueling with fuel (from acetone to kerosene), simple design, practically indestructible (the case is metal, though it could be thicker, and as a result, the weight would be more)

Came to me two capsules in a pretty blister.
On the back of the blister is

instruction in Chinese

For comparison, I put a capsule, it is similar in size, but how usability differs, you can see in the photo, the metal is painted and covered with a vile, shiny varnish.

Diameter 1.2cm. We will disassemble the black one, under the lid on the thread, a standard scheme that has been tested for centuries, a flint, a wick wheel, a thread and a gasket from a new one (however, not everything is in order with it)

Entrails, with cotton removed

Here are the main pluses and minuses: a plastic plug with a very weak thread, and a leatherette strap for which it is convenient to hold

Pay attention to the size difference:

Holding the capsule in hand and observing the sky and the earth, we thread the little finger into the lanyard, and we get a very convenient device, the ribbed cap allows you to unscrew it with one hand.

Advantages over capsules:
Larger liquid volume for similar dimensions.
Very comfortable in the hand, one-handed ignition.

Minuses:
Plastic plug with plastic soft thread.
From the store, gasoline holds only 4 months (the capsule lies for a year) due to a thin rubber band under the top cover, when twisting it is not felt, if I replace it, I think it will keep it like a capsule.

Recommendations:
For the purpose of amplification service life from one charge, it is better to replace cotton wool with cotton wool from a female tampon. gasoline holds 2 times more, burns many times longer compared to ordinary cotton wool
If a ignites badly, change the flint and (or) gasoline.
Lubricate the thread to avoid abrasion and extension service life
If a burns badly, most likely the wick has been transferred, poke a needle into the place where the wick exits from the body.
Wick must reach the bottom.
Like everyone else gasoline lighters, cannot be allowed long heating time, that is, in Russian: you can’t keep it lit for a long time, the metal of the wheel “is released” loses its rigidity, after the release, it will stop sparking normally.