Light My Fire Swedish FireSteel 2.0 Army 12,000 Strike Fire Starter with Emergency Whistle

I bought this for the sheath of my Benchmade bushcrafter. It fits perfectly and I detached the cord etc because you can use the spine of the bushcrafter to strike on the fire steel to start a fire. I added some bungy paracord to it to secure it to the sheath. Overall, this thing throws some serious sparks and can get a fire going pretty quickly! I am very impressed with this product.

Pros:-not terribly expensive-color options are a bonus-throws good sparks-comes with a good striker-whistle is a bonusCons:-striker ergonomics only comfortably allows for 1 grip orientation which is bad once one side of the striker begins to dull and you need to start using the other.-Ferro rod is rather soft and wears out pretty quickly when compared to other fire steels I've owned in the past such as firesteel(dot com) firesteels.-whistle is rather finicky and not immediately able to be put into action. You have to fiddle to orient it perfect before it will make noise... Certainly not the best design I've ever seen. This feature is more of just a gimmick as far as I'm concerned. It will work just as long as your not in a terrible rush.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  This is hands-down one of the best fire steels I've ever had the pleasure of using. It is everything it should be and nothing that it shouldn't. The bar will work on the back of a knife or saw, but where it really shines is with the included striker. This makes more sparks with less effort than any other product of its kind I've ever used. It's small and light enough to fit into any kit, and more than worth its modest price tag.

used one of these during what I think is the toughest camping trip I've been on. It was the Ranger program at S bar F scout ranch, and it rained all but one night for the week. I was in a group of about 25, so I didn't get the chance to start the fire until the last night. that night we made camp, and heard thunder in the distance as I started collecting the driest wood I could find. needless to say, everything was soaked after days of rain. the best tinder I could come up with was some shavings from the center of a stick, and some paperboard that wasn't too damp. I had never used a firesteel to actually get a fire going before, but after several minutes of trying with the help of the only two people that seemed interested in even trying to get it going, I got a tiny flame started and luckily had been thinking enough to have a candle to light to keep it going. of course as soon as the fire was big enough to cook, it started pouring rain. I stood over the fire to keep it from going out, and after at least a half hour, the rain stopped and we got our water to boil. in the end it was worth it, because we got our hot food, and the people that hadn't helped were too stubborn to ask for some so they got to watch us eat.

This was my first experience with FireSteel, and I love it. I used it on a week of camping, and lit every campfire we built with it (why not just use matches? WAY more satisfying this way-- trust me!). I used dryer lint as tinder for most of the fires I built, but also used dryer lint with Vaseline; thin cotton pads, and thin cotton pads with Vaseline. I was equally successful with both (although dryer lint is free!) I imagine any light and dry similar tinder would work. The Vaseline didn't seem to make lighting the tinder any more/less efficient, but it did result in a longer burn once lit, which allowed more time for piling on the dry wood shavings I had prepared in advance.I'm not sure I would recommended this with just dry wood/wood shavings, at least at my skill level (as I said, this was my first time using it); I was not successful in getting a fire started just with those. I even purchased some fatwood (which is naturally highly imbedded with flammable sap), but wasn't successful in getting a fire started with just wood shavings. Of course, once I got the lint or cotton lit the wood shavings ignited right away and would result in a successful (and satisfying :-) ) fire. Perhaps someone with more experience than me might be more successful with just wood shavings.In all, I love this. It looks and feels substantial, has a great striker, and as has been noted here, comes with an integrated whistle. Recommended!

This is probably the best fire steel you can buy. After much research I bought the light My Fire Army hoping it would be the right size, big enough to fit in my large hands but still small enough to fit in my small hand held EDC bag. It met both those criteria. The handle fits comfortably in you hand and the striker/whistle works well. As with any fire steel, you have to remove the protective coating on the steel with a few scrapes of the striker before it produces sparks. It provides a generous quantity of hot thick sparks that will ignite good tinder quickly. The whistle is not the loudest but that is not what you buy a fire steel for. I just consider it a nice secondary backup that doesn't require additional space. The thickness of the fire steel ensures that it will last a long time and the length allows you to place it on the ground and in your tinder.

This is my second LMF Firesteel. Both have been great fire starters, lots of spark, long throw. You cannot go wrong with these, the simplified mechanics do not fail.On every trek, I make sure two of these are in the group. When out with the scouts, while they are fiddling with the junk gas lighters that aren't worth a dime, I whip out my firesteel and BOOM!, the camp fire is lit, BOOM! the adult stove is lit, BOOM! that Northstar lantern with the dead ignitor is lit.

This ferro rod is AWESOME! It makes great sparks and easily ignites tinder. It's definitely a must have. I put one in my survival kit.

Arrived in great time and the packaging bordered on invincibility !!!!The length of the lanyard that connects the rod and the striker plate is long enough to comfortably allow you to perform a full stroke. In addition the large size of the thumb indent that is moulded into the grip of the rod and the striker allow you to get a strong purchase whilst striking them together ..... Nice touch.....I also took the rod out for a quick try and it worked great .... plenty of sparks.Update: I have used the first one many times now and fire starting attempts all have resulted in instant success. I now have a second one :-)

I won't use another make of these any more !Produces an excellent shower of sparks, and perhaps most importantly, you can produce a spark with very precise control.Place the tip of the rod near to your tinder, place the striker 1/2 inch (13mm) up the rod and just using your wrist, push the scraper down the rod in a slow, deliberate action, pressing quite hard and you will get good sparks straight on to the tinder, not a shower everywhere else, and your tinder won't get sent in all directions.When you are trying to get a fire going in adverse conditions - wind, wet, dark etc. - little things make a big difference !The thumb grip on the striker ensures you get it the right way around (the rougher edge is the one that needs to work against the rod)Because the sparks can be delivered in such a controlled manner, and with such a small movement, tinder stays put and catches quickly.If you are lucky enough to be able to compare this to an "imitation", you won't be disappointed - I was more than a little bit gobsmacked by the difference.Practice using one BEFORE you need to use one in the wild.In case you're wondering, I've just ordered a couple more - very, VERY impressed.

This is one of the bigger versions, I've got a couple, also "Light My Fire" firesteels. This firesteel (that I bought in 2012) doesn't throw sparks quite as nicely as my smaller (probably medium sized) "LMF" firesteel. But surely does throw sparks, and does light fires no doubt. I still have this firesteel, probably not a huge surprice, given the amount of fires you can potentially start with this big of a firesteel.Its a really cool gadget that any outdoors person "should" have in their kit. Even for the occasional recreational field trips or bon fires in the backyard, this a cool way to light you fire.You can't really make shavings with a firesteel, but shavings from fatwood and bitch bark will make it easy to light fires. It does work when wet.

Not much to say that hasn't been said, great little ferro rod, a relatively soft compound that produces nice hot sparks and throws them well even with the little striker providing you use the right technique. Generally use a knife instead and shave a little off then set a spark to it. Used it in the wet on feathered sticks, on birch bark and various other materials, works a treat, highly recommended bit of kit. The whistle on mine isn't perfectly formed but still just about works though to me this is a fairly minor issue so still 5 stars.

I would have dropped half a star if possible because I find the striker uncomfortable to hold. The handle is too small in my opinion, especially if you had to use it in an emergency. But you could always use the back of a knife and it produces plenty of hot sparks, which is its main function.