Pyroflint Super Alloy Firesteel Striker – Review

Oct 21, 2016 Paul Pinkerton

Thanks to our cousins across the pond for this great little review.

Wow, that certainly is a mouthful. But I thought I’d make everyone aware of this cheap funky little striker.

No doubt I’m not the only one that does this. But when I get a new ferro rod in my hand, I immediately untie the paracord and chuck the striker into the bin. The only ferro I haven’t done this with in the last 15 or so years of using them, is the new Light My Fire 2.0, which has a very good striker. But it still is nowhere near as effective as this little fella.

My fave ferro rod is the Woodlore model. It is very cheap and top quality. It too comes with a really uncomfy and thin striker. No probs really, as I always used to use the back of my blade anyway. I have noticed though, that over the years the point where you strike the rod on your knife spine, does blunt over time and reduces the effectiveness. My personal method of striking a rod off the spine is to use the last 2cm or so of the knife tip as it lets you have more control when you use the last couple of cms of the ferro rod. The further up the spine towards the handle you go, you lose that extra control, and you have to strike most of the ferro to produce sparks.

This method of using your knife though, does have its problems. If your hand is cold and wet, it can be a risky combination. Personally, I’ve never cut myself, but you do apply caution, and that in itself can also lessen the accuracy and intensity of the sparks you generate. I’ve also drifted away from carrying my ferro rod on my knife sheath, so for convenience, I decided to get one of these strikers. At only $2.00, it was hardly a wallet emptying gamble.

So here it is:

It is an overall length of 58mm, of that, 17mm is the striker blade. The rest being a semi-flexible plastic. It is light at about 7 grams. The blade is square and heat hardened, with both sides being ground to a sharp 90 degrees to give six edges of striking force. If you’ve ever used the LMF and other strikers, you’ll know that they usually only have one effective side. So this little striker is great. The sharpness of the striker blade throws off a much more intense shower of sparks than I’ve ever gotten with my knife or any other striker.

What’s more is the handle design lets you grip and strike at the last 10mm of the rod to produce the sparks with ease and a greater amount of accuracy than you’d usually get. I’m pretty good with one, but it improved my technique considerably. Your ferro rod will also last a heck of a while longer.

The other bonus you get with this striker is the ability to accurately and easily scrape together your Esbit powder for lighting. I always found it to be a pain to do this with my knifes spine and I’d lose more powder over the edge than what I collected in the center to ignite. With the tip of the striker, you can produce a fine mound of powder within seconds. Better still, it lights easily with one or two strikes. Anyone who uses a ferro to light Esbits, will know that is some achievement.

So there you have it. Brew on…

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