[Regia-NA] Making Fire

[Lori Rael Northon]

Can anyone tell me if there is some special trick to striking a spark with
flint?  I need a spark to light the petrol I've poured all over everything
on this list!  8^)

No! NO! NO! Seriously now, I would like to know about flint and striking a
spark.  I attended a Black Powder Fair with a girlfriend (yes, I do actually
have a couple of friends - I haven't driven them all away!) this past
Saturday afternoon.  Both of us purchased smallish chunks of what were
labeled as flint for about $.75.  My chunk is a dark blackish gray, and hers
is a sandy brown color.  We tried scraping and striking these chunks against
metal files, rusty steel, other rocks, each chunk, and anything else we
could get our hands on except the "strikers" that were being sold for way
too much money at the fair.  And, of course, neither of us thought to ask
for a demonstration of our flints while we were still at the fair grounds.
If anyone has any suggestions or information they would care to pass on
regarding sparking techniques and required materials to create sparks that
does not include smashing the chunks to fine powder with a 5# sledge hammer
or skipping the chunks out across the water or hucking the chunks at passing
police cars, both my friend Maerhild and I would be grateful.

No flames, please. 8^)
Lori