I've tried to share this with everyone. It's my take on firesteel fire starting. I wanted to prove that a good ferro is a lot like a match. they will light shaved wood directly. no cotton ball with vaseline. no char cloth or char punk wood. This is a dead tree branch pulled from a down tree. It was either ash or popular I'm not positive.
I shaved this pile using a Mora, Ontario U.S.A.F.pilot, and my Fiskars X7 which did the best of all of them.
Th finer the wood the quicker it'll flame up. I have better ferro rods now too this was a cheapy, but still worked.
Okay I feel obligated to share the Fiskars too. I love this thing....