Web-Tex “Steel-of-Fire” fire starter kit

The Web-Tex “Steel-of-Fire” fire starter kit is a neat little matchless fire-lighting set in an olive green tin for convenient storage and transport. Inside the tin, which measures approx 3.75” x 2.5” x .75” you find an “own brand” Web-Tex “Fire Steel” and, attached to this by a lanyard, a striker as well as a sealed poly bag full of cotton wool tinder and two solid fuel blocks.

The steel has a two-inch ferrocium type alloy rod and a comfortable green plastic grip; the rod, when scraped with the striker, gives off a shower of immensely hot sparks.  Drop the sparks onto the supplied cotton wool tinder (or buffed birch bark, various wild seed heads etc.) and it will burst into flame.  It is a simple matter to transfer the flame to one of the waxy solid fuel blocks for a foolproof fire under even quite severely adverse conditions.

If you find you do not need the whole of one block to light your fire, you can break the blocks into smaller pieces to start with or, with care, retrieve a burning block and extinguish it for re-use later. It is also easy to light the blocks without using the cotton wool if you use the striker to grate some of the block to powder and then strike the sparks from the rod straight into this powder.  Using a corner of the lid of the tin as a collector for the powder stops it blowing around, and the tin can be used as a windshield or hearth for the early stages of your fire if you are struggling against wind and rain.

The rod itself seems a little softer than some other brands and sparks very easily from the striker (once you are through the protective covering), or from the back of a knife, edge of a steel ruler, or other square edged steel implement, and should last literally thousands of strikes.  Sometimes the metal scored from the rod does not burn, but once a future spark touches this, it burns readily, giving extra intensity to the transfer of spark to tinder.

The tin has room around the rod, supplied tinder and fuel for extra cotton wool, which as well as acting as extra tinder stops any rattles.

The Web-Tex Steel-of-Fire fire starter kit is a very effective matchless, weatherproof fire lighting kit and it will last for years. It only costs around £11.75 and will light anything from camp fires to cigarettes, BBQs to Rayburns, signal fires and hilltop beacons!