Light My Fire FireSteel and MayaSticks

What Light My Fire makes for hunters and campers

Light My Fire sells two kinds of things: ways to start a fire, and ways to eat beside it. The second group (sporks, lunch boxes, cups, plates) isn't covered on this site, so this page is about the first group.

On this site, Light My Fire covers two product types:

• Fire starters: the Swedish FireSteel, a spark rod with a stainless steel striker, in a Scout size and an Army size
• Tinder: MayaSticks, sticks of resin-rich pine called fatwood, here in the on-a-rope version

The grid above shows what's on Amazon right now, filtered by type. It changes as listings come and go. So I'll write about what separates the products, not about how many are listed this week. Because the brand's own grid is short, the theme adds an "Alternatives to Light My Fire" block with rods and tinder from other makers. More on those below.

Light My Fire lists the FireSteel under the name "Swedish FireSteel". On Amazon, the same rods show up as "Flint Fire Starter Scout" and "Flint Fire Starter Army". Same rods, different label. (Renee says the Amazon names sound like two cousins at a reunion.)

How the Swedish FireSteel works

A FireSteel makes sparks, not a flame. You scrape the striker along the rod, tiny bits of metal shave off, and they burn hot enough to light tinder.

Here's what the maker says about its rod, from its own article on the FireSteel's history:

• The rod: a pyrophoric alloy of iron, magnesium, lanthanum and cerium (pyrophoric means it throws burning particles when scraped)
• The striker: stainless steel with a precision-ground edge
• The sparks: up to about 2,980°C, which is 5,400°F
• The difference, per the maker: a trademarked hardening of the alloy, which it says gives more even sparks and a longer life than other ferrocerium rods

The same article says the FireSteel was developed in Sweden in 1980 for the Swedish armed forces, with survival instructor Lars Fält, founder of the armed forces' survival school. The problem it was built for, per the maker: gas that won't vaporize in the cold, lighters that freeze, and matches that get wet.

The maker also makes a useful comparison. A butane lighter flame, it says, runs around 1,300 to 1,970°C. FireSteel sparks are hotter but last only an instant. A lighter gives you a steady flame. A rod gives you a short, very hot burst that doesn't care about cold or thin air.

Real talk: I'm an electrician. I spend my workday keeping sparks inside a box. Then I go to camp and make them on purpose. Renee thinks this is a cry for help.

Lineup notes: Light My Fire fire starters and tinder

Swedish FireSteel Scout

The Scout is the smaller rod. What the maker lists on its product page:

• Up to 3,000 strikes
• Sparks around 5,400°F
• A built-in emergency whistle, rated at 120 dB
• Handles made from biobased plastics
• "Travel safe and grip-friendly", in the maker's words
• Made in Sweden

The maker also says it works when wet and windy. The Amazon listing gives a rod diameter of about a quarter inch and a plastic handle. The striker and rod are joined, so the two parts travel together.

The Scout is the one for a day pack or a coat pocket. The maker also sells a FireKnife, a knife with a FireSteel in the handle rated for up to 3,000 strikes. This site doesn't list knives from Light My Fire, so the FireKnife isn't in the grid.

Swedish FireSteel Army

The Army is what the maker calls the Scout's bigger brother. Same sparks, same whistle, same biobased handles, made in Sweden. The difference is life and size:

• Up to 12,000 strikes, four times the Scout's rating
• A thicker rod: the Amazon listing gives about three-eighths of an inch

A thicker rod gives you more surface to scrape. In cold hands and gloves, a bigger rod is also a bigger target. The trade is a little more bulk in the pocket.

MayaSticks on a rope (fatwood tinder)

This is the tinder side. Fatwood is pine that's soaked through with its own resin, usually from the stump. The maker's point is simple: resin burns hot and repels water.

The maker says its MayaSticks come from stumps of cultivated pine in Honduras, and lists these points:

• Up to 80% resin, compared with about 30% in Swedish pine
• Lights even when wet, per the maker
• Burns up to 20 minutes, depending on how thick the stick is
• No chemicals, nothing added
• Made in Honduras

The on-a-rope version is a single fatwood handle on a wrist or carry cord. You shave it down a little at a time instead of burning the whole thing. The maker also says two trees get planted for every stump harvested, and that the wood is certified under the SCS material content program.

Walt read the label and asked why anyone would ship a stick from Honduras to Pennsylvania when Pennsylvania is mostly sticks. I read him the resin numbers. He went back to his coffee, which is how Walt concedes.

Scout or Army: how to choose

Count your fires, not your trips

The deciding spec is strike life. If you light a fire twice a season, the Scout's 3,000 strikes will outlast your interest in fires. If the rod is your daily fire starter at a long camp, or you share it with a crew that likes to show off, the Army's 12,000 makes more sense.

Think about your hands

Gloves change everything. A thin rod is fiddly with cold fingers. The Army's thicker rod gives you more to grip and more to scrape. If you mostly hunt in October, it matters less. If your season runs into December, look at the thicker rod.

Decide where it lives

A rod that stays in the truck doesn't help anyone. The Scout fits a pocket or a pack lid. The Army fits a fire kit or a camp box. Both have the whistle, so either one can ride on a lanyard.

Pair it with tinder

My one opinion on this page: buy the rod and the tinder together, and keep them in the same pocket. The reason is in the maker's own steps. Its how-to has you shave fine curls off a MayaStick with the FireSteel's striker, then throw sparks into that pile. The striker does double duty, and the two pieces work as a pair. A rod without tinder is a very hot way to make no fire.

The ferro rod page compares rods across makers, and the fire starter page covers rods, cubes and other ways to start a fire.

How to use a Light My Fire FireSteel

The maker's steps, in short form:

1. Clear the fire area of debris if you're outside
2. Gather small twigs, bark and fine kindling, and build a small, airy pile
3. Shave thin curls from a MayaStick with a knife or the striker
4. Hold the striker at about a 45-degree angle to the rod, aimed at the shavings
5. Make a few long, steady strokes toward the pile
6. Feed the fire in stages, small to large, and give it air

The maker says you can also light a whole MayaStick, or a couple, under the firewood when the wood is big or damp. It also says the FireSteel lights fuel from alcohol and gas stoves. Read your stove's manual before you try that.

One thing nobody tells you: a spark rod makes noise and light, so it doubles as a signal. The maker's article says the sparks can be used as an emergency signal. Add the whistle and it's a small rescue kit.

Alternatives to Light My Fire in the grid

Because the brand's own listings are few, the grid adds products from other makers by type. They aren't ranked, and they differ from Light My Fire in a few plain ways:

• Wood-handled ferro rods: the Überleben rods (Zünden, Hexå, Kräftig) come with wooden handles per their listings, and several list rods up to half an inch thick
• Large bare rods: the Black Beard Extra Large lists a 5-inch rod, half an inch thick
• Wax and wood fiber cubes: Superior Trading Co., Inflame and Kingsford sell starters in packs, with burn times on some listings
• Wood wool: Zippo's Tinder Shreds, sold in small bundles

Rods trade bulk for life: a thicker rod lasts longer and weighs more. Cubes and pods trade reusability for speed: light one and it's done. Fatwood sits in between, since you shave only what you need. Brand pages for Überleben, Black Beard and Zippo have their full lineups, and the fire starter sticks page compares tinder by type.

Care and storage

A FireSteel doesn't need much. Keep the striker attached, keep the rod dry when you can, and wipe it off after a wet day. The maker says it works wet, but there's no reason to store it in a puddle.

Fatwood keeps for a long time because the resin is the fuel. The maker sells MayaSticks wrapped in burnable paper for that reason. Keep a stick in a zip bag with the rod and you won't hunt for one at dusk.

The FireSteel has no batteries, no fuel and no moving parts, per the maker. That's why I keep one in every fire kit. Renee asked how many fire kits I own. I said it depends what counts as a kit. She said the glovebox doesn't count. It counts.

Fire safety basics

Check your local fire restrictions before you light anything. Smokey Bear's guidance from the Forest Service: pick a flat spot with open sky above, clear about a 10-foot circle, use a fire ring if there is one, and keep water and a shovel close. To put it out, drown it, stir it, drown it again, and feel for heat with the back of your hand. If it's too hot to touch, it's too hot to leave.

Keep spark rods and tinder with the fire kit, away from kids who haven't been shown how to use them.

Who's behind Light My Fire

Light My Fire's about page says the company was established in 1995 in Sweden, and that its first products were MayaSticks and fire starters. The FireSteel itself is older, per the maker's history article, developed in 1980 for the Swedish armed forces. Today the company sells sporks, cups and camp kitchen sets alongside the fire gear, but on this site only the fire starters and tinder are listed.

Rod in the left pocket, fatwood in the same pocket, matches in the truck. In that order, so the matches stay the backup.