Ray Mears / Stephen King's Flint and Steel

[hitachi088]

its indeed very interesting to see that it survived an americain space shuttle.

[staphinfection]

LOL.... I first thought the same thing when I saw "Stephen King"...  I though maybe this was some contraption Roland Deschain of Gilead used during his travels to the Dark Tower....

[cujo55544]

@staphinfection I had the exact same thought as well. But Roland uses a more primitive firesteel, I'm guessing one of those curved ones you hold in your hand and strike actual flint stones with. (major Dark Tower nerd here)

[aldankuul]

Hang on, Stephen King's not British!

[cyberjackcyberjack]

Thats the same as the Jail cigarette lighter ..... er dont ask how i know that ... lol

[hitachi088]

@cyberjackcyberjack looking at the number of dots you put in you text, it might be in your local school library.

[Sb01343]

Saltpeter is potassium nitrate (Kn03)

[HikerJohn316]

Let's see, saltpeter = sulfar in Americanese? 

[huffmanrah]

@HikerJohn316 No. Saltpeter is saltpeter... and I think the word you are looking for is sulfur.

[CiaranRooney125]

What an incredible pieace of kit!

[MyPoison77]

this guy is the KING of buscraft

[mowat440]

sowe this is not the book righter Stephen King's then

[Cartoonruf]

It sure is amazing to use both bushcraft, and survival techniques. :)

[arthurleon1387]

This is how matchlock muskets work.

[scarz1951]

I use a saltpeter solution to nitrate wood punk, the trama layer of fungi and even cotton cloth. A teaspoon of KNO3 per 8oz of water works nicely.

[mowat440]

sowe it the book righter Stephen King's then 

[J4YM5]

strangest episode of the anitiques roadshow ever

[anzac2404]

Thats a great bit of history just here, I think Ray did a fantastic job of recreating Kings flint & steel, seeing how he had only ever seen pictures/drawings in books.

*He has come a long way from that little boy of 5yrs old to what he is today but besides that fact, he has been in the same job/business which he created back in 1983 when he was 19yrs old.

**A true self made man if ever there was!

[mountainman1996]

sweeeeet! thats cool, very special

[bowmasterpigo13]

lol i love all these

[bushmag]

He is THE greatest bushcrafter!

[Cameron1942]

That contraption is called "yesquero" in Spanish. The gauchos used it in the past and you can still see the odd one sold in country general stores. The match is indeed soaked in saltpeter as in a matchlock.

[Curdog]

@Cameron1942

The saltpeter is a bit of an improovement, but is not absolutely necessary- just being charred will work.

[chrissept21]

pretty tuff cunk of brass