With all the people making suggestions, I really appreciated you leaving all the footage of the struggle to get the nest lit. I’ve spent a lot more time failing at bushcraft and when through the magic of editing KZfaq experts get everything on their first try, it’s a little discouraging.

I appreciate you clarifying that the tree was dead

Hey Krik! Couple things I noticed - not sure if you know this or not, but files are not designed to file "back & forth". The teeth are all angled towards the tip of the file (away from the tang/handle), so the file is only designed to cut on the PUSH stroke. You can damage and dull your file if you keep dragging it back towards yourself. It's best to lift the file off of the work piece on the return stroke. Second, if you want to remove the burrs from the sides of the knife, I would use a fine sharpening stone so as to not mar the side of the knife up with the file.

Harbor freight 4 sided diamond "stone" worked great for making square spine on my new Mora. Just worked my way through the grit, keeping the blade square to the stone. Please note, I would NOT use that particular diamond sharpener on the edge of my knife, but it dud a good job squaring the spine for ferro rod use.

I've just spend the afternoon doing this, with great results. I used a file and a vise.

Nice. I dragged the back of my mora companion across a cheap sandstone about 20 times and now it throws sparks no problem. I also did this with my companion heavy duty and mora hq robust. Even though those two have flat finished-looking blades they still wouldn't work a ferro rod until they were worked with a whetstone for a bit. It's amazing how just a little filing makes the difference between lots of sparks and none at all.

Good idea sticking the knife in a tree for your "vice"... a tip: You can see in the vid how much the file is rocking, which means you are not getting a flat grind... angle the file at 60 degrees to the knife, put your index & middle fingers directly on top of the knife spine, and stoke only toward the tree and parallel with the spine... this will keep the file flat and oriented correctly for the file design. PS: You could to this with a piece of file only a few inches long, saves space & weight.

I used a small diamond file on my Mora HD Companion. Worked just fine. Keep up the good work. Good video.

Thanks for the video. Made the same mod on my Mora heavy duty. Used a dremel though. Worked great. You may want to process that tinder bundle up a little more...or use a longer rod that throws voter and longer sparks.

yes i just put my mora in the vice followed ur tip and its throwing decent sparks cheers for the tip mate.

Love this review. Subscribed.

Thanks for being real man...

i swear every youtube search i do a video from black owl pops up:)

I tried to file my mora robust, but wasnt able to get sparks, guess i didnt make it square enough, (i dont have a vise at home). Filing how much pressure should i apply? will it affect the shape of the blade like curve in the middle due to filing?

Use you file to remove the ridges from your ferro rod. Once you do that, the rod will be smooth enough to throw showers of sparks. Works for me.

I am so new I thought the spine on my mora com hd was at a 90°, but wouldn't even make shavings but I thought it was my lack of practice. Thanks

I own a half dozen Mora knives and have given a dozen or more away as gifts, of at least seven different models...a quick touch on a bench grinder and they are all ready to start fires.Just got the Mora Bowie style knife, with te crazy long blade...gonna hit it with the bench grinder and see if I can spark up a lakeside fire out here on Puget Sound!

Nice vid man but just a lil extra info, if your right handed file towards the left side of the knife if your left handed file towards the right side of the knife for best results and as others have said use the file in a push motion only, this has worked well on all of my Moras.

Krik, when using the file, you will get a straight line by pushing the file forward to cut. Drawing it back and forth produces a rocking motion and will also dull the teeth on the file. Also, I think you cold have placed the rod closer to the bundle. Only you know how wet the bundle was, but you were getting plenty of sparks. I think if you had broken up the bundle a bit more before drying it in your pocket, it would have dried out faster.

Awesome Video!! Thanks for the great mod! Is it possible to do this with the stainless steel mora companion?

Sweet little tip i'll be implementing on my new Mora, on a side note thats a very cool red jacket you have, do you mind if I ask what brand that is?

After i did this mod to my friends mora i took my 2000 grit Japanese water stone to it just so that its nice and smooth and it just makes it less likely to rust in that area. My stone made it throw sparks alot better too so im not sure if thats any thing the stone did or just a better angle while striking the rod.

Would this mod work on the tops bob knife?

Nice mod technique brother. Crappy ferro rod though. :) Of course, I am a fan of ferro rod in the bundle as opposed to over it. Enjoying the video offerings. Nice content. Thanks for the HD! :) Be well brothers. Craig

Most of the guys i know cut a little bit into the top part of the knife to create a notch. Thats usually how we do it. Works great.

Good video, thanks, no hate on the filling from me. Good for you for having like 30k subscribers. Most the people here criticizing are to afraid to make videos, or have no creativity and a shitty attitude. The hate needs to end. This is a friendly community. We all have common interest and should enjoy and support. Enough people exist out there that hate this kind of community. Say something encouraging or just shut up

How about squaring it off nearer to the point as i use my thumb near the base of the blade to help carving

Kirk what brand is the coat your wearing I like the high colllar it looks thick and quit warm

a quick light tough on a bench grinder works the best in my opinion.

May you review les Stroud knife

Nice video, i have ordered a mora robust from amazon. Can it handle batoning job well, i will be batoning smaller wood for fire making.

The coat is a woolrich classic wool field coat zen I researched the blurry logo in the video and after some looking found the coat I know it off subject but I'm always looking for better winter gear

As a beginner, I am going to try this on a belt sander with an 80 grit then a 200 grit. What is your opinion on that.

does this work with both carbon and stainless steel?? i have a stainless mora but im not sure if it has to be a carbon steel to throw sparks??

Hey Kirk. You mentioned doing this with a dremel as well. Did you do a video on that? If so is there a link? My bastard files seem to have gone missing. could use a bench grinder but prefer it for heavier tasks and would like to us the dremel.

I just ordered a Mora companion Stainless, and wouldn't do this the to spine of it because the reason it doesn't throw a spark is because it is rounded for a reason "COMFORT" for your thumb when using it ! Mora makes a model with a ferro rod built into the handle if you need one and the spine of the blade works with it. Im not giving up comfort with the hundreds of times I may use it for the discomfort of the one time I may need a ferro rod because I forgot my trusty Bic lighter. not to mention, dont ferro rods come with scrapers?

Anyone know the jacket he's wearing?

Sorry, even better 86k subscribers, nice work. I have 5

You are ruining the file. Forward strokes only.

Damn... a lot of stuck up people frustrated with their own existence in the comment sections. I found the video helpful and interesting. Who cares about the file ? It worked. Are you guys part of some extremist buddhist offshoot sect ? Are you afraid there's a reincarnated soul dying inside the metal of that file ? Sure it isn't the best way, but someone might know a lot about survival and not have used a file that often... actually, most people don't use a file that often regardless of their specialty. He'll just screw up the file, buy another one and maybe think there might be a more efficient way to use it, like most of us did. Saying someone "shouldn't be making survival videos if they use a file like that" is completely retarded. I fix computers for a living, and a few of my customers are.... computer software programmers. Just because they use them all day doesn't mean they're that familiar with what makes them work. They just focused their learning time on other things. Calm down. The guy seems like he knows his stuff well enough to be making survival videos. Jesus... I remember when this community used to be a lot more friendly then this. I'm really getting old.

Files only cut in one direction. Don't reverse a file, rounds the knives over. + what you have is a draw file. Hold perpendicular to knife. Add pressure and move file parallel to knife

besides the proper way to use a firesteel, not all the firesteels are the same i found it was a lot much easier with the light my fire, than with other cheap stuff

Hey krik it might have been a little easier to light if you used the ferro rod a little better great video nonetheless

Save your rods for emergencies. Use the butane lighter we know you have in your pocket. You know, that you light your bowl with.

Nice dog

Squared off the spines of my moras with angle grinder. Workes perfectly for me. Yes it's possible but you have to be very careful with it. Very light strokes. Be sure not to overheat your blade. If you have little experiance with angle grinder I advice NOt to risk it.

The word you're looking for is level

No seria mejor sacar el mechero del bolsillo y prender?

You should make more videos, your content is great...minus the turtles

I save the lint from the dryer. And I have a little Magnesium block. Scrape a little mag on some lint. Fire on first or second try.

what jacket are you wearing!?

OK, friends, always leave at least 1" of smooth, safe, comfortable spine for fingers & thumbs to rest on if needed. 1" of striking area is plenty for your rods to work with. You're welcome.

It should be titled "how to ruin a file" I appreciate the video, but every time I see somebody using a file in a sawing motion I throw up in my mouth a little.

tap the spine on a grinder for half a second at most

The best mod is to buy a Bushcraft Black.

You're using the file improperly, read the comments. Also, this file you're using is for softer steels, not for this stainless steel. You could hear after the first push that it is not catching. A diamond file would be the best for what you're trying to achieve. All the best.

Has anyone else's Light My Fire rod fell out of the handle while using a knife to strike it?

Not to beat on you here especially with the negative file comment guy below. I do have to say it was bit bad for you to drag the file in the way you are doing. Also the rocking back and forth sort of makes a curved rounded edge "Not the best for a sharp 90 degree angle" which is what you need to throw those sparks. A good rat tail file will give you a good divot spot for the ferro rod. Also making the angle at a 45 or close to that angle will make a good bit of a sharper edge that will really throw the sparks. The round divot will also give a great place to keep the ferro rod from sliding on the black of the knife and stay in one spot. Dont believe me take something like a pair of wire cutters or shrub sheers and run that ferro rod on that edge to test what I am talking about. It will shock you the amount of molten sparks are thrown with very little effort and attention to the perfect position when striking. I will take next to no effort to throw a ton of sparks. A dremel tool also works and make that edge sharp by using a bit of fine sand paper to make the edge perfect.

you need another brand of ferro rod

Some moisture absorber packets

If you need real square - pull file one way only. Nice movie, thanks!

I'm sorry, but am I supposed to take wilderness advice from guys who can do all the fancy special film effects without effort but can't operate a fucking file properly?

Just buy a Mora black!

You don't need a 90 degree, just an edge that could be 90 degrees or less. Also, in an emergency you can use the edge of your knife. My recommendation is to use the last 5mm next to the handle, you almost never use that part anyway, for that technique, you keep the knife steady and you pull the fire steel. For those of you that say: “I use the last 5mm of my edge to baton wood” this is my answer: 1. Batoning wood is not a task for a knife unless you’re using a Bahco 2449 Curved Wrecking Knife 2. For batoning wood you do NOT need a sharp knife, you can even baton wood with a butter knife, don’t you believe me? Watch this: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hJ-eZc9nmJywfKs.html

Magnesium firestarters emit harmful UV radiation, dont look too much

It's going to ruin the file no matter how you stroke it. Files aren't made to use on hardened steel. And a good file this size costs almost as much as that Mora. An angle grinder, Dremel or bench grinder should do well enough.

watching you saw with a file hurts

I think that's a horrible idea. The Mora is the best fine carving knife out there, and all a sharp spine does is wear out your thumb or index finger when you're doing the fine carving that's essential to bushcraft. If yo actually need the spine of a Mora to throw sparks, you aren't prepared to be in the wild, anyway.

Looks like his first day using a file. Dosen't matter though still a good tip

I know this is a pretty old video but at 5:53 he flips off the camera

Thirteen minutes to complete a one minute task. Smh and lol.

Really?? #1) Any person that doesn't know this does not belong in the woods.! #2) You never Push the knife away from the rod - you hold the knife still and pull the rod to you.! #3) Put the rod as close as possible to the bundle- in the bundle if possible & the material you were using is wrong is size and construction. #4) Stop trying to start fires in trees unless you wanna burn down the forest.!! #5) Practice Bushcraft before making vids Turtle.!!! lol

Turtles? Do you need a gimmick to teach bushcraft to men?