A fire striker, or fire steel, is a piece of high-carbon steel struck against flint or similar hard stone to shave off tiny particles of metal that ignite as sparks, hot enough to catch tinder such as char cloth. In use from the Iron Age through the medieval period and into the 19th century, it was the dominant method of fire-starting across Europe long before matches existed. This reproduction is styled after fire strikers recovered from grave finds at Birka, one of the most important Viking-Age trading centres in Scandinavia, whose extensively excavated cemeteries have yielded numerous documented examples of this everyday tool.
Fire Striker, Birka Grave Pattern
A fire striker, or fire steel, is a piece of high-carbon steel struck against flint or similar hard stone to shave off tiny particles of metal that ignite as sparks, hot enough to catch tinder such as char cloth. This version is styled after fire strikers recovered from grave finds at Birka, Sweden, a major Viking-Age trading centre whose burials have yielded numerous genuine examples. Birka’s cemeteries have produced some of the most extensively documented fire strikers in Scandinavian archaeology.
- Material: High-carbon steel
- Inspiration: Birka, Sweden, Viking-Age grave finds
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