Schwert-

Can you comment please:

• Brass vs. wood shaft. Over time, would the brass shaft/piston perform more reliably? Not that wood doesn't perform well, but I'm wondering about susceptibility of the wood-piston versions to humidity/moisture or conversely, shrinkage due to extremely dry climate (read: the deserts of Arizona).

• Rubber O-ring vs. traditional waxed string gasket. I see you have both versions. Does it really matter which? Is the need to periodically rewind/rewax the string so infrequent that it's no big deal?

• The traditional design to capture the small bit of tinder on the end of the shaft is a recessed hole on the end. I've seen some with an open "notch" on the end, which would seem to have the advantage of easier transfer of the ignited tinder to a tinder nest (vs. digging ignited tinder out of recess with a tinder pick or whatever). Or is one as good as the other?

You might discern from my questions ... I'm aiming for reliability over being period correct in the design.

Thanks for the benefit of your experience.