Firesteel.com has a huge firesteel that sells for $150. It is 1" x 6" and weighs over 1 pound. Why would anybody buy this? I can't figure it out.

http://firesteel.com/firesteel-magnum/

There's a review on that page from a guy saying he looks forward to passing this firesteel down to his great grandchildren. Is this supposed to be a joke?

Compensating for other deficiencies?

Bet it makes a big, hot spark. <ducks-n-covers>

I would love to have that steel! Just can't justify spending the money, though. I do have two of the Bunker models. A 'steel that large wouldn't be very handy to tote around but it would last nearly forever!

One thing I like about the Bunker is that a large steel produces a huge amount of sparks with each strike. I can light a few stubborn tinders with my Bunker that won't light with lesser steels.

$150!! That's just silly....

But just think of the fun you could have; if you see someone getting ready to use their LMF Army model you can say, "That's not a firesteel- THIS is a firesteel!"

Well, I can think of a reason

There are knife collectors , flashlight collectors, so now there will start a new trend : firesteel collectors

So, IMO , a one-pound firesteel is made for the same reason this SAK has been made.

I think the next step is attach it to a 5 pound brick of magnesium .. and strike it with the serrated back of a SP8 machete !!!

I don't want to around when someone tries it . LOL

In all seriousness, a 1 lb fire steel wouldn't be bad for a base camp or a cabin/fixed location. I have a bunch of firesteel.com 'steels and really love them.

Pretty much, just like Opinel has a sword sized folder, someone in charge said "oh hell why not".

OK, but for $150?

Ten of their $12.50 ferro rods secured on blaze orange lanyards would be quite a bit more useful for that purpose, and also $25 less expensive. You wouldn't have to freak out every time somebody takes one to light a fire outside. There would be 9 more left over in the cabin. Heck, two smaller ferro rods would be more useful.

One reason I'm shocked about this product is because I always viewed Firesteel.com as providing products that are simple and practical. This product is mostly bling and is limited in practicality. It seems like they didn't put much thought into this one.

Apologies. I didn't even notice the website name. (It was a giant LED flashlight that looks like you'd need a trailer to carry it.)

Let's try this:
http://www.xerxy.com/2010/09/27/giant-led-flashlight-you-can-build-at-home/

I disagree; the guy must have put a lot of thought into this. He knows that people will buy this firesteel even if it doesn’t make sense to everyone. It doesn’t need to make sense as long as people are willing to buy it. At 150 bucks a pop just think of the money he could make even from selling a couple of thousand of these things.

Getting rich aside, I see it as being a little overboard myself but I don't see it being anymore silly that what the next guy may have in his pocket. What I find useful and what you find useful relies on a lot of underlying factors.
From what I read, a lot of guys/gals love to EDC little PSK's full of what some would consider very impractical gear. I have never needed small fish hooks and razor blades or Fresnel lenses or needles wrapped in dental floss and I would be willing to bet many people carry that stuff religiously even though I bet very few people on the forum ever really needed any of it.

The bottom line is, if I had the choice I would rather be lost in the woods with a jumbo firesteel and a decent striker than an altoids can full of semi useless junk any day of the week, but that's just me.

That cuts both ways. I've spent about $100 at Firesteel.com. So, I'm part of their customer base. Now, when I look at any item on their site, I wonder if it's a gimmick. Perhaps I wouldn't have this mindset if their website explained how this size is more useful than other sizes, such as the Bunker, which is already too big.

We're talking about it, so as gimmicks go the gigantic firesteel seems effective for word-of-mouth advertising.

Yeah, the $150 firesteel seems silly to me, unless perhaps one is starting a fire with it every day of the week. I keep a couple of the larger firesteels in my SUV but that one's too beefy even for my vehicle.

Glad I went on my firesteel.com shopping binge in 2009 because shortly thereafter their prices shot up.

I have two Bunkers, and I don't think they're too big!