brian;

Sorry if you misunderstood me - I wasn't accusing you of being a wimp but confessing to being a wimp myself. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> (I didn't really intend the crack about "accident-prone" to be taken seriously, though in hindsight that may not have been as obvious as I wanted it to be.) <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

You're absolutely right - I don't rock-climb, mountain-climb, ride horses or wrassle grizzly b'ars <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> so it's probably not so surprising that I've never broken a collarbone or dislocated a shoulder. The worst damage I've ever done to my arm was slipping on the ice in front of the Junior Ranks mess (I was on my way in, not out, in case you were wondering <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) and that was probably no worse than a bad sprain.

I was genuinely curious as to how bad an injury would have to be to physically prevent someone from using a "two-handed" fire-starting method, that's all.

What about a situation where both your hands are injured? I suppose it's ironic to think about, but what if your hands were badly burned and now you have to start a fire? I think you could more easily start a fire using a FC rod and a knife than strike a SL.

Personally, as far as one-handed firestarters go, my preferences are, in order: Bic lighter, BlastMatch, Zippo lighter and Sparklite. Sorry, but I've used the SL and I'm simply not that enamoured of it. 'Course, I feel the same way about Swedish Firesteels, and lots of people with more experience than me swear by them, so what do I know? <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

How well does the SL work when wet? Anyone know?