Thanks for the tip about taking char to part-black part-tan, I'll try that- though it must take a pretty good judgement to pull the tin at the right time- perhaps you're packing your char tin tighter than I do. I've always taken it to all black, and used seperate tinder to take the ember to flame. Along with cotton, linen, and bracket fungus, I've had good success using punk (dry, rotted wood) for making char. It doesn't flame, but it catches and holds a spark well.<br><br>I have a tiny 2-finger firesteel, the classic closed "C" shape with curlicues, that is only 2 inches long and was dug up along Braddock's Road. I can barely get two fingertips into it, but it sparks well. I have heard people say that they did not make them this small. It's not true.<br><br>As I'm sure you know, modern cigarette lighter "flints" are not flint and will strike sparks with any hard-edged striker, not just with a properly hardened firesteel. So long as they are partly exposed, then, a row of them can be glued into any groove, end to end, and a sharp edge run down the length will strike a shower of sparks. It's putting a lot of faith in the glue, though.<br>