I received some flint recently from a friend in Texas and have been using it to make fire using the flint and steel method. I've got a pretty good idea what flint looks like. The inner core of the rock has a dark appearance and the outer layer is lighter in colour.
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The rock prior to flaking off a piece.
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In our front yard we have a rock garden containing rocks we've brought back from our family vacation trips. One of them was picked up from the Thames riverbed in London England at low tide. I happened to notice that rock the other day and wondered if it could be flint. I decided to flake off a piece and find out if it could produce a spark with my steel.
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| A piece flaked off. |
I flaked a large piece off using one of the other rocks from the garden and then broke it down into a couple of smaller pieces. In the process I noticed blood streaming from my thumb - I had cut it without knowing it. Well these flakes sure are sharp which is a good sign.
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| Smaller pieces flaked off. Notice the translucent piece on the left. |
The moment of truth came as I took one of the smaller pieces and struck it with my steel. Jackpot, it produced a shower of sparks. I will be adding some of these pieces to my kit mainly for sentimental value to remember our vacation but also because they produced a nice sharp edge. The rock seems to have a translucent property making it look like glass.
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| The rock returned to the garden. |
I still have a large piece of rock for the garden safe and sound for when I need another piece of flint.
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