Snapped My Firesteel!!!!

[DFT]

Hi there,
I'm quite new to all this so I'm just after some advice as to whether or not anyone's heard of new fire steels breaking before!?

I'd only used it for about 15 strikes, max!
I used the back of my knife. (Woodlore design) And in my amateur opinion I didn't strike it aggressively or at a particularly hard angle.

It came with my knife from whom I believe to be a reputable maker and much to my surprise and grave dissapointment it snapped cleanly off!

The knife is sound and has stood up well to standard bushcraft tasks but not the steel.
Should I be contacting the maker for an explanation and/or a replacement?

Any comments appreciated!

Dan

P.S. I have a pic but not sure how to put it up!!?

[mace242]

I'm thinking that it's an imperfect world and sometimes things may just break. A nice email to the person you bought it off will perhaps get you a replacement (I expect it will as you describe them as reputable) and it will be nice for them to know in case they had a bad supply.

If you get a replacement and it breaks the same way then i suspect it may be technique but to be sure buy a different one from another supplier and if that breaks then cut back on the steroids ;)

[decorum]

I didn't strike it aggressively or at a particularly hard angle.

By strike do you mean a glancing blow? If you have hit it that's the cause of the breakage - Fire steels (ferrocium rods) should be scraped in a similar (ish) way to lighting a match.

EDIT: What length and diameter is the fire steel? Where did it break?

[Stew]

Firesteels aren't made of long fibred material but a coarse brittle mix of metals, as far as I understand it. I've snapped a thin one before.

[Justin Time]

Dropped one one the kitchen floor before, snapped an inch of the end, still useable though.