Just the other day, we got the first snow of the year. So I thought it was the perfect occation for practicing my firemaking skills.



I went to the woods and found a good spot, where I started to prepare the fire. First off, I made a floor of branches in order to raise the fire from the ground. Both to get off the wet ground and give the maximum amount of oxygen to the fire.



I then gathered a bundle of rushes, some small dryish sticks and the some thicker sticks to get the fire going



A cottonball mixed with petroleum jelly placed upon some of the rushes was my starting point. Honestly, once I put my bare hands on the small sticks, my hopes of getting a fire going fell. They were quite damp.



I use a ESEE firesteel, and I have sharpened the spine of my Yardkeeper to bite on the firesteel better. Works great!



Two strikes, and the cottonball ignited



I then carefully placed more rushes and the thinnest sticks on to the flame.

By now the fire was hot enough to burn even the thicker sticks, and the fire got going really wel. I feel confident, that I could have kept that fire going for a long time with what I had in my surroundings.






What made this a successfull fire, was simply preparation. It made a huge difference to raise the fire from the ground and spend some time gathering twicks that were not soaked. Nothing was dry, but by searching thouroughly I managed to get hold of some usefull tinder.



Chop-off
Well I was in the woods, so why not chop some wood?
I had brought my 711, SFNO Le and Basic 6 Le



The winner was the SFNO Le, closely followed by the 711. The Basic 6 did really well also, but came last.
As for ergonomics, the 711 won. Nothing beats the Res-c handle!

[img]http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd439/Rma80/8.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd439/Rma80/7.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd439/Rma80/6.jpg[/img]

By the time I was done messing around, darkness had fallen, and finding my way back was pretty challenging¨. So I decided to backtrack, since there were no trails. Otherwise I could have walked miles in the wrong direction, which would suck big time!

[img]http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd439/Rma80/5.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd439/Rma80/4.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd439/Rma80/3.jpg[/img]

After some time I exited the woods, and the lights of the city were in front of me.

[img]http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd439/Rma80/2.jpg[/img]

Great story and pics Rasmus.

Great pics! I wouldn't have thought the SFNO LE would have won that chop off. Also, is there a reason the 711 won for comfort over the res c of the busse? Is the Basic 6 LE res c harder?

Cool! I want a NMSFNO or NMFSH

How is the ESEE vs the others fire steels

it's just a 3/8" ferro rod - but the handle is hollow for storing tinder and includes a small button compass.

I didn't know if it was wider or what

Great pics and review.

If you had to use it for an extedned period would you prefer the SFNO or the 7-11?

The SFNO is a grail


Thanks
MM

Good question please do tell. Poor RG out his NMSFNO up on the exchange. I feel so sorry for him.

Well, before I got the SFNO, I didn't know how big it was in hand. It is a big knife! And had a lot more weight to it than the 711. Lengthwise they are pretty equal...
The comfort of the 711 and Basic 6 are the same. Same exact handle. The 711 just won there because it also chopped better than the Basic 6. However, if chopping wasn't needed, the Basic 6 is a perfect campknife! Really great balance to it.

The ESEE firesteel is the only one I have ever tried. Some say, it is a little harder to work with than other firesteels, but I wouldn't know that. Works great for me...

For sheer comfort, the 711, but the factor of awesomeness and heft of the SFNO is hard to disregard.
Also, this was the first time I used the SFNO. Maybe the handle just takes a little getting used to. After all, the 711 is the only knife I have used for hard work for almost a year.
But some shock did travel through the SFNO handle.

And yes, the SFNO is a grail, and I will beat on it again soon.