The museum collection features a fire striker — an addition to a flint, used for producing fire. Fire strikers were made of metal or alloy.
The principle of operation was as follows: the flat working surface of the fire striker was hit against a sharp edge of a stone. The stone chipped off metal particles, creating a spark. Flint was most commonly used for this purpose as it is a hard material that is easy to shape. When the fire striker hit the flint, it produced a spark that landed on pre-prepared tinder, a material for maintaining a flame. Interaction with oxygen from the air produced a flame, which was then sustained by blowing on it and adding dry grass and leaves. The process of working with a fire striker is similar to grinding a metal object on a whetstone, where tiny iron shavings ignite in the air and form a shower of sparks.
Initially, iron was used to make fire strikers. However, iron is a fairly hard material, making it difficult to produce sparks manually. At the beginning of the 20th century, fire strikers were made from special alloys.
In ancient times, having a fire striker and flint was crucial for a person’s survival in the forest, especially when they had to spend an extended period there.
This led to the creation of a special fire-starting kit — flint and fire striker. They were carefully stored and carried in a special leather pouch or metal tube, usually on a belt. This kit could also include pieces of a wick, which was prepared in advance, as well as ready-made kindling from birch bark, grass, or moss.
In addition, fire strikers were considered powerful amulets. On holidays, fire was supposed to be lit only with the ancestral fire striker. If a clan divided and some people moved to another place, the clan’s fire striker was broken apart. It was used to start a fire at a new place.
