Flint and steel sparks are nowhere near as hot as those coming off a ferro rod. There are only a few materials that will light with flint and steel without being charred. I don't know if drier lint is one of them (I don't think so), but in general, if you want your sparks to land; they have to drop onto something that has already been charred.
Has anybody used obsidian instead of flint? Where I live there is lots of obsidian, which is basically volcanic glass. A lot of it is weathered and rounded off, but some of it is broken, making a sharp edge. I also plan to modify the file on my old Leatherman to use the edge as a striker...
A buddy of mine made a nice little bushcraft knife out of a 1095 carbon steel blank. Not sure what process he put it through as far as tempering and heat treating but I can't get it to throw sparks. I've tried English Flint, Chert and Quartz. Not a single spark from any of them. My WCF striker...
Carbon Steel Knife as a steel for a flint and steel? - Bushcraft USA Forums
On the other hand, flint is usually found with sharp edges and also breaks to form more sharp edges. Consistent composition - Whereas flint is just flint, agates often contain weak quartz centers, holes, or varying degrees of jasper-like shades (like the first agate I tried). These impurities interfere with things like striking that require ...
After a 10 year hiatus, I decided to get back into black powder shooting again. I have a Thompson Center Arms .50 cal. flint lock kit gun I built over 2 decades ago and a TVM .54 cal. Late Lancaster flint lock. Currently I am working on developing a hunting load for the T/C rifle. Yesterday, I...