Our Strikers are made out of 1/4" X 3/16" high carbon steel. We try every striker before leaving our shop to insure that they throw a good shower of sparks. To use your striker you will need a good flint to strike, some char cloth or charred punk wood to catch the spark, along with some tinder. With your striker in hand and your flint in the other, strike the steel against the flint in a slicing motion, you will see sparks flying, Once you have caught your spark in the cloth or punk wood it will begin to glow, blow gently and carefully to bring up the heat, the cloth will then burst into flames. Be careful to not burn yourself. With some practice you will be able to start your camp fires like they did in the 18th century. We will include a piece of flint when you purchase your striker. For the size of the striker you can usually get three fingers inside our strikers.