Not nearly stout enough to be a reliable survival or even general purpose knife, this lightweight pocket survival kit still has enough useful features to make sense as emergency equipment for day hikers and car campers. Anyone going farther than your local state park ought to think things through a little better.
The build of the SL3 Light My Fire won’t stand up to much hard use. The handle has too much plastic and the stainless steel 3″ combo blade has a reputation for not holding much of an edge. As a knife, this falls short.
On the other hand, it has the well known Swedish Firesteel firestarter built into the handle, as well as a whistle. No magnesium tinder block to carve shavings from, but if you have good firemaking skills you can do well enough with gathered tinder. I wouldn’t risk the edge of my good knives either for shaving magnesium or for scraping sparks from a firesteel, but the SL3 isn’t that good a knife. The blade has a special notch for making sparks, but wrecking the edge wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all.
Thought of in that way, as a modern version of the old flint and steel, it makes better sense than as a survival knife. At this weight (only 2.7″) it’s light enough to take along. If you were just out for the day and found yourself off the trail (never say lost) and staying the night, you’d be glad to have it. Bring something else for the heavy work.
Find this Light My Fire Firesteel Knife:
