Fire making, fire lighting or fire craft is the process of artificially starting a fire. It requires completing the fire triangle, usually by heating tinder above its autoignition temperature.
Fire is an essential tool for human survival and the use of fire was important in early human cultural history since the Lower Paleolithic. Today, it is a key component of Scouting, woodcraft and bushcraft.
Tinder is easily combustible material used to start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder until it bursts into flame. The flaming tinder is used to ignite kindling, which in turn is used to ignite the bulk material, to produce a fire.
Tinder can be made of any flammable substance, as long as it is finely divided and has an open structure.
A fire striker or fire steel is a tool used in fire making, consisting of a piece of steel that can be struck against a flint, chert, or other hard rock in order to generate sparks.