Striking flint with steel will create sparks, but the sparks don't do you much good without a material that is likely to catch on fire with just a spark. Magnesium is one such material.

Another material that I've used is called "char cloth." To make it, cut some old cloth into small pieces (2" squares work well). Put the pieces into a metal can with a lid (like a mint tin or similar) and put the can into a fire. After a while the cloth will heat up and become charred (hence the name).

Char cloth, when struck by a spark, will very easily start smoldering. It will continue smoldering for a relatively long time, which gives you a decent amount of time to get your tinder to catch on fire. If you package a smoldering piece of char cloth into some other tinder (like paper, birch bark, etc.), and blow into it, you can get that to start on fire. Quickly drop the flaming mess of tinder into a bigger pile of tinder and kindling, and you have fire!

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