Ferro rods

B

Big philly 1

Joined
Oct 28, 2005
Messages
327
I was wondering how many of u use a ferro rod instead of lighters or matches? Which ones are good, which to. Stay away. From. I see amazon has .5 inches x 5 inches fer $30 buck. I have a few light my fires and some no names, but was looking for somthing different.
 
Since I can't buy strike anywhere matches here, and a firesteel works a treat for bbqs and all that, I would say I do. The only thing that lighters get used for at my house is candles when needed. My best advice with firesteels, and a thing that I think is the consensus, there are only a few manufacturers, so most are the same as the light-my-fire, some are a bit less sparky, some are duds, and some are special. One would be the "gob-spark" from firesteels.com, but they generally are listed as needing a different method (like a knife blade, instead of just a sharp corner) or some such. In general, if you have a few already, you won't gain much but different size from a place like amazon. I've had good luck with the random ones I've bought as blanks of the bay, but I always test them before they get taken into the field.
 
The misch metal ones are flamethrowers. From County.comm If I remember right.
 
i almost always use a ferro rod since it's fun to use but i always carry a lighter as backup.

firesteel.com and goinggear.com firesteels are my favorite...buy the striker too and attach it to the firesteel with an orange cord or something.
 
Thanks fer the replays.. I have been looking at firesteel.com I'm looking at there .500 inch one.... My 3 I have are all like .125 inch. And are wearing down because I use them and it takes more than one strike. Most of the time. I'm just gonna go big this time. I prefer FS over lighters and matches. Just have good luck with them. Again thanks fer the replys
 
Never instead of lighters or matches. They make a great backup, but degrade with moisture and age. Can't beat a bic.
 
any storage conditions that would degrade a ferro rod will also kill a bic, the advantage with the ferro is that you can visually check how much life is left. I agree that more methods are always better, but I think that when it comes to which will last longer, I think the rod will.
 
if you store the FS for a long time and it might be moist.. you can always use some nail polish to cover it.
 
Me personally have great success withe rods. I've have 3 that are 5 yrs old and still work great.... I know a bic is probably better but I like a little challenge. I don't plan to ever get lost, but if found lost I like somthing familiar. Thanks for the replies.
 
B34NS said:
Never instead of lighters or matches. They make a great backup, but degrade with moisture and age. Can't beat a bic.
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Generally only in a few specific conditions which rarely ever happen. Yea there are a few stories online but in actual use I find them more reliable than matches or a lighter to work. Then again a lighter is really just a firesteel with striker and tinder. Isn't that a hoot! I have firesteels that are in use for over a decade. Still it's smart to carry multiples was to start a fire.
 
I'm living right on the coast, so humidity is a constant companion. mold is a common thing on clothes, furniture, and the walls. I've had corrosion happen on pretty much all of my firesteels, some are more resistant than others. But even with pitting and powdering, a couple strikes and they are throwing sparks again. I wouldn't leave a firesteel in a kit for a year without checking it, but then I don't leave anything for a year without messing around with it and making sure its still good. Plus its visual, I can see how much steel is left, where as with a lighter, I have no idea how much of the flint may have corroded away. I'm more likely to have had enough moisture infiltrate a long K&M case full of storm matches and ruin them than find out my firesteel corroded away while I wasn't looking.
 
I'm not very knowledgeable on firesteels in general. I have a couple cheapies that I purchased in Walmart. But I never use them. Almost always have a Bic lighter and matches with me. The lighter is my dominant backup. So, with this in mind..... how do you choose a firesteel if you don't know much about them? Go to Walmart and buy the cheapist thing you can find or choose a "name brand"? What attributes are you looking for? Are they all the same?
 
22-rimfire said:
I'm not very knowledgeable on firesteels in general. I have a couple cheapies that I purchased in Walmart. But I never use them. Almost always have a Bic lighter and matches with me. The lighter is my dominant backup. So, with this in mind..... how do you choose a firesteel if you don't know much about them? Go to Walmart and buy the cheapist thing you can find or choose a "name brand"? What attributes are you looking for? Are they all the same?
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All I have tried worked but a few are better than others IMHO. Coghlan's are often available in Dicks or maybe Walmart and they work. My preference is LMF but as stated most anything will work. The real key is practice.
 
The risk with the non-name brand or super cheap ones is that there are some out there that don't give much spark. But that being said, the main thing is practice. There is pretty much no way to tell which composition they are using in an individual rod, or the process they used, which has an effect on the spark size and temp. Buy them and try them. Thats about all you can do, so start with the cheap ones.
 
Woods Walker said:
Generally only in a few specific conditions which rarely ever happen. Yea there are a few stories online but in actual use I find them more reliable than matches or a lighter to work. Then again a lighter is really just a firesteel with striker and tinder. Isn't that a hoot! I have firesteels that are in use for over a decade. Still it's smart to carry multiples was to start a fire.
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Totally agree, I've only had one that fell out of a bag in the back of the truck, exposed, the wet bay area air had eaten some holes in it after a few months. I carry a few I've had for a few years as well. Great when taken care of, and agreed, fun to breakfree from the zippo or the bic everyonce and a while.
 
Does anybody know what size of rod would fit in this sheath? It's a BRKT Bravo 1.5 sheath. Is there a brand that you other Bravo owners know and use with this sheath? Thanks.

 
When I bought my Firesteel GobSpark Amageddon, I knew NOTHING about them.. But thru practice here at home and using them in the wild I find they are great.. It aint hard!! John
 
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