Woo hoo! My first fire with a ferro rod.

[JC in SC]

Many of you seasoned veterans of the W&SS will think this is completely lame (especially without pictures), but I managed to start my very first fire via ferro rod. My wife wasn't impressed at all, so I had to come here to boast a little.

I was a little surprised by how difficult it was to accurately direct the spark. I didn't have any fatwood handy, so I tried to use some oak shavings and curls as tender. I also tried some of the dried oak pollen. I think given some more time (wifey was getting impatient) and more/better preparation, I could have gotten it going with exclusively natural tender (note to self, find some fatwood). I ultimately ended up cheating with a cotton square, which took the spark on the second or third try. I didn't add any kindling as I was just curious to see if I could get a flame going.

At a minimum, I think I learned a little bit more about what it takes to start a fire with a ferro rod. Similar to a previous post here mocking the "Gear Junky", it is obvious that the ferro rod is not a majic stick that will instantaneous light a solid piece of seasoned oak. Preparation and suitable tender are critical to success. The cotton worked really well, which is why I think it is incorporated into so many fire kits. Tomorrow I might experiment with some of the nonfatwood pine I have in the backyard and see if I can get a decent pile of pine shavings and curls to take a spark. I'm always eager to learn, so any thoughts or comments are welcomed.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Congratulations, now keep practicin', you wanna be able to do this in less then 5 minutes, on a wet, cold, windy day, with no dry tinder in your pocket and maybe even a busted finger.

My Old Man always had me practice stuff in the worst possible conditions, he'd tell me,"... if ya could barely start a fire under conditions like this, think of how easy it'll be when it's perfect out."

 

[Diomedes Industries]

Did you use that new knife? We NEED pics!

TF

 

[JC in SC]

Did you use that new knife? We NEED pics!

TF

Yes and I almost felt guilty, like I was soiling the spine by using it as a striker. Tonight was sort of a practice run (in poor lighting) in preparation for my review of the knife and your sheath. I don't know if you saw them or not, but I posted some comments on Andy's forum.

 

[Diomedes Industries]

Dude - don't feel bad. You should have SEEN what I did to your knife before I shipped it.


Um... I mean...


TF

 

[JC in SC]

Dude - don't feel bad. You should have SEEN what I did to your knife before I shipped it.


Um... I mean...


TF

Haha...I literally laughed out loud on that one.

 

[Sharp Eye]

Congrats on the ferro rod fire.
Each one gets easier from here.
It always feels great to master a new skill.

 

[storl]

I always used to think that I was messing up my blade using it on a firesteel until I realized that the soot and apparent damage on the blade was actually residue from the firesteel and/or tinder. The sooty deposits will wipe right off. Sometimes some molten globs get stuck on the blade, but they will scrape or wipe off as well. The hardened steel of a blade is MUCH harder than a firesteel, so no worries about damage.

 

[Hawkings]

Many of you seasoned veterans of the W&SS will think this is completely lame (especially without pictures), but I managed to start my very first fire via ferro rod. My wife wasn't impressed at all, so I had to come here to boast a little.

I was a little surprised by how difficult it was to accurately direct the spark. I didn't have any fatwood handy, so I tried to use some oak shavings and curls as tender. I also tried some of the dried oak pollen. I think given some more time (wifey was getting impatient) and more/better preparation, I could have gotten it going with exclusively natural tender (note to self, find some fatwood). I ultimately ended up cheating with a cotton square, which took the spark on the second or third try. I didn't add any kindling as I was just curious to see if I could get a flame going.

At a minimum, I think I learned a little bit more about what it takes to start a fire with a ferro rod. Similar to a previous post here mocking the "Gear Junky", it is obvious that the ferro rod is not a majic stick that will instantaneous light a solid piece of seasoned oak. Preparation and suitable tender are critical to success. The cotton worked really well, which is why I think it is incorporated into so many fire kits. Tomorrow I might experiment with some of the nonfatwood pine I have in the backyard and see if I can get a decent pile of pine shavings and curls to take a spark. I'm always eager to learn, so any thoughts or comments are welcomed.

We have all been there....dear lord, we have all been there.
Just goes to show you, there really is a support group for every thing, even first time ferro rod'ers

 

[sufu]

Congratulations.. i just had my first ferro rod fire last night...cattails and pine needles, next is bow drill my goal is being proficient with all natural material in wet conditions. i also felt a great sense of accomplishment

 

[you can call me al]

This thread just need a photo

 

[okbohn]

I remember my first firesteel fire....it was very exciting.

Now you just need to do flint and steel!

 

[JC in SC]

Congrats on the ferro rod fire.
Each one gets easier from here.
It always feels great to master a new skill.

I definitely wouldn't say master by any means. Doing this reminds me of the old saying that the more you learn, the more you realize just how much you don't know.

I always used to think that I was messing up my blade using it on a firesteel until I realized that the soot and apparent damage on the blade was actually residue from the firesteel and/or tinder. The sooty deposits will wipe right off. Sometimes some molten globs get stuck on the blade, but they will scrape or wipe off as well. The hardened steel of a blade is MUCH harder than a firesteel, so no worries about damage.

I know using the blade with a firesteel won't damage it, but it still made me feel a little guilty. Obviously not guilty enough to not do it though I should have pointed out that I got the ferro blank and a premium fire kit from goinggear.com. Obviously, I could have used some of the materials in the kit to get the fire going easier, but I'm saving those for a rainy day (literally and figuratively I guess).

 

[hushnel]

That’s very cool. I’ve actually never started a fire with a ferro rod, never even knew about them until I found this forum. I have three now, one I found at Bass Pro Shops, a Boy Scout model of the Swedish fire steel, then I ordered two 3/8” X 6” rods for a couple of kits.

I’ve read a few threads lately about trouble starting fires with them, I can hardly imagine that with the shower of long lasting sparks these things throw off. For years I’ve used my trusty Flint and Steel, I’ve always had a good supply of char cloth too.

Another thing I like to keep in my kit is a slow match, I’m not sure that’s the correct word for it but when I was growing up in Germany they had these lighters that consisted of nothing more than a sparker, like a lighter, a tube and a length of cotton. So I got some ¼” ID copper tubing and cut them in 1” lengths then took two strands consisting of the twisted yarns of cotton from the cheapest dollar store deck mops, 100% cotton very loosely wrapped, these will fit into the copper tube tightly. I pre light the tip of the cotton and pull it back into the tube to protect the punk. This “slow” match will take a single spark and start up. I’ll snap a picture and link it a bit later on when I start the fire for ribs this evening.

There are things I’ve learned here that I never knew. Even though I can start a fire with flint and steel and have practiced with my fire bow I’ve always believed that when it comes to fire starting techniques the more the merrier. The petroleum Jelly and cotton balls are a new one for me. At first I couldn’t figure out how you get the PJ into the cotton, it’s so thick and tacky it made a mess of the cotton getting all clumpy and harder to work with but this stuff fires up nicely. So I figured since it’s petroleum based I could dissolve the PJ in lighter fluid, naphtha, let the cotton absorb the mixture then sit it out until the lighter fluid evaporated away. Worked well to and the cotton is easier to manage. I’ll try some of that tonight as well.
I have plenty of pitch pine, lighter wood also known down here as cheater wood and enough sawdust to fill a plastic sandwich bag. Maybe I’ll stir some of this into the next batch of PJ soaked cotton balls

At the moment I'm cleaning up some beeswax to make a few starter sticks using some of this fat lighter

And of course the end results.

That was a little while ago, one the oak burns down I'll start the ribs

 

[Runsalone]

I like how using a firsteel teaches you about using proper tinder materials. This helps across the board of firelighting techniques I think. Maybe your tinder doesnt have to be as perfect as with a bow drill setup, but its seems close. Once you actually manage to get that ember with the friction methods youll have a much better idea what its gonna take to produce flame in the next step, as opposed to just lighting the whole thing on fire with a bic.

Congrats on your success! Its sort of a weird feeling of accomplishment every time aint it