yet another firestarter question

K

Kaylee

Joined
May 12, 2001
Messages
54
Howdy!

First -- a brief introduction, since I just arrived. Appalachian woodsrunnin' chick presently in Southwestern Idaho (Kuna). I found a link here from http://www.thefiringline.com and have been thoroughly enjoying the collective experience here -- thanks to you all for so openly sharing your knowledge!

Second -- a quick question. I've read through quite a few of your ferrocerium rod discussions, and pretty much fell in love with the idea. One question though.. are these rods solid "strikable" material, or a steel rod covered in some kind of material that wears off with use? I still have an old Boy Scout "flint" I was given as a kid, but when I finally dug it out again I realized most of the striking material was scraped off long ago. Bummer.. this happen with these things y'all are talking about?

Anyhow, thanks again all! Hope the rest of your weekend goes well. Now.. off to tend that blasted sunburn...


-K
 
Hi Kaylee... As far as I know they are solid ferrocium compound all the way through. At least this is true of the little one's sold by Ron & Karen Hood. I broke one in half one time just to see how much force it took to do that. The material looked the same all the way through the cross section.

Welcome to the forum.
 
Yep, the new rods are good all the way through. I saw one just a few days ago that the guy had worn over half way through from so much use. It was still sparking away!
smile.gif


A good reliable firestarter that is easily obtained is the magnesium firestarter that you can get locally. Any KMart or WalMart has them in the camping section for about $5-$6. I like them for cost and ease of use. Plus if you need tinder the magnesium is great! Just remember to use a decent pile of magnesium. Quarter size is about minimum.

Hope some of this helps! Feel free to stop by the Cabin as well!

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Plainsman
primitiveguy@hotmail.com
<A HREF="http://www.plainsmanscabin.com" TARGET=_blank>
Plainsman's Cabin</A>
 
Welcome to the forums. A lot of info here, as well as a lot of good people.
The rods are solid, and will not scrape off. For the best deal, there is a wise ol' cat on here who sells a rod about the diameter of those first grade pencils you may have used as a kid. $10 shipped from the Netherlands. His handle is Bagheera.
One of these, coated in some clear nail polish, and you are set.
Take care, and good reading.



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The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.
Take the Test...
 
Hi Kaylee,

Here's the "old clever cat" speaking, thank's Mike for these kind words
smile.gif
, there are a lot of Ferrocium rods on the Market but still I think that the Large Military Firesteels from the Swedisch Light-My-Fire company are among the best.
Price/quality/size wise they are tops.

Our Scouting group has bought an large batch of them and after supplying our own kids we still have extra's left so if you want one o two or... just drop me an email.

Go see: http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum13/HTML/001971.html

for details (follow thread that's in there)

These babies are Solid Ferrocium (mixture of many different rare metals) and are approx. 3" long and 3/8" in diameter. They have a solid ergonomic thumb piece that has a lanyard and metal scraper/striker plate attached to it.

Best scouting wishes from this sick oll cat,

Bagheera

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(Again sounding like the AA meeting greeter...) Hi KayLee! I have to agree with the other lads here, Bagheera's Swedish FireSteels are tops. BTW, so is Bagheera. However, if you need a smaller version of a good ferro rod for a survival kit, visit your local Boy Scout supplier. They have a very small ferro rod called the Hot Spark that works great, for around $2.00. Whichever you choose, a light coat of clear nail polish will help prevent corrosion that can occur. Additionally, practice with the tool sure comes in handy so you know how to use it before an emergency. Proper tinder preparation can be critical.

Welcome aboard and Good Luck!

Mike

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It's not the pace of life that concerns me, It's the sudden stop at the end.
 
I would not go in the woods without one of Bagheera's firesteels. They are Great and a great guy to deal with too. But I would also recommend getting a smaller one as well. This is the one you will always have with you. I keep mine in a coin section of my billfold, along with a piece of hacksaw blade. I'm not sure what size Ron's small ones are. The one Plainsman was talking about will work well for concealment if you remove it from the magnesium block. Also, Greg Davenport sells small ones as well. Ferrocium rods in general will throw a great spark. Used in conjunction with vaseline-soaked pure cotton balls, you can get a fire going in almost any situation. Good luck and welcome to the Wilderness and Survival Forum!
smile.gif


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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
Hey Kaylee...

I'll also chime in with a vote for Bagarra...

Good price and top notch service..

I've got 6 of his steels and by far are the ones to get..
You could easily spend $20-30 for others on the net..
knock the plastic handle off,, expoxy on an antler tine and you'll be all set...

ttyle

Eric...

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On/Scene Tactical
Leading The Way In Quality Synthetic Sheathing
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for all the good words I really appreciate them, I value them even more because I know you guys know what you're talking about and probably have loads more of opportunities to use them as I (we) have in our tiny overcrowded country.

Life is getting very hard for us Scouting groups, to enjoy the outdoors.

Just this week the government, due to some dissasters in the past year in our country (Fireworkfactory exploded 1 year ago in center of town, 22 death and just with New Year a fire in a bar, more then 10 death and over 100 seriously burned) talked about tightening the rules about making open fires.

It's forbidden now to even make an open fire in ones own backyard and our scouting club needs a license from townhall to even light a campfire and that ONLY on our own terrain near our new scouting building. We even have to call the firebrigade first asking if we get permission to built a fire each time we want to.
They are also talking about obliging scouting clubs to have a Sprinkler installation in their club house, this is not something that's affordable for a scouting group.

Enough about this, just enjoy the liberties you guys and girls have and enjoy the outdoors, I did when I visited your beautifull country.

Normark, I hope that all went well with your sons operation.

My fever is raising again, it's evening over here so that's normal I guess.

Best Scouting wishes from Holland,

Bagheera

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Bagheera, you're post reminds me how often we take so many things for granted. I hope you and your scouts are able to enjoy many campfires down the trail.


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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
Matthew,

Now that you've brought the subject up: How much force did it take to snap your ferrocium rod? (Be sure to note the diameter of the rod.)

Thanks.
 
wellcome to the forum, lots of good info here.

i have a doan tool, that is what some people call the rod/magnesium block combo, took my two daughters and a couple of hunting budies out and tried all the different fire starting techniques, vaseline soaked cotton balls ( make sure they arent fire resistant, some are, try them first) steel wool, alll worked well, the kids and my friends had a great time.

bought the doan tool at wallmart 5.00, i have several of bagheras fire steels on the way, cant wait to try them and am going to give them to my hunting buddies as pre season gifts, they are the best way to start a fire in the wet, i even tried soaking the vaseline soaked cotton balls in water, just fluff them and they light right up, burn for 6-10 minutes, plenty fo flame to start a fire, also try the steel wool, size 0000, this works well.

alex
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by alco141:
...vaseline soaked cotton balls... </font>
Click to expand...


Hallo, my first post here
smile.gif
and maybe stupid question: What kind of vaseline are you guys talking about? In our language we have several chemicals (or materials) that can be called "vaseline". Could you be more specific? Thanks.

David


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DIVERTI NESCIO

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My Photopoint pictures

Mikov Knives
 
Hi David,

Vaseline is also called "pretroleum jelly" if I'm correct and in Europe we call it Vaseline and you can get it in a bycicle shop were it is sold as "acid free" vaseline that can be used to protect the chrome/aluminium on your bycicle.

You can also buy it at a "pharmacy" or shop that sells shampo/cosmetics/first aid stuff and again it's acid free vaseline that you should get. You can use it to coat your skin or protect your lips from splitting in cold dry weather etc.
Sometimes it's also use as lubrication when having s..
wink.gif
but that's not advisable as it's a petroleum derivate that doesn't break down to good and also it attacks latex
wink.gif


Best Scouting wishes from Holland,

Bagheera

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Thanks to everyone for your advice!

Well.. I wrote Piet for a couple of those steels(thank you sir!), and made some of them pyro-balls. *grin* Now I just need to get out before fire season starts.

Hrmm.. second question.. how do ya get that vaseline *off* your hands when you're done, so you're not walkin' around lookin' like a napalm case waitin' to happen? Stubborn stuff.

-K
 
What kind of vaseline are you guys talking about?

we use pharmaceutical grade petroleum jelly, this compound is contained in many of the antibiotic preparations on the market for the treatment of cuts and scrapes. it is the greasy stuff. there was a thread about this on this site.
i would suggest you ask your pharmacist, he will tell you , very inexpensive, works like a charm, and even makes your tinder water resistant.

some of the cotton balls in the united states are not flamable, so you may need to check on that befor you head out into the woods also, buy the pure cotton balls, they seem to work well for me.

hope this helps'
alex
 
Originally posted by Bagheera:
Hi guys,

It's forbidden now to even make an open fire in ones own backyard and our scouting club needs a license from townhall to even light a campfire and that ONLY on our own terrain near our new scouting building. We even have to call the firebrigade first asking if we get permission to built a fire each time we want to.
They are also talking about obliging scouting clubs to have a Sprinkler installation in their club house, this is not something that's affordable for a scouting group.

Enough about this, just enjoy the liberties you guys and girls have and enjoy the outdoors, I did when I visited your beautifull country.

sorry to hear about this , i hope you are on good terms with the fire chief and he is sympathetic to your group, if not i guess you have some tough times ahead.

alex
Click to expand...
 
Hay Kaylee! Be careful there in Kuna cause if you go too far South you'll fall into the Snake! I have relatives in Kuna but then I only live a few miles away from you on the North side of Lake Lowell!

This year in Idaho is going to be a dry one. There should be plenty of tinder around for fires, but don't let you fire get out of control. We've had firefighters lose their lives recently putting out fires others have allowed to get away from them.

Again, welcome Kaylee and I'll see you in Intermountain Sports some day!

Bruce Woodbury
Caldwell (actually Canyon County out by Lake Lowell)
 
Hi, Kaylee,

Welcome to the forums!

As you can see, we have the coolest and most knowledgeable wilderness forum members around!

My co-moderator Ron Hood lives in your area in Idaho. I'll be heading out there from May 31-June 17 myself. Looking forward to seeing some of the beautiful country when I'm there.

Best,

Brian.

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Brian Jones
Co-moderator
Wilderness & Survival Skills Forum
 
Evolute, you asked...

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">
Now that you've brought the subject up: How much force did it take to snap your ferrocium rod? (Be sure to note the diameter of the rod.)

</font>
Click to expand...

These are the rods I got from Doc. Ron. They are only about 2" long and as thick as a very thick pencil lead, maybe 2-3mm? I'll have to measure. I want to note that I've never broken one actually using it to make sparks no matter how hard I press on it, but to snap one in half takes about as much force as breaking 2 pencils (the whole pencil, not just the lead).
 
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