Ferrocerium Fire Starter

Ferrocerium Fire Starter

This Ferrocerium Fire Starter is a perfect addition to your bugout bag and can be used as an emergency keychain.  The fire started features a hand-stained wood handle and a paracord lanyard with a clip to easily detach the steel portion for easier use.

Tips for Using a Ferrocerium Fire Starter:

Use dry tinder to help start your fire

Tinder is essential when starting a fire with a Ferro rod. You need fine, dry tinder that is ready to catch fire. You are not using matches or a lighter with direct flame. You can shower sparks on a pile of small sticks all day and they will never catch on fire for you. However, if you take a few tufts of dried flowers, strips of river birch bark, or tops of dry cattails, they will go right up from the Ferro sparks.

Striking the Ferrocerium Fire Starter

How you strike the Ferro rod is very important, too. Most of the time people hold the Ferro rod in place and drive the striker or knife down the rod towards the tinder. This will push air towards your sparks which can blow your fire out!

Keep your knife stationary and close to the fire. Then, draw the Ferro rod towards you while pressing it against the blade. This will shower sparks while pulling the rod away from your fire.

Learn Your Angle and Your Pressure

Showering sparks is all about the angle and the pressure that you apply on your Ferro rod. With practice, you will find the angle for your striker and the pressures that work best. I find the best pressure comes from holding a longer striker at one end, which could be an included striker or a knife, and then striking the rod at the far end of the striker.

The space between the two creates a kind of tension that I feel increases the efficacy of the strike. This really works well with thin strikers.

Make a Groove

It’s hard to get sparks to fly from a brand-new rod. The first few strikes will likely yield nothing. So, create a groove from striking down the rod in one spot and keep using that same spot every time you pick up the Ferro rod.

Save your Blade

Sometimes you see people using the knife edge to strike a Ferro rod. This works but it will mess your edge up quickly. Don’t sacrifice the sharp edge of your blade. Buy a survival knife with a 90-degree spine and use that. Or pack another kind of striker.

Pack Tinder

if you aren’t great at sourcing and processing wild tinder then you should pack some cotton balls or dryer lint. They both catch instantly and will make your life much easier. You will also get much more life out of your rod.