Ferro Rod vs. Matches

k_estela

k_estela

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Fire making is an essential skill for the outdoorsman or survivor. Often learned during childhood with backyard sessions involving matches, lighters and combustible liquids, fire making skills include using a variety of tools including matches, lighters, ferro rods and other modern luxuries. Even though most outdoorsman are most familiar with matches or lighters (due to availability), many prefer the trusty ferro rod. In choosing items for kits, considerations are made and could include the following.

Here is a post to examine some of the pros and cons of using each or one over the other.

Matches

Pros:
Easy to use (practice from childhood onto adulthood)
Widely available in drug stores, restaurants, bars, etc.
Lightweight (how much does a book of 20 paper matches weigh?)
Easy to make more water resistant with wax or spray varnish
One-hand use easy with wooden matches

Cons:
Limited water resistance
Deteriorate over time
Single use item (one match = one fire)
Requires a striker unless a "strike anywhere" match
Weak flame in wind
Space used up quickly by wooden matches
Difficult to use in cold conditions with cold hands

Ferrocium Rod

Pros:
High Water Resistance
Multiple fires from one rod
Durable
Highly packable (1/8" bars fit in wallets) and one 3/8" rod (about the size of 6 wooden matches) can light more fires
5000 degree plus sparks emitted
Highly visible sparks at night can be used to signal for help

Cons:
Weight concerns with larger bars
Requires a striker
Requires a degree of skill to use with various tinder
Tinder must be ideal and can be difficult to find if not trained
One hand use difficult if not trained
Difficult to use in cold conditions with cold hands


While this list of pros and cons is not complete, it is a starting point in learning what is an appropriate piece of kit when it comes to these two firestarting methods. There are countless other means of lighting firest but these two are very common. Both methods compliment eachother (try lighting a Backwoods cigar with a ferro rod and no tinder and try dunking paper matches in the drink and still being able to use them after prolonged exposure) and can be carried together.


What are your thoughts and concerns about both of these methods? Post them here and let the discussion carry on.
 
today i was out playing with a couple of knives and trying to teach my brother to make fuzz sticks...his sticks didn't go so well but i ended up with a big pile of nice dry maple fuzz sticks so i decided to move onto fire practice.

i broke out the big box of wood matches and my ferro rod. i found that the ferro rod was better today (a tad windy) because i was using it with a pinch of PJCB, so it burned longer and more controlled than a match.

the matches worked, but it took me a couple to get the fuzzies lit, which is unusual for me since most of the time i can do it with one...i guess its good to practice in less than ideal conditions eh?
 
Interesting post Kev. I don't carry matches on me as I always have multiple ferro rods(1 with my fixed blade, 1 on my key ring, and 1 with my fire kit. The kit also includes a DJeep lighter, magnesium firestarter, and PCB's. To me matches are good, but the ferro rods have more pros. For instance if you look at the cons you listed for the ferro rods, they only say "difficult with out training" not impossible.


That said I did become quite efficient with matches as I have been a smoker for the past 15 years; a nasty habit I plan on kicking this month.
 
Kev,
What about a peanut lighter?
Light weight. not very expensive. More water resistant than matches. Everyone can use one.
I keep one in my fire kit with my PJ cotton balls and ferro rod. County Comm has them for $5
 
Sharp Eye said:
Kev,
What about a peanut lighter?
Light weight. not very expensive. More water resistant than matches. Everyone can use one.
I keep one in my fire kit with my PJ cotton balls and ferro rod. County Comm has them for $5
Click to expand...

Cheap construction, only a little over half of mine worked as advertised when I bought them.

The ferro rods get my nod. I've had matches deteriorate in a couple/three years, and didn't work when I needed them. The ferro rods always work for me.
 
I always carry both, because some situations seem to call more for one than the other. Once I used up all the butane in a Brunton Helios lighter trying to ignite a solid fuel element in a tiny titanium stove. The flame had to be directed downwards, but when I did so the lighter (and my fingers) got way too hot.

So I tryed a firesteel for awhile with no success at all. Luckily, my hiking partner had some ordinary hardware store camping matches. I borrowed a few and got the fuel element ignited on the first try. All it took was leaning the match against the inner side of the stove with the business end against the fuel element. The fuel ignited in a few seconds.
 
I've had really good luck with my county comm peanut lighter, but I put ferro rods in all my kits due to reliablity, they work no matter what
 
I carry one or two ferro rods when going outdoors but I also carry a BIC ligther. If i have plenty of time I set up my wood pile, fuzz sticks, tinder and all the show... and get it going with my ferro rod, no matter how long it takes (I don't carry dry tinder on me). If I am in a hurry I just use the lighter.
Mikel
 
Practice with both, carry both. Carry a lighter too, it don't take up much room!
 
I edc matches and a lighter...when I'm in the woods I pack a few ferro rods as well....All have there place I think,,. and 3 fire starting methods are better than 1...
 
I feel like I'm fairly proficient with a firesteel and tinder selection but I'm not truly confident about my skills in rainy weather. If it looks like it might rain when I'm out I usually start gathering up some tinder and keeping it in a bag in my pack. What's nice about having a lighter or matches is that even damp tinder can be ignited with a little effort.
 
Good stuff, and I agree with your science and observations.

I am a firm believer in "options" when the kit and circumstances allow. In addition to REI matches and a small ferro rod in my own personal kit, I also carry a very small flint and steel kit that I use more often (yes, I can light your pipe or cee-gar with flint and steel). I keep my fire kit very small and light weight to ensure that it is always with me.

For many years, I flew (pilot) military and civilian SAR missions, and was always stunned and amazed at how many people did not survive their adventures into the outback simply because they lacked the basic skills of firemaking when lost and cold. Injury seldom precipitated their hypothermia. And, most always, even though they had all of the necessary firemaking tools with them, they lacked the skills to find and prepare proper tinder and feed any small fire they were able to accomplish in the beginning. So, being able to generate a spark or flame is one thing, turning it into an adequate heat source to maintain your core temperature is another. In my classes, from the git-go, I put more emphasis on identifying and preparing natural tinders than I do on the tool selection involved in generating the spark. Once they get the fuel thing figured out, the rest is easy.
 
I always have a lighter because I smoke, but I'm to the point where IMO, a ferro rod and vaseline cotton balls are the only way to go.
Scott
 
Last edited:
Dannyboy Leather said:
So, being able to generate a spark or flame is one thing, turning it into an adequate heat source to maintain your core temperature is another. In my classes, from the git-go, I put more emphasis on identifying and preparing natural tinders than I do on the tool selection involved in generating the spark. Once they get the fuel thing figured out, the rest is easy.
Click to expand...

Spot On! Fire is a three part equation; heat, fuel, and oxygen. Most focus on the heat, or ignition, part of fire and don't give the TWO-THIRDS the attention it needs.
 
when i first got a firesteel when i started getting back into the woods thing a couple of years ago, i thought i was doing pretty well because i could get a pile of wood shavings to light with some PJCB.

and then i tried to light an actual fire, going from the wood shavings to full sized wood. i learned i wasn't doing so hot. i find that the hardest jump is from the kindling to the logs...if the middle wood is too small, it will burn off fast and not light the logs, if the wood is too big, it won't light it and you get nowhere.

i like a really big pile of twigs and small sticks ontop of a pile of fuzz sticks, followed by progressively larger sticks or wood splits.
 
I carry a ferro rod, matches and a bic lighter just to be sure I can get a fire going while hiking the rockies in the winter. I have also used to great effect a redneck ferro rod when everything is soaked, everyone is cold and everyone is tired. What is a redneck ferro rod you ask? A hardware store road flare.
 
Nice thread.

Good to see so much interest in firemaking. I've always been something of a fanatic about it, but there is always more to learn and relearn. I'm new to the ferro rods for example and have only used mine a few times. I've not tried the PJCB thing yet but will give that a whirl. I've used the REI matches for a while and like those and a candle stub a lot. I've also used lighters a good deal and they are good, but I kind of like 'em more as back ups.

One rainy day last winter I had some fun making fire with only my starting stuff (rei matches and a new ferro rod) and all natural tinder and kindling available near my camp in the National Forest of East Texas. There were plenty of standing dead sapling trees to get drier wood from splitting. Finding bigger wood that wasn't too rotten to be of use was a bigger problem in the area I was in. I guess the biggest point I got out of it was how deliberate I had to be with each step. Without the aid of a few parrafin sawdust sticks like I often use, it all just needed careful attention, but was doable even in the steady rain. In a real survival situation I'd have wanted some kind of shelter over the work to help keep things dry. Being under some evergreens helped only so much. It also makes a difference having help gathering the wood. In the only critical fire situations I've been in, we had at least one guy to build and tend the fire while another went for wood.

I've only really really needed a fire a few times on river trips where somebody got wet from either
falling in or bad raingear. When you need it you need it and you want to be able to get it with speed and confidence.
 
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