Making Fire w/ Ferro Rod- Repeated Failure

W

waveone

Joined
Jan 12, 2014
Messages
244
All,

As much as I am out in the woods , I typically come prepared. That includes some means of water filtration, fire starting tools and combustable material. However in the event that my gear was lost and/or soaked I try other methods to hone my skills. One in which I repeatedly fail is with one of the simplest which is the ferro rod.

Producing plenty of spark is not the problem, whereas achieving combustion is. I've used everything from fairly dry, feather wood shavings to brown pine thistles and cannot seem to get achieve combustion after a couple dozen attempts. Yet IF use an accelerant like tin of fire , combustion is achieved in short order.

Any thoughts on this matter?
 
I get about a 2-3in diameter pile and build it into a little spark cave. My pile is usually VERY dry cedar bark that I rough up between my hands and then pull apart to make as airy as possible. Them make pile and build around the pile all my very thin shavings from DRY twigs.

GL! It can be hard.. but I've found, I can do it with my one brand, can't recall name, but the other brand ferro rod seems to not put out quite enough sparks.. I thought too I had enough sparks, then used the other brand and it wasn't like a storm of sparks, but a bit more and perhaps burnt just a fraction of a second longer.
 
With lighting from sparks the tinder has to be small enough, and have a low enough combustion temp to get flaming. Shavings can be tough, they need to be almost hair fine to get going. When you are trying different tinders you need to look at how easy they are to ignite, and how much heat they will produce. There are lots of tinders like thistle down and cat-tail fluff that burn easy and fast, but don't generate all that much heat. Some tinders, like wood shavings are really hard to light with a spark, but fairly easy with a small flame. And then there are tinders like tinder fungus or char-cloth that don't really flame up but generate a lot of heat. I've found that its more a case of prep, and having a couple of tinders working together to get a really good result. And like Sloth mentioned you need a fairly large tinder pile, 3 inch might even be a minimum starting point, bigger is better.
 
I think tinders have to be close to perfect, which is hard for something you pick up off the ground.
"Fairly dry" won't work. Put it in the sun for an hour & try that.

There is an art to the fire steel, that I am still learning, & the devil is in the tinder. Some fire steels are better than others, but the big difference is in tinders.
 
mtangent said:
I think tinders have to be close to perfect, which is hard for something you pick up off the ground.
"Fairly dry" won't work. Put it in the sun for an hour & try that.

There is an art to the fire steel, that I am still learning, & the devil is in the tinder. Some fire steels are better than others, but the big difference is in tinders.
Click to expand...


These are the common themes to your collective input thus far. now I feel like a greenhorn because it never occurred to me that the ferro rod could be the issue. The one I use throws plenty of sparks but it apparently is not throwing either hot enough or sparks that last long enough to light. The there is the tinder issue.

Perhaps we could discuss these things in a bit more detail so that I can practice my skills in each area. To give you all an idea , my intention is to be able to light a fire or at least a small flame in less than ideal conditions in a reasonably short period of time on a consistent basis. To me fire making is the king of all other bush- craft arts. Without it time afield can be quite miserable.
 
I always keep a fero rod and a stick of fatwood in my pocket.

It doesn’t do to cut the fatwood into feather sticks. That’s too coarse.

I scrape the edge of my knife against the stick, producing a pile of fine shavings. They will catch a spark and burn, even if the fatwood is wet.

Learn the trick with one natural tinder. Then experiment with others.
 
I carry a waterproof tube of cotton wool, usually impregnated with petroleum jelly or some wax.

Large diameter steels seem better than skinny steels. I think volume of scrapage makes a difference. A slow hard scrape seems to give less, but larger, sparks, & works better.
If I need a fire in less than ideal conditions, I just can't imagine finding tinder on the spot reliably. I can rarely do that in good conditions.
 
waveone said:
All,

As much as I am out in the woods , I typically come prepared. That includes some means of water filtration, fire starting tools and combustible material. However in the event that my gear was lost and/or soaked I try other methods to hone my skills. One in which I repeatedly fail is with one of the simplest which is the ferro rod.

Producing plenty of spark is not the problem, whereas achieving combustion is. I've used everything from fairly dry, feather wood shavings to brown pine thistles and cannot seem to get achieve combustion after a couple dozen attempts. Yet IF use an accelerant like tin of fire , combustion is achieved in short order.

Any thoughts on this matter?
Click to expand...

Try dry grass it's everywhere. I purposely made myself try to start fires with a rod in the crappiest conditions possible. With natural local materials after a three day rain etc. It wasn't easy but I got better to the point were I feel pretty confident in near any situation. I remember finding a torn up wasp nest in the bush after a rain. I made a dome of materials grass, thistles etc., all wet or damp. The thin damp paper wasp nest was in the heart of the pile. I racked the rod like a machine gun and dried the nest material to the point of combustion. I clued in that I was generating a surprising amount of heat with every stroke of the rod under this pile, I could feel the heat warming up my hands a tad. It probably took 10-15 minutes before I got that material lit. The point id that I kept trying with whatever was around me for materials, and often in crap weather. It helped me a lot. I had to think and improvise. You can put materials close to your body to partially dry it out etc. I am constantly on the learning curve and looking out for new methods or techniques. But doing what made sense through practice helped me the most. I still have challenges in extreme conditions, but I have improved to the point of a new level of self confidence. Don't feel bad about it bud, these are just challenges and learning opportunities.
 
upnorth said:
Try dry grass it's everywhere. I purposely made myself try to start fires with a rod in the crappiest conditions possible. With natural local materials after a three day rain etc. It wasn't easy but I got better to the point were I feel pretty confident in near any situation. I remember finding a torn up wasp nest in the bush after a rain. I made a dome of materials grass, thistles etc., all wet or damp. The thin damp paper wasp nest was in the heart of the pile. I racked the rod like a machine gun and dried the nest material to the point of combustion. I clued in that I was generating a surprising amount of heat with every stroke of the rod under this pile, I could feel the heat warming up my hands a tad. It probably took 10-15 minutes before I got that material lit. The point id that I kept trying with whatever was around me for materials, and often in crap weather. It helped me a lot. I had to think and improvise. You can put materials close to your body to partially dry it out etc. I am constantly on the learning curve and looking out for new methods or techniques. But doing what made sense through practice helped me the most. I still have challenges in extreme conditions, but I have improved to the point of a new level of self confidence. Don't feel bad about it bud, these are just challenges and learning opportunities.
Click to expand...

This is the objective and why I purposely started the thread. Making a fire in fair/good conditions is not a big deal. Making fire in bad to "crappy" conditions as you say is when it really counts which is the motivation to start this thread. My thought is with enough input the proper skillset can be worked out and eventually be perfected.
 
Dry, fluffed grass. Seedy grass heads. Maybe find some dead treesl strip the bark of for dried cabium, fluff it up, it can take a spark. If you cant get fatwood, just get a stick of pine, or resin coated bark. A piece of pine, even if not resin rich, the shavings or scrappings will still light well. Just dont breath in the smoke. Id personally go for a handful of tinder, if you can get it. Even lint from socks and clothing.
 
Last edited:
I think it would be nice if people post which Ferro rods work well and which brand doesnt. If that is allowed as it could help us all get the right gear! :)
 
Light my Fire rod and scraper are my favorite. The Coghlans is so-so. And the one I carry on my keychain, Exotac nanostriker is the least favorite.

And by favorite I mean, best at starting a fire with the least amount of thumb pain and time.

Again, VERY DRY STUFF. Tinder is like more than half air. And there needs to be, as mentioned somewhere above, a few different types of fuels to work in concert.

I have some good photos of me starting a couple fires with different tinder.. I'll see if I can find em and upload later to show how I do it.. which is just one of many ways..
 
sloth357 said:
Light my Fire rod and scraper are my favorite. The Coghlans is so-so. And the one I carry on my keychain, Exotac nanostriker is the least favorite.

And by favorite I mean, best at starting a fire with the least amount of thumb pain and time.

Again, VERY DRY STUFF. Tinder is like more than half air. And there needs to be, as mentioned somewhere above, a few different types of fuels to work in concert.

I have some good photos of me starting a couple fires with different tinder.. I'll see if I can find em and upload later to show how I do it.. which is just one of many ways..
Click to expand...

That would be great because a pictorial representation will provide good context for the method of building a tinder pile looks like.

As sir mike says posting which ferro rods work well and which ones do not is also helpful.
 
Fatwood scrapings off the back of my knife works the best for me, or the thinnest finest strips of birchbark. Vasaline cotton balls work great. They light with one spark, burn for a couple minutes. I carry them in a match safe.
 
Hold about use some elbow grease and get a big spark. I have used all sorta ferro rods and i have never failed. About a good set up, prepping, and MUSCLE
 
Going Gear makes some good misch metal rods.

I also like the firesteel.com gobspark armageddon steels. Seems like both of these throw big, hot sparks.
 
Raymond1000 said:
I always keep a fero rod and a stick of fatwood in my pocket.

It doesn’t do to cut the fatwood into feather sticks. That’s too coarse.

I scrape the edge of my knife against the stick, producing a pile of fine shavings. They will catch a spark and burn, even if the fatwood is wet.

Learn the trick with one natural tinder. Then experiment with others.
Click to expand...

This.

I even watched a couple folks scrape these fine shavings - scrapings, really - off some wood (batoned dried pine 4x4's) just this weekend, and get fires going. But it was a big pile - couple inches diameter. I tried for a good 1/2 hour and was unable to do it myself. Even when I added some fatwood shavings.

Previously, I was able to do it in just a couple strikes when using vaseline-soaked lint and steel wool.
Now I have some fatwood and been shown how to do it, I can practice a bit and see if I can master the technique.
 
Is that fatwood in your pocket or are you happy to see me? :eek:

Perhaps trying abrade some of the dust/material off the rod into your tinder bundle just to help get that initial spark really going? Seems to help on those extra wet mornings having that little pile of ferro dust to catch and really heat up the tinder below, kinda like those magnese bars work.
 
Keep trying different local resources. Where I live there are very few natural tinders available. Comes with living along a tropical coast. So in my case, I carry tinder to go with my ferro rod, char-cloth, and other bits and pieces. But it also means that I need to be on the lookout for natural materials that can be tried. I have very few opportunities to light fires, so I do my best to practice as much as I can. Even if its just using the ferro rod to light the bbq or alky burner. Just to keep the muscle memory going. It is one of the harder ways to make fire, and there aren't really any shortcuts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top