Making Fire w/ Ferro Rod- Repeated Failure

B34NS said:
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.
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Yes I am happy to see you. Yes it is a fat….something.
 
I shave down the fero rod into a small quarter size pile in the tinder. Then throw sparks into it. Fero rods are inexpensive enough that I don't mind sacrificing a few to obtain the knowledge and skill. If the situation is bad enough it is worth sacrificing your one fire making method to make a fire. Then make sure the fire NEVER goes out. Consider it an extended version of a single match. Scrap that thing silly and then throw a spark I to the pile.
 
Get a Quart-Size Zip-Lock Freezer Bag (because it is thicker and more durable than a sandwich or snack bag).

Go to your clothes dryer and clean out the lint trap. Keep the Zip-Lock bag next to the dryer so that each time you empty the lint trap you put all the lint into the bag.

Within a few weeks you will have a full bag of very, very dry and highly flammable material. Toss it into your camping gear and repeat as necessary.

When you make a tinder pile put the lint in the center and on the base. It will ignite much easier than anything else you find or bring with you, short of using a chemical accelerant.
 
Raymond1000 said:
Yes I am happy to see you. Yes it is a fat….something.
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:D

I'll second the fatwood suggestion too, I grew up with that as the preferred rainy day method. A little pile of fatwood dust goes a long way. The ferro dust can help in a pinch too. Now I'm lazy with a cotton ball or feather stick. Other items that can work well, depending on where you live, birch bark, dried cat tails, inner nettle core.

The layering of your tinder bundle can affect how the spark initially catches and how it provides both fuel and oxygen. Might be playing a role? Too tight, or too loose, it's gotta be juuust right. What kind of materials are you using?

As for ferro rods, I haven't met one I couldn't make work. I've had all sorts of types and they all seem to work well enough once you get the hang of it. I'm sure there's some crap ones out there, but I've been fortunate enough to not encounter them.
 
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 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?
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Ok. Using this method you should be able to achieve flames in one strike of your firesteel.

Back yard bushcraft: Dandelion fluff plus dried grass one strike firesteel fire. Much like Cattail fluff Dandelion fluff is a flash over tinder. This means it will easily catch a spark or flame however won't hold it for long. There needs to be something else to catch that flash fire. On the walkway a dandelion with seed fluff.



Fluffy goodness.



Some dried grass on the edge of the retaining wall. That should be fine to catch the flash fire. On a side note sometimes dry grass works poorly as a tinder bundle.



The Dandelion fluff plus dried grass tinder bundle. I positioned it so the flash over flames would go up catching the top of the tinder bundle.



One strike of the firesteel was enough to ignite the flash over tinder which then set the dried grass in flames.

[/QUOTE]

There is a cedar tree in the front yard. Collected the outer bark then fluffed it up. Took three strikes.



Getting flames with a firesteel IMHO no more difficult than with a lighter IF your prep is done right. Cattail fluff is ready right now! Mix it with Birch bark, wood shavings, dry grass etc etc etc. One strike win! Fluffed up cedar bark, dry hanging beech leaves, fine wood shavings and Yellow/White birch bark also work great on their own.
 
Woods Walker said:
Getting flames with a firesteel IMHO no more difficult than with a lighter IF your prep is done right. Cattail fluff is ready right now! Mix it with Birch bark, wood shavings, dry grass etc etc etc. One strike win! Fluffed up cedar bark, dry hanging beech leaves, fine wood shavings and Yellow/White birch bark also work great on their own.
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I agree, it just takes a little practice and some good tinder. I haven't noticed much difference in brands, with the exception being the coghlan striker was not so sharp. I recommend learning to use natural tinders in your area. Where I live inner bark of redwood works really good. It also helps to pull back on the fire steel while holding the striker in place so as not to disrupt your tinder pile. You want to have it right up against the tinder bundle. I also slant my tinder bundle upward so it is easy for flames to catch if you get one. If you need to you can do it very quickly again and again. Once you get the tinder bundle method it is fun to try with a feather stick. It actually is not very difficult and fun to practice.

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Cat tail fluff works good taking a spark. When you get your dried grass (not damp or almost dry, it must be dry) roll in around, crush it, pull it apart. You have to break up the fibers to aerate it create surface area. You want it fluffed up and not compact, and it will take a spark much easier.
 
Pitchwood for me...!
Of course its very abundant here in the Pacific Northwest.

Some fiddling about with fire may be found here, here and here.
As with any skill it is a matter of practice!

Best of luck!!
8
 
Firesteel.com firesteel, and petroleum cotton balls. Combine this with just a pinch of fatwood shavings, and you're set. I have never failed to light this combo, even in some pretty severe wind/rain scenarios. Now, the rest of the tinder, well that sometimes becomes an issue if things are really wet.
 
I usually go out at least twice a year in less than perfect weather. Just to practice this.


On this trip I was testing out a Sog Force. It had been raining lightly overnight and changed over to snow in the morning.


I place a rock on the ground to insulate the fire from moisture. Sweedish Army Steel



I scrounge around for dry pine needles. Leaves that may be blown into holes at the bottoms of trees and out of the weather. Birch bark cut up small and rubbed even smaller,



I'll cut some curls for secondary fuel, mostly from small dead branches hanging in other trees.



Took a few tries, but it caught,



And grew,



Add sticks, and be happy!



I agree with much above, cattails, thistles, and others. And rubbing everything seems to break down the fibres and help with combustion.

For non natural, I use common houshold twine. A 12" piece will start many fires and weighs nothing. Cut about an inch off the end. Seperate the three strands. Then pull each strand apart. And roll it in your hands. Then roll all three together, pull 'em apart, and do it again. This will usually light on the first strike.
 
Demon613 said:
Get a Quart-Size Zip-Lock Freezer Bag (because it is thicker and more durable than a sandwich or snack bag).

Go to your clothes dryer and clean out the lint trap. Keep the Zip-Lock bag next to the dryer so that each time you empty the lint trap you put all the lint into the bag.

Within a few weeks you will have a full bag of very, very dry and highly flammable material. Toss it into your camping gear and repeat as necessary.

When you make a tinder pile put the lint in the center and on the base. It will ignite much easier than anything else you find or bring with you, short of using a chemical accelerant.
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You’re better off cleaning your lint trap first. Then dry a batch of cotton cloth. Collect that from the lint trap and store it.

Nobody pushes Vaseline/rayon tinder balls.
 
I jinxed myself,

I was out yesterday. Doing my rainy/snowy fire building ritual. Well, it just didn't go that well.

It was snowing lightly, and had been raining. I scavenged dry leaves, dry ferns, birch bark, and I had tinder fungus, and twine. Took me close to an hour to get a fire going. I could hardly even get the twine to take a spark.

I finally got it going, then it went out in the mid phase. Got it lit back up fairly quickly. And it went from there. Pretty ugly scene. Even once I got it going, it was never a blaze. I fed it dry hanging branches. It got bigger, but never anything to write home about.

I have been on a pretty good hot streak for the last few years. But sometimes fire just seems to elude you.
I always think about Jack London's "To Build a Fire" when I have one go like this. I wasn't in a life or death situation. But you never know if or when you will be.

I have fire cubes, and fire paste in my packs. But I like to make sure I can get one going with whats on the ground. I don't want my dog wandering off into town without me.
 
Paper thin curls, hat full. Most curls people start doing look like lasagne noodles. You want fine curly cues and a lot of them. Practice practice practice
 
I have to second the idea of scrapings from a stick of fatwood. I have a small pill bottle that I have stuffed with 0000 steel wool. If I'm in a damp environment I'll take a large pinch of the steel wool and fluff it out, gently press it into my tender nest (the driest I can find) and use it to cath the spark and hopefully ignite the tender. Usually works well.

One other idea for damp environments is to find a wrist size dead branch that's not on the ground, baton it into quarters and use the back of your knife to scrape the inside corners to get very fine, usually dry, shavings.
 
Cody Hofsommer said:
What does this mean?
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It means don’t dry synthetic cloth and harvest that lint. Empty that lint and discard it.

Dry a load of cotton clothing. Harvest that lint. It works better.

The standard recommendation for tinder is Vaseline applied to cotton balls. Not synthetics materials. Cotton balls.
 
panzertroop said:
Paper thin curls, hat full. Most curls people start doing look like lasagne noodles. You want fine curly cues and a lot of them. Practice practice practice
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Couldn't articulate this advice any better. Newspaper is produced from wood pulp- creating a hat full of paper thin curls is basically the same thing. Thinner is more better!!!
 
Here are some key tips to ponder when working with a firesteel. First we need three elements to make and sustain fire (heat base, air, fuel). Much has been covered on fuel vis 'a vis it needs to be seasoned, dry and processed correctly or better matched specifically to the heat source/base. In this case the heat base/source is the firesteel. Folks get all wrapped up about how hot they get and whose steel is hotter. Who steel throws larger sparks blah, blah, blah. That's all fine and dandy...but the key issue is the length of time of the heat base/source relative to the fuel and air mixture the woods-person has created (aka their skill/knowledge and not the technology). Having something hot or super hot is great...but if it only lasts for a second or less it may not be sufficient for the size and shape of the fuel and the amount of air/O2 available to the heat.

If people do not process the fuel to take into consideration the specific heat source duration then it is all for not. Since the heat source is so short in time and exposure to the fuel/O2; one needs to process wood with a super high molecular exposure (lots of wood exposed-accessible to the heat source) AND sized accordingly for the source. A rule of thumb...the shorter the heat source duration, then the thinner and smaller the fuel! Sizing means not only length, width, shape, but thickness. Wood needs to be super thin, dry, and curly. This creates more molecular exposure PLUS it creates more area for O2. The curly wood encircles the shorten, but albeit, super hot heat source giving it the fuel and O2 360 degree exposure - rather than one dimension such as just laying it down flat. Fatwood is so dense it needs to be reduced into fine dust or duff (scraped) but that is for a different tome.

Also people do not consider the O2 factor which is critical. If you take your curls or feather sticks or what have you and it is compressed or settled down from the weight (which is why I shy away from multiple feather sticks) then it starves the process of much needed O2. Take your hat full of curly cues...fluff them up a bit so there is obviously openings for O2 to flow through/around. If you reduce the fuel down to a size that can instantly respond to the shorten time duration of the firesteel and it has plenty of wood exposed for sparks to penetrate into and the fuel is fluffed up enough for a good air flow you have the magic combination for 1 strike to 3 strike lights.

Don't give up or get frustrated...think about the process! Is my fuel sized accordingly for the heat source I'm using? Yes/No. Is the fuel arranged in a manner that the heat won't starve for O2 and there is plenty of space for air to flow once the spark initially takes off? Yes/No. Am I getting the sparks close enough to the fuel in order for them to burn the maximum amount of time? Yes/No (I see people holding their steel a long way away from the fuel and the spark is burnt out or nearly burnt out by the time it reaches the fuel.) Anyway, it is all theoretical science - now think about what you're doing and make it applied science! Enjoy the process of learning. Keep the faith.
 
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Just say surface area! :)

And I prefer to rely on natural ingredients found at site.

Cotton ball and vaseline? Might as well have a lighter. I thought the purpose is to build a fire from rod and natural local materials. I suppose it wasn't specified.. But if you are using a rod and cotton ball.. You probably are carrying real backups, such as a lighter. Or two. And matches, possibly two different kinds.

I guess what I'm getting at is, how is a cotton ball with vaseline helping you learn to start a fire from "scratch?"

Just some thoughts on this... all the prep talk got me thinking... WHY.

It's late for me.. hah
 
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