Outdoor Equipment

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Ferrocerium Rod

Imagine being able to carry a piece of kit capable of lighting over 25,000 fires and not needing a Land Rover to move it!  Pretty cool, eh?  Well, that's what a ferrocerium rod (from now on called a ferro rod) is.  This small, simple, waterproof, no expiry date piece of kit is probably the single, most well thought out and practical piece of outdoor survival kit you could possibly have.

Before we go any further, time for a quick chemistry lesson.  A ferro rod is not a natural material and isn't flint (although you will often see a ferro rod called a firesteel, metal match or flint and steel - even though this is a completely different thing!).  A ferro rod is a complex blend of 20 different metals fashioned together into a rod.  Ferro rods are a complex blend - they consist of 20% iron - this is where the ferro part of the word ferrocerium comes from - (Fe), with trace amounts of other elements such as zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), cerium - this is where the cerium part of the word ferrocerium comes from - (Ce), lanthanum (La), neodymium (Nd) along with minute traces amounts of other rare earth elements

When the rod is scraped with a steel edge, particles are scraped off and ignited by the friction giving a shower of hot sparks.  These burning particles can, in turn, ignite your tinder.

There are many different types of ferro rod out there but the one I'm talking about here is the chunky, 6.5 cm long "Swedish Military" model - the one embedded into a plastic handle (there is a smaller version known as the "Scout" model).  These ferro rods also come with a handy steel striker, although you can use other steel strikers, such as the spine of a knife (never the cutting edge of a blade, no, no, arghhhhh!) or any other bit of steel you might have.  Failing having any steel, try any other metal you might have, such as coins.

Some find that the hard part to using a ferro rod is not generating the sparks, but getting them to land on the tinder and not go all over the place (watch out when using a ferro rod around synthetic materials such as waterproof jackets, tents of basha sheets - the sparks can easily burn holes through these materials).  There are two schools of thought on the best way to get the sparks to land in the right place and minimize the sparks that land in the wrong place:

1. Have plenty of tinder and make a nest for the ferro rod.  Place the tip of the rod in the middle of the tinder and scrape the metal edge down firmly along the rod.
2. If you have less tinder, do the same and make a smaller nest of the tinder and place the tip of the rod in the middle of it.  However, this time, instead of moving the scraper down the rod, pull the rod up against the scraper.  This is harder to pull off successfully but when you perfect the technique it does tend to focus the sparks better. 

The best striker though has to be a small bit of hacksaw blade.   Even though these ferro  rods come complete with a striker, I suggest you bin this in favor of the more versatile hacksaw blade.  Use the spine of the blade when you want a normal shower of sparks and use the toothy side of the blade when you want a Nov 5th/July 4th style shower of sparks.   While this is a mega cool pyrotechnical display, it does seriously wear out your ferro rod (mine has some spectacular furrows running along it - although it is still perfectly usable and has thousands of fires in it still!) a lot quicker than a smooth scraper.  

Best tinder for ferro rods include:

• Cotton wool (preferably soaked in Vaseline)
• Birch bark
• Fine Fatwood chips/dust (also known as Maya wood)
• Char cloth
• Tinder fungus
• Wire wool (yup, you can get wire wool burning!)
• Dried grasses/natural fibers/natural fluff material (for example, Old Man's Beard)
• Paper (not as easy as it seems but it is possible)
• Magnesium chips/powder (you can get a ferro rod embedded in a magnesium block which makes a spectacular high-temperature flash fire!)

Corrosion can be a bit of a problem with ferro rods - especially in hot, humid climates or where the ferro rod is kept close to the skin.  A quick and easy solution to this is to paint the rod with nail polish - clear if you want it to look neutral or a more "exciting" color if you want to make it easier to find if you drop it outdoors!  This doesn't affect the performance of the ferro rod as far as the amount of sparks it generates but you do have to keep on applying the nail polish though.  I suggest getting two rods ... one to play with and one to keep in the survival kit!  If they seem a little big for a survival kit you can get smaller ones or cut a big one down.  I've never tried this ... I would imagine that this has great scope for fire unless you take great care (that definitely rules out doing crazy stuff like cutting the rod with an angle grinder!)

As well as keeping an eye on your rods for corrosion, take care not to drop them onto hard ground as they can break (although they can still be used).

Conclusion - Super bit on kit that means that you should have no excuse not to be able to get a fire going under pretty much any circumstances with the minimal of kit.  You do need to remember to practice with your ferro rod before you need to rely on it!

Price: you should be able to pick one up for under a tenner ($/£10) - any more than that and you should take a look elsewhere.

Our supplier: Ray Mears (Woodlore)

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Last updated: October 21st 2005
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