Finest Ferro Rods of 2023

Beginning a hearth with a ferro rod might appear to be a contemporary marvel, however it’s really been round for over 100 years. Able to kindling a hearth even when the device is moist, ferrocerium rods – also called a ferro rod – are an amazing addition to any set of survival provides. There have been a variety of makes and fashions over the previous century and many various formulation for the fiery alloy we typically name flint. I’ve been educating my survival college students easy methods to construct fires with instruments identical to these for greater than 25 years, and I’ll stroll you thru 5 at present out there ferro rods that will help you work out which of them might go well with you finest.    

How We Examined the Finest Ferro Rods

With so many merchandise available on the market, we couldn’t take a look at all of them. So we picked an assortment from the big selection of at present out there merchandise. We picked from the flamboyant ones and a budget ones, after which we began making fires. Whereas each product made sparks and was able to its meant fireplace beginning objective, some actually rose above the others in effectiveness (and so they weren’t all the time the expensive ones). And sadly, some merchandise left us wanting extra. Right here’s what we skilled when testing 5 widespread ferrocerium fireplace starters.     

Finest Ferro Rods: Opinions & Suggestions

Finest Worth: Bayite 4 Inch Survival Ferrocerium Rod

Key Options

• Size: 4 inches
• Weight: 2.35 ounces. 

Execs

• There are six crisp placing edges on the device metal scraper
• 5 toes of paracord are included as a lanyard
• This one is inexpensive sufficient to purchase a number of for the value of another ferro rods

Cons

• Black and olive drab colours could make retrieval difficult if dropped within the leaves or grass
• Lacks a deal with

Whereas this fundamental spark rod is just a little heavy for its measurement and it lacks the bells and whistles that another producers add, it nonetheless will get the job finished and the value is true. As soon as I scraped off the black delivery paint from the rod and uncovered the grey ferrocerium alloy, the sparks flew, and I discovered them to be surprisingly giant and lengthy lasting. In actual fact, simply as far and lengthy lasting because the dearer rods on this assessment. 

Regardless that it’s just a little exhausting to grip and not using a deal with, this ferro rod can maintain its personal in opposition to the bigger Exotac and überleben ferro rods. The Bayite rod had the most effective scraper part. The scraper had a snug plastic deal with with a stainless-steel insert that had exceedingly good edges. This stripped down device is straightforward, but efficient and inexpensive. For many who don’t care about model names and bonus options, this ferrocerium rod is a superb selection and an amazing worth. 

Finest Basic Rod: überleben Zünden Fatty 

Key Options

• Size: The useable part is simply over 2 ½ inches
• Weight: 3.19 ounces

Execs 

• Enormous and lengthy lasting sparks
• Massive deal with that’s simple to grip, even in thick gloves
• Scraper is on a protracted lanyard for ease of operation

Cons 

This beefy spark rod is a ½-inch thick piece of trademarked Sånft-korr ferrocerium with a pure hardwood deal with. Its basic design will slot in completely with different conventional “bushcrafting” gear (like Scandi grind knives and woodworking instruments). The scraper is a pleasant piece of equipment too, with six options – a straight-edge ferro striker, a curved denticulate scraper, a hex wrench, millimeter ruler, map scale, and bottle opener. 

Learn Subsequent: The Finest Hearth Starters

Rated for 20,000 strikes, I had excessive expectations for this thick ferrocerium rod, and it didn’t disappoint. As soon as I used to be by way of the delivery paint, the sparks matched the product title. Every separate one was a fatty. Typical of “fats sparking” ferrocerium, I didn’t get a large spray of 100 sparks as you’ll get with some alloys. On every strike, nonetheless, I acquired practically a dozen giant sparks with a lifespan of a second or two. Curious to see how far they’d go, I really threw sparks from an out of doors deck and had some attain the bottom 8 toes away. That is positively a high quality product that’s ultimate for the discerning bushcrafter. 

Finest Building: Exotac fireROD

Key Options

• Size: The usable part is slightly below 3 inches
• Weight: 1.37 ounces
• Tinder compartment within the deal with

Execs

• High grade ferrocerium
• Rod unscrews from the deal with for simple alternative

Cons

• Doesn’t embrace a scraper

Like so a lot of Exotac’s fireplace merchandise, the fireROD deal with is CNC machined from high-grade 6061 aluminum and made within the USA. It’s additionally anodized to guard the aluminum from the weather. This mid-sized ferrocerium rod additionally has a tinder storage capsule, made waterproof by inside threading and an O-ring seal. Rated for as much as 5,000 strikes, it’s a superbly engineered piece of drugs that’s meant to final. The spark rod is even replaceable, simply in case you find yourself utilizing it quite a bit. 

I’m undecided the place Exotac is getting their ferrocerium alloy, however it’s prime quality and the sparks are big. In my “set off the deck” assessments, I had sparks dropping 8 toes and hitting the bottom earlier than they went out. This was a formidable shock, when so many spark rods gained’t spray their sparks greater than a foot or two. Nevertheless it doesn’t embrace a scraper. A pleasant sq. backbone on a survival knife will scrape off these chubby sparks. I may even spark it with a pointy piece of granite (although the sparks have been a lot smaller and brief lived). This works okay, however could be a lot nicer in the event that they included a scraper within the deal with as they do with different merchandise. 

Finest Observe Gear: FOSTAR 2 computer Ferro Rod Package 

Key Options

• Size: Usable part is 2 11/16 inches
• Weight: 1.7 ounces
• Comes as a pack of two

Execs

• Light-weight
• Colourful part to stop loss
• Cheap

Cons

• Solely a small bathe of sparks

You get what you pay for on this one. The ferro rods are an inferior alloy, producing wimpy sparks. The striker is a direct knock-off from the überleben striker. That being stated, these are completely useful and so they current two alternatives. The primary alternative is redundancy. When you’re susceptible to shedding your gear, you’ll have one to make use of and one to lose with this equipment. The second alternative is for observe. When you can gentle fires with these meager sparks, then you shouldn’t have any drawback lighting fires with a greater high quality ferrocerium rod. I’d suggest you employ this equipment as a coaching product for college students, younger and previous. The brief lived sparks would require good tinder choice and preparation expertise to efficiently make fires. 

Learn Subsequent: How one can Begin a Hearth: The Final Information to Fashionable Hearth Constructing

Finest Keychain Mannequin: Exotac nanoSPARK 

Key Options

• Size: 2 5/8 inches complete
• Weight: 0.58 ounces.
• Tinder storage compartment together with 5 tinder items

Execs

• Light-weight and compact
• One-handed operation

Cons

• Smallest and shortest bathe of sparks in our assessment

The engineering on the Exotac nanoSPARK is really excellent. The spark device physique is CNC machined in America from high-grade 6061 aluminum and anodized. It makes use of o-rings on each of its detachable sections. This device can be designed for one handed operation, which may save the day should you maintain an damage to an arm or hand. It additionally has a tinder storage compartment, and the flint is replaceable. The product comes with 5 quickLIGHT tinder tabs (4 within the package deal, one within the tinder compartment). It even has an built-in attachment level for a lanyard or keyring. The designs employed on this product are spectacular. 

However no quantity of engineering excellence could make up for a ferrocerium “flint” that’s the measurement of a grain of rice. The tiny ferro rod makes tiny sparks, and also you’ll want fluffy dry tinder of the very best high quality to catch them. Will it begin fires? Sure, it should. Is it a cool product that will make an amazing present? Sure, it’s. Would I personally desire the smarter utility of a rice-grain-sized little bit of ferro rod (the Bic lighter)? Sure, I’d. Whereas this product technically is a ferrocerium fireplace starter, I’m undecided I’d even class it with conventional spark rods. And I’d nonetheless fairly have a Bic (which makes use of a small piece of ferro to ignite the butane) or one of many smaller Exotac spark rods that’s roughly this measurement.    

Learn Subsequent: Finest Hearth Starters

Why Belief Out of doors Life?

Since 1898, OL has been a number one authority in testing and reviewing searching gear, fishing sort out, weapons and taking pictures gear, and rather more. We now have greater than a century-long historical past of evaluating merchandise, and we’re now bringing that experience to on-line opinions. Our editors are skilled outdoorsmen and girls, and most significantly, we’re educated journalists. We prioritize subject testing and goal knowledge when reviewing merchandise. We conduct interviews with gear producers and engineers in addition to out of doors consultants in order that our readers have an understanding of how and why a product works—or doesn’t.

Promoting doesn’t affect our gear opinions and it by no means will. Whereas we all the time focus our protection on standout merchandise—as a result of we would like our readers to concentrate on the most recent and biggest gear—we additionally cowl the issues and quirks of any given product.

Ultimate Ideas

It’s necessary to grasp that these instruments aren’t probably the most versatile class of fireplace starters. Ferrocerium rods require some finesse to make use of, and extra importantly, they require a dry fluffy tinder materials to show sparks into flames. Whichever ferro rod you select to purchase and carry, be sure to convey some high quality tinder from residence (like cotton balls or dryer lint from a load of cotton materials). 

You’ll additionally need to know easy methods to discover and course of the fluffiest “wild sourced” tinder in your neck of the woods. Cattail fluff, pounded inside bark fibers, and even superb wooden scrapings can present the excessive gas high quality you want while you run out of the stuff from residence. It’s additionally sensible to contemplate bringing a backup ignition technique (or two), simply in case you lose your ferro rod or it can not gentle the tinder you’ve got out there. A flame-based ignition supply could be a back-up for these tinder supplies that show irritating and even unattainable to gentle with sparks. In closing, I’ll say that ferro rods are lots of enjoyable to make use of, so have enjoyable working towards with them – and pray you might be spared from the stress and challenges of utilizing them in an actual emergency.