Heavy Duty Rod

So, some years back, getting a bit into woodcraft and the outdoors, I bought one of those gimmick "Bear Grylls" knives (yes, I know, live and learn, haha) and, while the included ferro rod was a cool idea, it was rather useless, being quite small and not generating much spark, at all. Since then, learning more, I've opted to try various dedicated ferro rod/striker set ups, instead of some version tossed into a bundle of other so-called "survival" items. It just seems a very reliable means of making a fire, as opposed to even waterproofed matches, lighters that can run out of fuel, etc. No, I don't live outdoors, or face survival needs at my office, lol, so, no, it's not a life and death thing, by any means, but, as I say, getting into the outdoors, it seemed a practical skill to learn, and a practical tool to have on hand for the most basic need of being able to make fire. I learned about the various compounds used, and went for a European made kit, and it strikes fairly well. I also bought a few China made kits, with so-so results. Now, I know this is manufactured in China, but whatever factory they are using under whatever agreement is producing a top notch product here, for an excellent price! It is superior to my European made kit, producing far more spark. Bottom line, this is a real world fire starting tool. The amount of spark is more than needed to light any kind of decent tinder. I came across Pyro Puddy here on Amazon, and, in combo with this rod and striker, you could get a fire going in almost any condition. I can also successfully light fat wood shavings, easily, as well as just basic wood shavings, or, as I say, any practical tinder. Only drawback is the heavy coating on the rod, which takes a bit of work to remove. I finally used a sanding file to get down to the actual striking surface and, once fully exposed, it is spark heaven. The striker itself is excellent. Yes, it is not a particularly beautiful set up, haha, but, again, a lot of the kits made to look nice aren't as functional. As I say, this is a tool. It performs as such. This is also much larger that other options, so, more spark, and longer lasting rod, plus more surface from which to generate spark. I am incredibly pleased, and it is a valued part of my camping or hiking pack now. I like it so much that I even use it to light the fires in my fireplace! It's just fun and rewarding to be able to "make fire" this way. So, yes, very highly recommend this product! For a novice, intermediate, or expert, this one gets it done. Five stars! Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps in your search for a good ferro rod. :)

This is one fantastic fire starting rod, the size is perfect at a half inch thick so it’s going to last a long time and it’s easy to hold, the length makes it very easy to get a good long strike with and a lot of red hot sparks.

I was excited to find an inexpensive product that wasn't "cheap". This is a very good ferro rod. I've read where others have had the same experience. It performs very well, on par with much more expensive rods. Its really long which is the biggest plus, plenty to hold on to, and it showers good sparks. With good tinder, I can usually start a fire with no more than a couple strikes.

Works well, easy to hold and use.

Great fire rod, I am so pleased with this tool, did what it was intended to. I just took a file to scrape the black coating off and sparks were amazing ! Tried one with a square piece of toilet paper and light up after 4 strikes, second fire was just with a tinder bundle and took about 6 strikes and fired right up. The only reason I give it 5 stars instead of five is I would have liked to have a little bigger striker how ever the one that comes with it works ok since it has a nice plastic handle. The length of the paracord that is attached with is plenty long and keeps everything together. Great product and very happy with purchase.

This rod is a full 6 inches by 1/2 inches in dimension. It did come with a stout striker and a braided length of Paracord that can have several uses. It sparks bright and hot as advertised and gives me an additional emergency backup for fire starting. It is an excellent value.

I was going to try to save a few bucks on a ferro rod alone and drill a hole and tie some paracord myself. Then I found this and saw that it already had both in just the size I was wanting, at the same price as what it would have cost for me to buy separately. So, it was a no brainer. The rod sparks great. Even my 14 year old nephew, who'd never used a firestick before, got a fire going within just a few tries, once I told him he had to scratch off the black coating first anyway. This is probably the harder type of ferro rod, which doesn't spark quite as much as the softer rods, but will last longer and at present is a LOT cheaper. The price is the main reason I suspect it's the harder variety though. I really don't know with any absolute. I doubt I've ever even used the softer stuff at 40 bucks a stick. This is worlds easier than those cheap, small flint sets we used in scouts though. I'd still recommend striking it off the back of a knife over the included striker. It's nice that there's a striker attached that you can't lose, in case you don't have a knife handy, but the spine of a knife is much easier to control IMO, as long as it doesn't have a thick protective coating that dulls the edges too much. You need a sharp 90 degree angle to effectively create big sparks. Of course you can always file down the finish on the knife's spine a bit, or, as many people seem to like to do with the BK2, strip the black coating completely and either polish the blade or put their own unique forced patina on it. At 15 dollars or less, I'd speculate that this might be the best ferro rod option going on amazon, unless you don't want the paracord, which I find useful not only in making sure I don't lose the striker, should I for some reason not have a knife, but it also gives you a little something extra to hold onto.

I bought two of these, one for me and one for my Dad. I received this product several weeks ago and have to say it works very well throwing lots of sparks that are hot, sizzle, pop, and jump around. I have at least 10 different ferrocerium rods of various sizes and this is one of the most effective I have. The only drawback is that it is imported from China and takes more than a month to receive it, a fact that I didn't notice until after I bought it. I thought that it being manufactured in China it might be junk. I heard that about the useless magnesium fire starters from there so I assumed the same for the ferrocerium rods. But I have to say it's one of the best I have. It works everytime I use it. It has a really well made braided 550 paracord lanyard. I say lanyard because it is too big to wrap around your wrist. It is a braided handle with a lanyard to be exact. The rod 6 inches long by 1/2 inch in diameter, the braided handle is 5 1/2 inches long by 1/2 inches in diameter, and it has a 10 inch long lanyard with a plastic cap on the end. It might be too big for some of you that like compact and light weight. All I can say is it's about the same price or cheaper than some others but you will get much more thousands of fires started with this rod. More bang for your buck so to speak. I would definitely recommend this rod if you don't mind the wait or the fact that it's made and comes from China.