Ferro rods (and magnesium bars/rods)

[David]

A ferrocerium rod, also simply called a ferro rod or mish metal rod is a rod of rare-earth metal that, when scraped, produces a spark of very high temperature. It is used to start a fire.



Magnesium comes in the form of a bar or rod. It is safe in solid bar/rod form. When shaved of into small sand sized particles it can be ignited and produces a very hot flame to start a fire. It works even when wet and in fact, commercial divers use magnesium blow torches to weld underwater!



Note that ferrocerium and magnesium can be harder or softer depending on how it's manufactured. I prefer softer for both. For a ferro rod, softer means more comes off in a 'gob' and is hotter and lasts longer. For magnesium, it is easier to shave and get a larger pile of shavings quicker.

[David]

[David]

I found the magnesium fire-starter that I had mentioned in another thread;

http://allweatherfirestarters.com/produ ... restarter/



Now they are very nice looking and I have no doubt that they work wonderfully. Way better than mag bars like HFT and Doan's bars. They seem to shave much easier and with bigger shavings. And the molten pile seems, in my experience, to stay hot enough to ignite tinder for quite some time after the initial ignition. But they are $30+ and while I'm sure worth every penny, less pretty versions can be had for less than a third and I have one that was right around $5 IIRC.

An example of the one I purchased several years ago (not this vendor but it looks the same).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Magnesium-Ferr ... %7Ciid%3A1

Found a video that looks like the one I have;

[Bob]

My fire rod in my Survival Pouch seems to have....decayed? It looks like chunks have been eaten by bugs or something. Rather odd....

[David]

My fire rod in my Survival Pouch seems to have....decayed? It looks like chunks have been eaten by bugs or something. Rather odd....

Maybe this?

[ActiveAl]

Bayite 1/2 Inch X 6 Inch Large Ferro Rods Ferrocerium Rod Drilled on sale at Amazon for $9.98 :https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S6 ... em_1p_1_lm
Looks like a good deal. It has good reviews. I believe that the regular price is 14.99.

David, is there a proper spot for posting survival gear deals in this forum? Thanks!

[David]

Bayite 1/2 Inch X 6 Inch Large Ferro Rods Ferrocerium Rod Drilled on sale at Amazon for $9.98 :https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S6 ... em_1p_1_lm
Looks like a good deal. It has good reviews. I believe that the regular price is 14.99.

David, is there a proper spot for posting survival gear deals in this forum? Thanks!

Yes sir, up in the General Discussion section is a 'Deal Alert Thread'. Here's the link;

http://sepboard.us/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22

And those rods will last a very long time! I've seen folks wrap a layer of duct tape around one end to give them more surface area to grip as well as using the duct tape as a fire-starter.

[Strayz]

I like the magnesium bars. I did a bunch of shavings off in to a masking tape small bundle (about and in in diameter and 1/8th to 1/4th inch thick) that I kept with my ferro rod. Just in case. Well I made a few of them after testing it when I was living in Western Oregon. Now I keep 4-5 of them in a old film canister with the other goodies in the "fire Kit" (or bag if you want to call it that). Put it on a stump and your tinder and build a proper fire. Yes it will ignite wet tinder, but remember that just because you have it lit, doesn't mean it will stay on fire.

[David]

[Strayz]

OK on that last one, I have to call a little bit of BS.

He really doesn't use the fero rod much or was trying to make it look like there is a difference. He was so directing first one so the sparks went over his tinder pile. the second one he was directing them in to it.

It is not easy as it looks and why I make the little packages of them. working in cold wet conditions sucks, being with out fire in the woods sucks much worse.