Very nicely done!
Someone had made a featherstick tip somewhere. They would score the wood prior to cutting the feathers. I have tried that and it works ok, but lots of the wood will fall off.
Lately, I just turn the stick I and cutting and it makes for a decent featherstick.
I had to opportunity to test my ferro rod in a heavy downpour yesterday. It started to really come down as I was getting my fire ready to light.
What I learned/was reminded of/knew was:
1. In bad weather, it is really important to protect everything related to the fire (knew & reminded)
2. When the ferro rod gets rained on, it will still spark, but much less (learned but kinda expected)
3. Wet ferro rod shavings that didn't spark light up in the lit tinder bundle like little sparklers (learned)
4. fatwood is great when things are wet (knew)
5. everything lights and heats up slower when wet (knew & reminded)
6. vaseline cotton pad doesn't light very well after getting fluffed then rained on (learned)
7. you can stay warm when wet in Hawaii (knew & reminded)
8. if you stay wet long enough, you can still get cold, even in Hawaii (knew & reminded)
Despite the downpour, I had a great hobo meal of chicken stuffed with garlic and rosemary with some zucchini and rice!