Ferro Rods .

[Firemagnet]

Hi folkes,
Unsure if this has been asked recently...sorry if it has !
Anything to look out for with buying new ferro rods ?
My Well used bcb one is just about coming to the end of its days.
I picked up a bare rod a while back but it isn't that great !
What's your go to favourites?
Thanks
Lee

 

[JonathanD]

There are huge varying degrees of quality. From utterly unusable to great. The best ones IMO are the Ray Mears versions and Light My Fire. I did a review a few years back….. er….Many years back. And they came out best by far. Not sure if the LMF have changed in quality, but the RM ones are still top notch. I’ve been using them for 25 years now in environments from the U.K., to desert scrub and rainforest. I hate the arctic as it’s nippy, but I’ve used them there once too.

 

[Chris]

Hi folkes,
Unsure if this has been asked recently...sorry if it has !
Anything to look out for with buying new ferro rods ?
My Well used bcb one is just about coming to the end of its days.
I picked up a bare rod a while back but it isn't that great !
What's your go to favourites?
Thanks
Lee

These are popular and I rate them. But more importantly, Paul Kirtley rates them.

Light My Fire Swedish Firesteel Army 2.0 Rusty Orange

The essential piece of Bushcraft Equipment . The Swedish firesteel is one of a number of different versions of fire steel on the market. But is considered in the industry to be the "original and best". The Swedish firesteel comes with its own striker and both the handle and striker are derived...

woodland-ways.co.uk

 

[Nice65]

I’ve always liked this video that explains the differences better than I can. I’m a fan of the softer steels that chuck molten blobs everywhere.

 

[HillBill]

I've never used any but the 'light my fire' ones. They work great. I find they respond best to a slow but deep gouge using only a quarter to a third of of their length... sharp spine obviously. I use the area of a knife nearer to the tip, bit more of a dig and scrape out motion, as opposed to a surface scrape.

 

[CLEM]

Can only echo the sentiments, I’ve used a few myself and Mears fire steels are top notch as are the Light My Fires offerings one of which i only recently bought myself.

 

[John Fenna]

LMF for me too. BCB are OK but I have not tried many others.

 

[Broch]

As has been said, you can't go wrong with LMF. I have bought plain rods in multiple packs to add wood and antler handles to. I found that you had to work hard to get through the protective layer on the outside but that they worked fine once through. Still not the firework like shower from LMF though.

 

[Pattree]

I guess I’m the only one here who uses an Opinel #12 Explore with a ferro built into the handle. It’s a tiny rod but works well. I had a technical issue with the clip (nothing to do with fire lighting) and Opinel sent me a free one which I have in reserve. Just as well, I don’t think they do ferro any more. It comes with tick tweezers now.

The Opinel is not my go to ferro, I bought a bunch of generic 6mm on eBay many years ago and won’t need any more in my lifetime. I didn’t know that some of them had brand names until I came here

 

[Damascus]

Bought one off ray mears site about 20+ years ago and it was excellent so I bought 2 more (just in case) still yet to replace them, so I don’t know if quality has changed.

 

[William_Montgomery]

The Bushcraft Store sell decent blanks in a couple of different sizes. The large (150mm) one is my go to. Light My Fire, as said above, are great too, but a bit small for my large paddle hands.

 

[Dan1982]

Another vote for Light my fire. It’s all I’ve ever used and always been excellent.

 

[HillBill]

Aren't Woodlore firesteels just LMF ones with their own brand handle?

 

[JonathanD]

No, it’s a different supplier. They used to be branded FireFlash. I think they only make them exclusively for Woodlore now.

 

[Jared]

Only have LMF here to.

There is a StrikeFire brand, which is apparently British I've seen people use which is cheaper. Also source their ferrocerium in Europe.

Though that link on the packaging seems dead now, but they are still sold.