If you have a ferro rod on your sheath, may I ask why?

[matt.gp]

Afternoon,

I think bushcraft knives look lovely with a ferro rod alongside the knife carried in the sheath.

But again and again I have to ask myself (from a practical standpoint at least) why bother!

Ill summarise my feelings in bullet points and without turning the thread in to a flame war I would love to hear someone convince me it's a good idea...

-I use my knife a lot and my ferro rod a lot less.

-RETENTION: I would fear it getting knocked out of the sheath and lost (I don't see many with anything more than a little bit of friction holding them in place)z

-RISK OF LOSS: If I lose my knife then potentially I lose my ferro rod, surely makes more sense to halve the risk and carry separately.

-AND finally for me it's just something else on a sheath to catch and snag on things.

Here's a particularly biased image to bolster my argument lol.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NxX2YWt9m...g+stag+ferro+rod+horizontal+sheath+021312.jpg

The same goes for survival kits in knife handles etc etc but that's another topic I guess so let's stick to my ferro rod sheath phobia.

Flame on! Lol.

 

[Tony]

Hi Matt and welcome to bcuk, it would be great if you can take the time to introduce yourself in the introductions area here

Because I want to have one on my sheath with my knife, saying that sometimes I don't and I don't have it on the sheath with my knife, I often don't carry a knife at all and more often don't carry one with a firesteel.

There's never going to be a good answer for this question as there is no right answer, there's just thousands of opinions on personal preference. To come on here and state you'd love someone to convince you seems the wrong approach to me, why should you be convinced? Some will agree with what you say, some will have different opinions.

The best thing for you to do is whatever you want to do, which from reading this is to not carry your firesteel right there with your knife. If you've never done it the most persuasive thing either way will be for you to try it for yourself, nothing will truly sway you unless you experience it for yourself and then you'll be able to establish a well founded opinion (my apologies if i've made a wrong assumption from your post)

By the way, posting things with bullet points does not in any way change the chances of the thread going down hill, making a comment like "Flame on! Lol." seems to contradict your consideration earlier in the post and you would actually like some flaming which makes this a suspect first post, but hey, that's just my paranoia

And I'll move this to kit chatter

Cheers

 

[copper_head]

Welcome to the forum Matt, not sure your going to get 'flamed' on that one.
There was a recent poll on this very subject and the majority said ferro loops weren't liked on sheaths. Mine lives in my tinder pouch, but then I dont have a sheath with a ferro loop, .

Each to their own I guess.

*Edit* Link to poll

 

[luckylee]

as for the loosing bud, this is where a lot of sheath makers go wrong they make the loop to big, it needs to be shorter, and then you can add some bungie cord to it, and no mattter how much it wears down you will not loose it.
i like mine, but id say its 50/50 out of my customers some like them some don't.
we had a debate about this not so long ago.
i have just finished another commission, and this time he wanted one on his. but the next one he doesn't.

 

[ged]

Welcome to BCUK.

Some of my sheaths have loops, some don't. Mostly it's just what turned up. No big deal, the loop is just another place to keep something useful. Could be a sharpener.

Lee is right, a lanyard that fits over the part protruding from the bottom of the loop is most secure. As regards losing it, it isn't "my ferro rod" it's "one of my means of making fire". Just as it isn't "my knife" but "one of the tools I have with me". I don't do disasters, so losing it isn't one.

Most of the time, even when camping, I don't carry a fixed blade anyway but I do carry at least one ferro rod. And probably a couple of lighters.

But wherever you choose to keep it, a ferro rod is far and away the most weatherproof, robust and reliable means of starting a fire.

 

[matt.gp]

Thanks for the welcome fellas. In reverse order . . .

Ged: I see where you're coming from... But I don't fancy carrying anything in a way that's easy to lose when it can be avoided. Except my virginity but it appears I can't give that away lol.

Lucky_lee: I have seen a few with the bungee cord retention and it looks like a good idea, probably not a bad way to hold in a knife either with a bit if tweaking.....

Copperhead: thanks for the link to the poll... I wasn't expecting an answer backed up with statistics !

 

[matt.gp]

Note how I got the underscore in the wrong name there

 

[Elen Sentier]

Hello and welcome. I agree with your reasons for not putting the two together and that they do look good when you do! Really contrary! I keep mine in my tinder tin, in a pocket or response pack.

 

[Dave Budd]

bugger the bungie cord, I've always moulded the leather around the handle

 

[John Fenna]

Some of my sheaths have them - some do not.
I prefer flint and steel for fire lighting but carry a ferro rod as back up ... even if there is one on the knife sheath anyway!
I use a loop if leather not bungee as a retainer
It must be a grand rowdy bushcraft meet if you lose your knife so I do not see the problem with having your knife and ferro together....

 

[Tiley]

I reckon that a ferro rod on the sheath only really looks good when the handle is made of a natural material, like bone, antler or wood; the plastic tops just do not look the part. That said, I have a knife which has a ferro rod with a handle to match the knife handle material and I never use it. I only ever use the one in my fire pouch. Why? I don't really know. I suppose that I just assume that there is only a knife in the sheath, rather than a possible means of lighting a fire. Couple that with the fact that all the other bits and pieces for fire lighting are in my fire pouch (unsurprisingly!) means that the admittedly very beautiful ferro rod is there for ceremonial purposes only.

It doesn't really add much to your post, for which I apologise, but it did get me thinking!

 

[Jinsin456]

I like mine in my sheath, I try and keep most of my tools on my belt as it means I tend to end up using the right tool for the job rather than using something not really designed for the task at hand because I'm too lazy to go and get the right tool.

I find that the firesteel on the sheath gives easy quick access without having to rumage through pockets etc and it's handy for lighting stoves as well as fires.

Just my 2 cents