Ferrorod Skills

aka FireSteel Skills

The Ferrorod is one the most versatile fire starting tools available for outsdoorsman.  Mastering the skill of the ferrorod is one of the more challenging and one the most important skills in Wilderness Survival.

Pros Ferrorod

• Can be used to start 1000 fires

• Waterproof (as long as you don't store it underwater for extended period)

• Not affected by the cold

• Not affected by air pressure

• Not affected by wind

Cons of Ferrorod

• Requires a new skill which requires a LOT of practice

• Requires good quality tinder or ability to process good tinder (yet another skill)

• Harder to use than matches or lighter

Types of Ferrorods

There are several types of ferrorods and their composition and size to make a difference in performance.  That said, the biggest factor in performance is the users skill level at using one and the quality of the tinder available. 

The composition of Ferrorods mades a difference in performance.  There are two main types, Hard and Soft.

Hard Ferrorods

• Burns hotter but quicker

• Lasts a long time

• Swedish Army Light My Fire

• Auermetal Rods made in Austria  

• UST BlastMatch (US company made in China)

• UST Strike Force (US company made in China)

Soft Ferrorods

• know as Mischmetal by some

• Lower concentration of iron and perhaps more magnesium

• Throws burning globs of burning metal

• Burns longer

• Slow scraping can create a little pile of ready to burn magnesium tinder

• Shorter life span than harder ferrorods

• Mostly made in China

• Some with Euro Names

  • Überleben (US company with Chinese parts)

  • Friendly Swede (Swedish company with Chinese parts)

• Usually cheaper – unless it has a Euro Brand name

Size

• Size matters with a ferrorod

• Thicker ones will throw more sparks

• Longer ones will also throw more sparks

• Thicker and longer ones weigh more but last a lot longer (more uses)

• Our instructors often carry 6" x 1/2" rods because they use them over and over again for demonstrations

Striker

In order to use a ferrorod, iron needs to be scraped off of the rod fast enough to ignite the iron.  Without a good striker, it will be difficult to make a large enough spark for easy ignition of your tinder. 

Note that many commercial strikers and hacksaw blades are stamped.  When stamping metal, one side will have rounded edges and the other side will have sharp edges.  Feel the edge with your fingertips and use the sharp edge against the ferrorod.

Using a Ferrorod

This is one of those skills that requires a lot of hands on practice.  Here are the basic steps.

• Place a pile of high quality tinder on dry surface

• Plant ferrorod into tinder or near enough that Hot Sparks will ignite within tinder pile

• Firmly place striker on ferrorod with striker at 45° towards the tinder

  • Angling it at 45° as shown will concentrate sparks between striker and ferrorod and plows it towards your tinder

There are a few variant techniques that work. 

The Dreaded Washboard – NO!

Inconsistent pressure on rod may lead to bumps forming on ferrorod surface.  Repeated use results in washboard surface which makes the ferrorod more or less unusable 

Fix

• Quick fix is to use other side of rod until you can fix the Washboard surface

• File down bumps

  • Take file and carefully run it around rod to remove bumps

• Change how you use rod

  • Make even strokes with consistent pressure through stroke