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Harbor Freight Ferro-Rod, any good?

LeapFrog

Wielding Hanlon's Razor
Feb 15, 2016
1,709
903
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Anchorage, Alaska
I bought a cheap fire starter and wanted to see if my 3$ purchase can perform..
People also ask

How do you use a ferro rod?
Use the correct technique: Angle the scraper at about a 45-degree angle. Place the end of the rod right next to the tinder. Place the scraper on top of the rod, and drag the rod back. If you whittle with the scraper, you may bump your tinder away from the sparks.Oct 16, 2014
Well, I put my purchase to the test!

They work great for the price!
(stay prepped, better to be ready than empty-handed if SHTF, water purification and snares help..)
 
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More effective method is to hold your steel in 1 spot and move the rod away under pressure. More concentrated spark in 1 spot.
I like that suggestion, thank you Binrat.

I was thinking "the blade is an extension of my arm, the sparks go where I throw them"; Your suggestion can help many people, great idea!
 
I have a few of these..I have a braided para cord that unbraids to 6' that is connected to my life vest with one of these and a whistle and a waterproof mini maglight. I also have 1 in tackle box and every car. Just a tip...use a old pill bottle and put 4-6 cotton balls rubbed in Vaseline, they make a great fire starter!. A few of you may remember me flipping my kayak on the river right after ice out a few years back, I would have loved to have had one of these!
 
I always wondered how these worked for the price , thank you Leapfrog for the vid and the trick photography ! lol I'll get one next time I'm there ,lucky mine is close by.
 
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I was at a Boy Scout Campout with my son years ago, and they had a guy showing how to start a fire using a piece of steel and some flint. The media he was using to get the fire going was DRYER LINT. He would strike the flint several times sending a shower of sparks into the link. It ignited after about 4 strikes. He said that he tried many different things, but that the lint worked the best.
Leap Frog ... put some lint into a ziplock bag along with that firestarter and you're good to go.

- 399
 
I was at a Boy Scout Campout with my son years ago, and they had a guy showing how to start a fire using a piece of steel and some flint. The media he was using to get the fire going was DRYER LINT. He would strike the flint several times sending a shower of sparks into the link. It ignited after about 4 strikes. He said that he tried many different things, but that the lint worked the best.
Leap Frog ... put some lint into a ziplock bag along with that firestarter and you're good to go.

- 399
Take some candle wax and drip it all over the lint to give it a little fuel. This helps especially when trying to light wood that is wet.
 
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Char cloth is the fastest way to start a fire. Take all of your dryer lint roll into a tight ball and put inside a metal screw top container. pack your dryer lint tightly. The whole container needs to be metal. A single small hole is poked or drilled in the top and the entire container is placed into a fire, or a stove burner. Let it heat until no smoke comes out of the container. Let cool and put tape over the hole to seal it for future use.
When you open the container you should have an nice small charred ball that will light up with the smallest spark. Other items that work good for this method is juniper or cedar bark, cypress bark is good as well.

https://graywolfsurvival.com/3002/make-use-char-cloth/
 
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I had one of those back when I was younger. It worked pretty good. That Magnesium burned nicely. You don't need tinder with these. You scrape the Magnesium block with a knife to produce shavings. Strike the flint on the shavings and big hot flash happens.

 
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HF fire starters are gar-bage'. For a few dollars more get the real deal MIL SPEC units.

61cPNVyj0AL._SL1200_.jpg
 

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