Experts Tips For Using A Ferro Rod Fire Starter - Primal Survivor

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Fire is essential to survival. You need it for warmth, to cook food, and to boil water for purification.

So, it is no wonder survivalists recommend keeping a ferrocerium rod – a ferro rod – in your survival bag.

What they don’t tell you is that starting a fire with a ferro rod isn’t as easy as it seems.

Here are some expert tips to ensure you can use your ferro rod in an emergency.

Choosing a Ferro Rod

Ferrocerium rods are usually made from 50% cerium, 25% lanthanum, and 19% iron, with some small amounts of other metals.

The recipe used by ferro rod manufacturers varies. Some survivalists will tell you to avoid cheap Chinese-made ferro rods because they have low amounts of cerium.

However, I’ve found that even the cheapest ferro rod will get the job done with enough practice.

Read our in-depth guide to the best Ferro rod.

However, the LENGTH and WIDTH of the ferro rod matter!

The longer the ferro rod is, the more contact time you will have on the surface when you slide the striker over it.

The wider the ferro rod is, the more surface area you have, and more sparks will fly off.

If your ferro rod is part of your Everyday Carry, you probably don’t want a goliath rod to carry around. However, if you are just getting started, I suggest getting a larger ferro rod to practice with. It will be easier to hone your technique with the larger ferro rod.

Note

Once you receive your ferro rod in the mail, you’ll notice a black coating. This is to prevent rust. You’ll need to scrape some of this off. You should be able to see a shiny area where you are scraping.

Choosing a Striker

While the quality of the ferro rod doesn’t matter too much, the quality of the striker (aka scraper) does matter!

The small, flimsy strikers that come with cheap ferro rods don’t give you much control. The edges of these also aren’t very sharp, so you won’t be able to make many sparks.

Remember, the key to using a ferro rod is strong, controlled strokes! You’ll need a good scraper to do this.

The best striker for a ferro rod is the back of your fixed-blade survival knife (read about survival knives here).

Read more about some DIY Ferro rod striker options.

NEVER STRIKE A FERRO ROD WITH YOUR KNIFE BLADE!

Doing this will cause your knife to get dull very quickly. Instead, you should use the blade’s flat, squared-off back edge. Hopefully, you’ve chosen a survival knife that does have a 90-degree edge on the spine.

Alternatively, the saw blade on a multi-tool makes a great ferro rod striker. The saw blade is solid but flexible, thus giving it good drag across the surface of the ferro rod.

If you don’t have a knife, saw blade, or the striker that came with your ferro rod, you can use any number of items as an alternative striker.

Trash like broken glass works well (which you can unfortunately almost always find in the wilderness). Hard rocks also make good scrapers.

Tinder for the Ferro Rod

We call ferro rods “fire starters.” But a ferro rod will NEVER make a fire. Ferro rods make SPARKS.

Making a fire out of sparks can be tricky.

You’ve got to get the sparks to land on VERY DRY and FLUFFY tinder. Otherwise, the sparks will die out before they can ignite your tinder.

Tinder, which would typically work well for matches, or a lighter might be too large and heavy for starting a fire with sparks.

Many survivalists recommend using a cotton ball with petroleum jelly on it as tinder. But, if you thought far enough ahead to bring cotton balls with you, then you probably should have brought a spare lighter and more matches.

Other than in practice scenarios, I can’t imagine when I’d realistically have cotton balls but no matches.

Good tinder for a ferro rod is…

• Fluff from plants
• Dry grass “birds nest.”
• Feather stick

Best Solution…

Fluff and dry grass don’t always produce a full flame, and feather sticks can take a while to catch on fire. I’ve found that the best solution for starting a fire with a ferro rod is to use all three tinder types.

1. Make a “birds nest” of dry grass on the ground
2. Top the bird’s nest with plant fluff (if you can find some)
3. Make a feather stick and put it on top of the fluff and dry grass
4. Use your ferro rod to rain sparks down on the configuration

With this setup, the fluff and dry grass will catch your feather stick on fire, which can then be used to light your kindling and make a fire.

Or Use a Char Cloth

Using a char cloth is an even better method of making fire with a ferro rod A char cloth is made from 100% cotton, which has been turned into charcoal. Charcoal ignites to produce a hot ember very easily.

We recently made char cloth; check out the post for easy-to-follow instructions.

Ferro Rod Technique

Many people make the mistake of using a ferro rod like a match. But a ferro rod does NOT need to be struck very quickly and delicately. Instead, you need sturdy, firm strokes to make lots of sparks fly off of it.

Correct technique for using a ferro rod

1. Hold the scraper at a 45-degree angle.
2. The end of the ferro rod needs to be right next to your tinder.
3. Pull the ROD back, not the scraper!
4. Sparks should rain down on your tinder and light it.

Tip 1: Note that step 3 is to move the rod, not the scraper. This method is much more effective because you’ll be able to get sparks closer to the tinder. By contrast, when you move the scraper instead of the rod, your hand gets too close to the tinder. You’ll either knock over your tinder, or the sparks will cool down too much by the time they land on it. The “move the rod” method also makes it easier to get your sparks dead center on the tinder instead of showering them all over the place.

Tip 2: Ferro rods only work if your tinder is VERY DRY. If your tinder is even a bit damp, you won’t be able to make it ignite from the sparks. One expert solution is to rub the rod back and forth over the scraper. It will produce many sparks, which will dry out your tinder so it can ignite.

Practice!!!

The best advice I can give for starting a fire with a ferro rod is to practice! Start by practicing with something easy, such as a cotton ball with petroleum jelly Then practice on different types of tinder, especially ones you’d find in wilderness survival situations. And don’t forget to practice with different kinds of scrapers too.

With a bit of practice, you’ll soon be a fire-starting master!

Or, try these methods of starting a fire without matches!

Have you used a ferro rod for making a fire? Let us know your tips and tricks in the comments!

+ Image Credits

“” Bird’s nest“” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by dog.breath“3. Tinder alight” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by coconinocoLight My Fire” brand ferro rod” (CC BY 2.0) by particlem“IMG_5558” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by joneser005“An ember!” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by dog.breath“D’Aguilar National Park” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by teejaybee