This can be trickier than people think. They see people do it on TV shows like Naked and Afraid and think that they can do it. The key to starting a fire with a ferro rod is dry tinder and small dry twigs, and dry larger branches. Also, air as the flint ignites the tinder is critical. If your fire starting kit has magnesium on it, it makes it a bit easier, but not necessarily easy.
Items needed to start a fire with a ferro rod:
- Ferrocerium rod
- Knife or sharp edge to strike the rod
- Piece of dry bark
- Dry tinder
- Dry twigs and dry larger branches
- (Optional) A magnesium rod or stick
- (Optional) A telescoping pipe to blow air into the tinder
How to start a fire with a ferro rod:
- Prepare your dry tinder on a piece of dry bark. If you can’t find dry bark, you don’t need it, but it makes it easier to pick it up to blow air into it.
- If you have magnesium, scrape some below and on top of the tinder
- Make a fire tee pee with the dry twigs, and make another fire tee pee above that using the dry larger branches
- Put the tip of the ferro rod to the ground, angle it up and strike the rod with the prepared tinder about an inch away
- When you see a hot flash and a bit of smoke, immediate use the telescoping pipe or just blow on the tinder repeatedly but gently until a flame catches.
- As soon as the flame catches, place it inside the fire tee pee and continue blowing until the dry twigs and branches catches fire.
This will not work in damp environments or a damp tinder. The flash will be seen, but nothing will catch on fire long enough for you to build a fire. Magnesium helps a lot if it is slightly damp, and you may need a good pile of it for it to ignite through the dampness. If I know it’s a bit damp, I carve off about a small coin sized magnesium flake pile before I start. This has worked in the Pacific Northwest where everything is damp most of the time.
