This fire starting kit from Bushcraft Survival contains a ferro rod and a fire starting rope that’ll allow you to get a fire going almost anywhere.
For the uninitiated, ferro rods are made of ferrocerium, a synthetic pyrophoric alloy that sends out a shower of 3,000°C (5,430°F) sparks when the user rapidly slides the “striker” down the rod. It’s essentially a modern version of the age old practice of striking flint to start a fire.
Ferro rods have a multitude of advantages over regular matches or a lighter. First of all, they’re impervious to water and will work as soon as you wipe them dry. They also small, lightweight, and they last an exceedingly long time – the ferro rod you see here is good for at least 15,000 strikes.
Above Image: Briskly sliding the striker down the ferro rod creates a shower of sparks at 3,000°C or 5,430°F.
This ferro rod has a cherry wood handle for good all-weather grip, and it comes with a multitool striker attached via a 2 ft paracord lanyard. The striker has a toothed edge for scraping, a small ruler, a bottle opener, and a built-in hex wrench.
One difficulty that can be faced when camping or when you’re in a survival situation is finding good dry kindling. Bushcraft Survival have solved this issue by including a jumbo wax-infused natural hemp cord, you use it by unwinding the braided rope and fraying it by twisting the fibers apart until they’re fine and fluffy.
The use of this hemp rope significantly simplifies the process of starting a fire, you can even use wet twigs and branches in a pinch. A ferro rod and striker makes a great addition to any survival kit or camping backpack, even if you use matches or a lighter normally it’s still a great idea to have a back up plan.
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
