This is the self-contained Fire Starter by Gerber Gear, it’s a cylinder that unscrews to reveal a ferrocerium rod, a metal striker, and water-resistant tinder storage compartment.
It offers an exceedingly reliable way to get a fire going, for those situations where you find yourself in the wilderness without a functioning lighter or with a handful of wet matches.
When you rapidly scrape the striker down the ferrocerium rod it creates a shower of sparks that can be as hot as 3,315 °C (6,000 °F).
Gerber: A History Speedrun
The Gerber story began in 1939 when Joseph Gerber, owner of a Portland, Oregon-based advertising agency, started sending handmade knives as holiday gifts to his clients. These knives, each made by hand by local knife-maker David Murphy, were so well-received that they sparked a demand Gerber couldn’t ignore.
Recognizing the potential, Gerber shifted gears, or pivoted as they would say in modern parlance. Later, he founded Gerber Legendary Blades, transforming his side project into a fully-fledged cutlery company.
The transition from advertising to manufacturing was unusual, but Gerber’s instinct proved correct – the company quickly gained traction in the outdoor market.
Over the next few decades, Gerber Legendary Blades expanded its product line beyond knives. The company introduced multi-tools, machetes, axes, and other outdoor equipment. They now supply gear not just to civilians but to law enforcement, military, and industrial buyers across the US and around the world.
When unscrewed you can see both the ferrocerium rod and the striker, as well as the 100 decibel emergency whistle on the cord.
The Fire Starter By Gerber Gear
The Fire Starter by Gerber Gear was developed as an inexpensive, reliable way of starting a fire. It might not be your first choice, but it does work well as a last option to get your campfire alight regardless of what the weather is doing.
The kit is very simple, it’s a waterproof tube with a cylindrical ferrocerium rod inside that is good for thousands and thousands of strikes. It also has the required metal striker – you firmly scrape the striker down the rod to create a shower of sparks that can be as hot as 3,315 °C (6,000 °F).
The Fire Starter also has an IPX4 water-resistant tinder storage compartment, which can be filled with your favorite tinder, waxed tinder rope or cord is recommended due to the fact that it’s so water-resistant, and as it burns for long enough to get sticks and twigs alight.
The process of using a traditional fire steel like this, so it’s recommended to practice and perfect the art before you actually need to use it in the field.
It measures in at 8” x 6” 1” when screwed closed, it has a cord/lanyard to it can be secured to your gear, and it comes with a 100 decibel emergency whistle to help you get found when it counts.
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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.
