Honestly, I don't even leave it to chance. If you take melted candle wax and mix it with cotton balls, you can make a firestarter that works well with ferrorods. You soak the cotton balls in wax and let it cool solid. Then in the woods, you peel the waxed cotton ball apart and make a nest to catch sparks. Works even better than shredded bark.
@@scottwpilgrim Yeah I always have a wad of cotton with magnesium flakes I can pull apart for tinder. Wax works great, too. As with anything, there might be problems gathering tinder, depending on the weather, moisture situation, etc. One could get the best tools, but they're worth nothing if you don't know what you're doing. The best survival tool is your brain! And experience, of course, always helps.
i dunno, cotton ball with vaseline works every time for me and that "back and forth" action on the ferro rod rubbed me the wrong way. Those back strokes spend sparks flying the wrong way
@@MrGhostVortex I wouldn’t say that,I think the point he was making was, If you don’t practice or use it regularly to make a fire, it will give you a false sense of security for when you really need one. Stress test your skills, try to make a small fire in miserable conditions, learn what will and won’t work.
@@spike.strat1318 its easy at home in the best conditions , but its a whole other story outside in the cold when its mostly wet and frozen materials , i carry cotton balls with Vaseline and fatwood and always carry a ferro rod and lighter just in case ... i like it easy
@@spike.strat1318 Not that complicated, he just has a very improper way of building a fire in cold/wet/damp/snowy conditions (or in general, it seems). All you need to do is this: build your fire on a bed of split logs to prevent it from being extinguished by moisture/snow from the ground, then scrape the inner part of a log to create your tinder (or whichever method you’d like) and prepare/organize kindling by size (dry, processed from inner parts of logs), then lastly place bigger/damp pieces of wood around the fire to dry after you ignite the fire.
A magnesium rod is ideal for scraping particles to assist in preparing your tinder bundle for lighting. A Ferro rod is ideal for creating sparks. They are cousins, but different in purpose. You certainly can do your technique, but if you do, you might want a more chunky version, perhaps a six-inch by 1/2 inch rod. It will last longer and not break. The military issues in their survival kit a combo device with a magnesium bar with a ferro rod on one side as a striker. you use one side to scrape particles off into a little pile, then the ferro rod to ignite it.
I worked in a sporting goods store and we started selling both. If I knew what each was for I would have made sure that I would have explained what they were and how to use them.
@ANONM60D, Harbor Freight Tools sell a low cost magnesium bar with a metal "shaver" and striker. I used to buy them for $1.99, and one time bought them for 99 cents each. That was a couple of years ago. Check current price, also watch for sales.
Been teaching my kids how to start a fire using a ferro rod in the Pacific Northwest (wet conditions) since they were 6 years old. The most important step is not the actual ignition, it's the preparation and gathering of the right kindle.
finally someone who really said what they mean , not this other comments from above that goes like " I've been starting fire using ferro rod since I was a baby..." then trails off and doesnt mention how they start fire using ferro rod in their own way but just proceed to mock the uploader
@@hellp5310 I use a cotton ball with a tiny bit of Vaseline, and a Zippo ferro rod. Best rod I've owned, and the cotton ball gives me about 7 minutes of flame. If you prepare your kindle and get organized, you will succeed even in wet conditions.
I'm on the PNW too but have always been in the city .. would love to meet some people that can teach me things I've never had to learn before being that I was raised in Vegas 😅
Thoughts from an elderly Alaskan: A firesteel is nice to have after practicing with it. But it is not for everyday fire making. Old timers use matches. Also, avoid using material from the floor of the forest. If you look around, you will see dead branches remaining on trees. Those are the nice dry fire makers that you want because they are not damp or punky. If you do get caught in a situation that your ferro rod is the last hope, prepare your small fuel extra well and light it in a protected area. This advice comes from a guy who has trouble building a fire with a stack of newspapers and five gallons of gasoline.
I am living in an house that is mainly heated by woodfires. Some days even bone dry paper is not in the mood to light. I always joke that i consider houses burning down fake news, even lint is fire proof!
@@pouncepounce7417 well ... i think thats because of more fire retardent stuff being washed makes the lint less flammable, maybe try it with say a specific wash made up of only cotton and wool items in the dry, after being washed without detergents or conditioners .... then try some of that lint .... do a comparison test?
Kudos for effort and eventual success. A couple pointers: 1. Fallen logs are probably damp--dead standing trees are a better bet. 2. You should start with at least a baseball sized bit of tinder. 3. Progress up in size from shavings to pencil, to finger, to 2x finger, to wrist size, and have at least double of what you think you'll need. 3. A hard scrape of the ferro rod will make better sparks than trying to play it like a crazed violinist. 4. The inside of dead logs are usually dryer. Don't be afraid to split them and get rid of the outside. 5. A dry base reflects heat back up--build a fire on a split log. 6. Preparation is key. Make sure you have everything ready before you introduce the spark.
Agreed. Pro Tip: always carry a road flare when going into the woods and expecting to start a 🔥 fire... They are perfect for starting a fire in emergency, terrible weather , situations. This has saved my life in a solo camp situation, about a decade ago.
Best advice I ever got was "Pull the ferro-rod up against your striker" not push the striker against it. This is the correct way to make the best sparks and direct them toward your tinder with the striker held in place.
for #1 make sure you check the rules in the area you are. A lot of places you camp, backpack, wilderness areas, etc have rules about "not" taking standing dead, not allowed. Only dead on the ground.
Not to brag but my fire kit fits in an old large prescription bottle. Big enough for a mini bic, long burn matches, a small Ferro and some tinder. Small, and with a little Teflon tape, 100% waterproof.
I used to collect 5 times more than I thought I needed and dry the rest near my first fire, That way I had a bit spare for when it rained for a day or 2
@@henryvalero9235 I found it is better to have it off the ground so it catches more heat from the fire, I either use a log or cut a forked branch and ram it into the ground, then you can place your bundle in the fork, If it's windy then you may need to cut a strip of bark to tie the bundle up to stop it blowing away
Also a small magnesium block with a Ferro Rod made onto the side is a really good idea that's the whole point of them right. I give the guy points for trying to give people good advice but it seems like he didn't really think this through before he made the video LOL
I carry several ways to ignite and in my stuff I have different materials to help get a fire started. I'm not worried unless I have to use that bow method or whatever it is called. I guess I was unfairly labeled a pyro by some when I was a kid but I can usually get any fire started. If I only had some WP artillery shells then things could get started long distance. Lol.
I actually have a small bag that has several ways to start a fire. Ferro rod, magnesium stick, butane lighters, one a jet, one regular... matches, and even some tinder. Plus, there are mini glowsticks in the tiny pack, to see what you are doing if it's pitch black out there. I have a hunk of pure magnesium from a junk tool that was scrapped. It works better than the bars at the store.
@@danieljones317 Ditto. At least 2 BIC cigarette lighters and a refillable one (not gas) along with enclosed supplemental lighter fluid. And protected emergency matches, a lighter style match with fluid, and great tinder of different sources. Just bringing a ferro rod without quality tinder or a backup lighter or matches is a disaster waiting to happen. Cotton balls and petroleum jelly, steel wool, Weber fire starters, cotton lint, charcloth, birthday candles (with flame), etc, work great.
There is plenty of small dried twigs attached to standing trees. You don’t have to waste precious calories chopping large logs to get dry wood. Look for a group of hemlock trees and you will have plenty of dry kindling, even in the rain.
This is exactly why I always carry a magnesium/ferro rod in my EDC, my camp kit, my backpack... I have started a fire in tne snow in two minutes. Always collect tinder, kindling and fuel before you even start. Magnesium burns at fourteen hundred degrees. If you set your fire lay properly it will not fail. Do your homework, practice several times. It could save your life.
One of my favorite strategies for getting a good tinder nest is finding dead dry seed heads of weeds. They almost always have tiny hairy projections, and the seeds are loaded with oils and carbohydrates that catch fire quickly.
Good job on the third attempt. Nice work for not giving up! Here is a little feedback from an Eagle Scout. Whenever you think you have enough tinder of different sizes to build a fire, double that amount for each size before you get started. When you use your ferro rod, hold the striker in place, apply pressure on the ferro rod, and pull the ferro rod backwards. This prevents your striker and hand from disturbing your tinder bundle and puts the sparks right where you need them. Finally, not all strikers are the same. Some metals will spark a ferro rod much differently than others. It is a matter of trial and error finding which striker works best with the ferro rod you are using. All the best with your videos.
Sound advice, and you watched till the end... I stopped watching when he was chopping on the small log and getting a small pile of small chips (in the snow) and totally disregarded them. Maybe when seeing that, put something down for the small chips to land on making it easy to collect and stay dry? Winter, base of trees where leaves collect... dig down a little and see if there is a dry layer of useful material? USAF Survival School Grad (did Boy Scouts also), and this make my brain hurt. To his credit, states he is not a professional at the start.
A great striker for ferrorod is a piece of hacksaw or saber saw blade. Keep it in your wallet with a small ferrorod. Heat it red hot, then drop into water to make the steel martensite hard. Then use an EZ lap to make the edge perfectly flat with two sharp square scraping edges. Oh, yeah, this also makes an excellent firesteel for use with flint, but ferrorod is much more powerful than that.
@@richardnineteenfortyone7542 I have a piece of broken file that I heated at one end to soften it (to drill a hole through), then ground a semi-sharp chisel edge on it. That's the tool I use with my USAF magnesium firestarter which has a ferro rod embedded in one side. The thicker steel is good for scraping decent magnesium shavings off the block and still makes good sparks off the ferro rod.
Additional advice (from someone who was never a "Boy Scout" at any level): When adding tinder to increase a fire, put a couple pieces on and let them catch thoroughly before adding more. This will make it less likely you will smother the fire. If you're going to pile a bunch of tinder on a fire, you might as well throw a snowy log onto it, immediately. The fire will most likely go out, but your anger and temper will now keep you toasty warm.
Kudos for posting a video that shows mistakes and less-than-successful effort. That takes courage. As a wilderness survival instructor, I've started many fires with a ferro rod. One of the tips I give my students in winter-time is DO NOT wait until you need a fire to start looking for tinder. Always carry a cotton drawstring bag and always be on the look-out for dry tinder. When you find it, put it in the bag and put the bag in a coat pocket. I don't recommend plastic bags because if there is any moisture in the tinder the plastic bag won't let that moisture escape. One more tip... get a different knife and maybe carry a collapsible bow saw. I don't think I've ever seen so much energy expended just to start a fire.
I wouldn't recommend shaving the rod, unless you were seriously up the creek. The reason why many fire kits come with blocks of magnesium is so you take shavings off *that* to mix in with the tinder, and then ignite them with the ferro rod.
@@thebiggestpanda1 Ain't that the truth. 😂 The easiest, though, is powder. You can buy it on Amazon. A tin holding five 10g packets. Alternatively, buy it in bulk, along with a batch of small ziplock bags. I bought five bars a while back, so I'll scrape those first, then take up the powder.
I like ferro rods and playing with them,but I don’t think it’s a Sin to have Bic lighter,or Zippo,or matches on yourselves.. I am not a hero but when SHTF your brain is only thing that will save you..Coleman mag and ferro rod block (basically US army ones) I use them and they work…
Dad taught my 7 brothers and me to start any fire. Small amount of shavings and start them, then slowly add your leaves or and twigs. Just like build a big fire. So many things I see on these videos by you and others, my daddy taught us kids. The bug out bags is the same kits he carried and gave us for our first vehicle. My dad and mom were in their twenties during the depression. My dad was a trapper in Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and was a Hobo and road the rails from Iowa to Oregon. I am so grateful for that knowledge and I tried to teach my 4 kids what he taught me. I like watching these videos its like a refresher course for me.
@Gorilla Gorilla will I never said a word about not using a rod. I was saying how it's easier when you use small amounts until you get the fire going. That I learned how to start surviving when I was young. Every vehicle I own has at least 4 Clipper lighters, 1 flint rod, and 4 medicine bottles with matches in them, gallon zip lock bag with dryer lint covered in wax and a can of fluid for the lighters. I usually have a jump bag at home set up the same way. My purse has right now 6 Clipper lighters; I just got done topping them off, matches in medicine bottle, and one with waxed covered lint. I'm just stopped smoking 4 months ago, plus I collect Clipper lighters. So, I always have them around me.
So to answer your question. It's been a very long time because I'm always prepared. I did teach some friends when I was homeless 2 years ago how to use a flint rod, waxed covered lint to start a fire. They had no clue on even how to get a real fire going with a lighter or matches. So I taught them how, with all 3, how to build a shelter too. It was wintertime in December in Idaho. Don't underestimate me because I'm a woman. I know a lot of things and could probably do circles around you on how to survive in Idaho. I can also survive in the desert, too. Having a father who taught me and the fact I stay on top of learning and refreshing my skills. I've been learning for 40+ years. How many years have you been learning?
@@MommaBear208 You sound much like myself. I'm sorry this man underestimated you. When "one" has this knowledge of survival, it becomes our way of life. Other's question it and have no level of understanding of how thoroughly we can survive in the worst of conditions. You sound like a good lady. :-). Our knowledge keeps us going. People question and razzle others over feral rods and lighters in there own immaturity, do not sweat it.
The trick to feeding the fire is having all your wood ready before you even light it. You don't want to be running around looking for materials and sticks the correct size AFTER ignition, do it beforehand so it's all right there. Then you won't panic and smother it by piling too much of the wrong size materials on so you don't lose the flame. You want to keep levelheaded... _"Attitude is a small thing that makes a big difference."_
For future reference if your gonna start cutting off a lot, cut at one of the ends not in the middle. @ 4:05 don't blow away the wood chips or saw dust, use it to your advantage to light your fire. You should have roughed up the grass bit to wear got finer smaller pieces, you want as much small dust and flaky pieces from dry grass to catch a flame. Peelings from a ferro rod won't ignite, small flakes the size of grains of sand are what you want as an ignition source if your going that route. Best thing to do is remember that camelus machete is used for brush-clearing not wood chopping, get yourself a fixed blade belt knife that measures from 3 in and 6in and you'll be fine. As a general rule keep 2 handfuls of tinder, kindling, 1 arm load of small fuel and 2 armloads of medium fuel. You should also carry a few cotton balls and petroleum based lip balm in your pocket to have a good fire starter and extender. Worse comes to worse just always carry a few strips of duct tape on the inside cuff or zipper seam of your jacket and a mini Bic lighter and you'll be fine.
He snuffed the fire by adding too much wood too quickly without enough “bird nest” material including wood shavings. He also waited a long time before even starting to put wood on. You have to start with small twigs and sticks first and keep feeding the fire until the heat really starts to increase. Then you can gradually start to add larger pieces of wood on while still keeping plenty of kindling to fuel the fire until it really picks up and starts consuming the larger wood. But you need a lot of small twigs and sticks to build plenty of smoldering coals at the base of your fire before it can sustain itself with the larger logs. I’ve used ferro rods for a long time and even though I also carry or use different methods, I would never want to get caught with an extended stay in the woods without a good ferro rod and knife at my side. There’s no real reason why you shouldn’t carry one in the woods. They’re small, lightweight, easy to carry and easy to use! I recommend familiarize yourself with using them before relying on them but they can save your life or someone else’s!
He hacked at a 6” log twice and didn’t collect a scrap of kindle from the whole exercise. Surprisingly, The pile of shaving didn’t seem to peek his interest at all.
but he totally started a good with with a ferro rod.. is "Never carry a ferro rod" just a rhetorical title , which makes you click, to discover you SHOULD have one? Im confused . ..
Old topic, but I feel pretty confident using a ferro rod/magnesium combo, Bic lighter and waterproofed matches that I carry in a backpack. Build your skills and practice with different gear but don't be overconfident. Oveconfidence kills.
As for the shaving pile, I would recommend that you purchase a magnesium flint combo. It's much more effective than trying to shave your flint down which also makes that rod run low faster
I bought one of those magnesium bars and yes got a fire started eventually but I also decided to burn it as it was so time consuming so I told everyone to stand back "it's gonna be bright" and put it in the red coals, and it melted and nothing bright ,nor did it burn. Hmmmn don't buy cheap imitations. Now I carry Birch bark or sliced inner tube and my fires are lit with matches. You need to go out on a rainy miserable day and practice what you think you know!
BIC is about 1$ at any gas station comes in a mini size too and takes the flick of a thumb. Why kill yourself to have a bushcrafty start your fire? If you want a bushcrafty start master the bow drill and you wont need a lighter or a ferro rod however all tools are good to have. But a BIC works even after its been dropped in the water and it will work if its completely out of fluid to start at least ONE fire maybe more.
@@brucewmclaughlin9072 Well yeah, shaved magnesium only ignites at the kind of temperatures the sparks hit when they're struck from a ferrocerium rod (about 3,500°C), and even then only when they're ground down really small to increase the surface area. A campfire (that burns at around 900-100°C) isn't anywhere near hot enough to spontaneously ignite a whole block of magnesium, considering it'll melt first comfortably at about 650°C. What the fuck did you expect? Jesus Christ. It isn't 'a CheAp iMiTaTiOn', it's physics dude.
You're jamming too much cold fuel on too fast and smothering the fire. Let it build up and absorb the heat more slowly. Fire=fuel+heat+oxygen. The first one would have worked fine.
@marthale7 that's why those who wants to survive "out there" practice throughout the year, not only during dry hot summers :P . been there, done that. learned hard way too .
I bet this guy never practiced his source. Grass and leaves hold moisture. Fat wood and birch bark have oils in them. Dude did you get your survival skills from a high California hippie?
It would be less hard if he used a smaller knife and a pocket saw. That knife he used is just not suitable for the job. Bigger is definitely not always better.
This is why it's always worthwhile to actually test your technique and equipment in a controlled environment. Maybe it's been raining alot in your area so take a drive to your local forest/camping area and actually try making a fire, that way if you fail and things start going poorly you can just hop back in your car and leave without harm, re-assess your techniques and try again later. So that way when it's a real situation you know what works and what doesn't in a safe and controlled way.
That's why the old military fero rods were attached to a magnesium block you use the magnesium shavings and save your ferocium. You might want to try that
Well I respect the raw nature of the video and the honesty in the filming. You seem like a genuinely good guy and my guess is that you are acquiring skills as you grow older and spend more time in the woods. If I’m being absolutely frank, the problems you experienced here would not happen to an experienced woodsman. The mastery of fire building has to do with the preparation of the materials and the technique with ferro rod. There is a certain art to stacking wood, teepee style, that allows damp wood to dry out quicker as the fire accumulates a coal bed as well, which takes time and practice to learn. What you’ve shown here is a realistic depiction of what can happen and what you might encounter if you don’t have the recipe just right. In an experienced set of hands, those conditions wouldn’t present a huge challenge. That said, thank you for a well made, honest and thoughtful video.
@@HOLLASOUNDS The point is to make a fire without a lighter. Next progression in skills is to make a fire without a lighter or a Ferrell Rod. Hence Bushcraft/Survival.
@@HOLLASOUNDS lighters tend not to work well or at all below about 4 degrees C/40-ish degrees F. Ditto if they get wet. A ferro rod you can drop in a creek, wipe it off and it'll still work. Lighters are great to have and you should carry one, but if it's your only firemaking tool and it fails you're gonna have a bad time.
This is the channel for me. Subscribed. I’m not interested in how the professionals demo fire builds because they don’t show the failures. I fail. This video helped me learn what fails so I don’t repeat the mistakes. Thanks.
As I watched this I'm reminded of a short story I read as a kid, by Jack London, "To Build A Fire." A young man, his first year in the Yukon, went out alone in sub-zero weather, his first mistake. His over confidence in his survival skills, dependance on man made resources; matches, and his underestimate of nature's wrath, got him killed. Glad you survived lol.
@@brohanime Your punctuation is terrible. You should probably brush up on English first, before telling others to "go back to school". Regardless, English may not be his native language, or he could've relied upon spell-check. Either way, you should keep your unwanted and unnecessarily rude opinions to yourself.
@@brohanime Oddly as just another human educated in english I understood his comment clearly and didn't see a garmaric mistake. You english majors are the death of communication demanding perfection while missing the point, too communicate!
@@owenbevans6062 of course you didn't notice any grammatical mistakes given that you used the wrong "to" and you spelt grammar as "garmaric". you should also probably go back to school and ask for a refund on the English education you purport to have.
It is always a good idea to look for standing dead trees if you need dry tinder. The stuff on the ground absorbs moisture from both the ground and precipitation thoroughly soaking it with little chance to dry, wheras standing dead stuff sheds moisture and dries off in the free airflow preventing soaking through to the middle. Peel off the outer layer until you reach the dry stuff. Usually dry wood is not too deep. Build a stockpile of useable fuel before you set your fire; you need to keep it fed to make enough coals to keep it lit during crappy weather. Collect tinder while you walk if you think you will need a fire. Keep your eyes peeled for an area of potentially dry fuel wood and build your fire near it so you never have to leave site of your fire to gather additional wood to stockpile especially for an "overnighter". Only split wood if absolutely necessary; try to gather more manageable sizes you can break. In survival situations, you need to consider your energy expenditure trying to do things especially in the cold. Remember, you can become hypothermic even on a cool, damp summer day. So, cudos to you, sir for trying to set a fire in "real world" conditions and failing! You learn faster if things go awry and you are more likely to remember what NOT to do. Carry more than one fire-lighting source; what if you drop one in the deep snow? Practice, practice and practice some more until it is second nature to set a fire regardless of conditions. Cheers.
remember: fire likes a chimney. a little air underneath and heat going up the chimney to draw it up. so keep the tinder up off the floor with a few larger dry sticks so air can get under it. Build on top of the tinder a chimney in "2x2 log cabin" style over the top, so that when the fire starts it's drawn up into the "chimney" of sticks and they will be lit on fire by the tinder.
Thanks for this. I got quite a chuckle as I watched you struggle - reminded me of myself in so many ways. But a I was also reminded of a valuable lesson such an endeavor taught me. Not always, but often, the key to success when solving a puzzle, finding a solution, comes down to two things: PERSISTENCE & PRACTICE. When something goes wrong, you need to combine that persistence with a loosely structured approach to analyzing why its not working. Then you make a small change, retest, then reanalyze. In this example some of the possible reasons you were not getting a fire might be: Is my ferro rod acting 'normally'? Do I have enough tinder? Is it too wet? Do I need to collect finer materials? Am I exposed to too much wind? This is why practice is so important. Before you can start a fire in challenging conditions, you want to be confident that you can start a fire with your ferro rod in ideal conditions. Also, in most situations, you will typically learn a new skill fastest if you have someone willing to act as your mentor. This requires a person who clearly posses the skill you seek AND is able to teach it (these arev2 separate issue). Mentor might be a friend, an older brother, a teacher, or simply someone you respect. Mentors can help you quickly identify what you are doing wrong. Don't bevaf.raid to pay your mentor. By this I mean, for example, be willing to sign up and pay the $35 fee to take a community college 1 day course. Try to talk with someone who went to the course last year. Did they feel it was worth the price of admission.
You’re smothering your fire before it gets going. You need to let the fire breath for 30 seconds or so before you completely cover it with so much material.
I think he's actually right. Ferro rod is a bad choice to rely on in an emergency. I like using them for fun, but really the best thing to carry for emergencies is a bic along with some dryer lint and vaseline.
@@mortsdans Multiple sources of lighting.. prep for an emergency sure.. knowing what types of materials light easier as well natural fat wood saving charcoal from previous fire holds sparks well that a rod can ignite..
@@chrisburrell8489 true. I have to agree, a ferro rod is amazing practice, everyone should use one as much as possible. Except for in an actual emergency. My multiple sources of fire when it counts are multiple bics 🙂
@@mortsdans from what I see in the video he needs to make the material smaller to help with catching the sparks more efficiently. Check out making what's called a birds nest. If your bic gets submerged in water then what? I'm just saying it's skill and there's a learning curve.. in damp conditions as well fat helps or something like that to help light smaller tinder saving charcoal from a previous fire catches a spark immediately try it out... Next thing I want to learn is the bow drill and using a pocket fresnel lense to start a fire just in case..
I find these survival videos a bit funny. Here in Australia, it isn't so much if you can find something that will burn, it's more if you can find something that isn't already on fire.
After many years of experimenting and making mistakes, I eventually settled on a butane zippo insert in a stainless steel Zippo body. Before that was a mini bic that got the button depressed in my pocket and was empty when I tried to use it. I found "survival lighters" to be too bulky and burn through fuel too fast (jets). Regular Zippos dry out in your pocket. But a lighter is just more effective and easier to use at roughly the same size and weight compared to a ferro rod. I went with the unpainted stainless Zippo body for heat conduction in cold weather. It can easily be warmed up with body heat in extremely cold conditions below what butane likes to vaporize at. I still have ferro rods integrated into a few other items like my Mora knife with removable ferro rod in the handle. This is more of a backup in case the lighter breaks (unlikely) or I just lose it (more likely). I prefer the Thunderbird insert for zippo bodies to the zippo branded butane insert because you can see the fuel level. Thanks for keeping it real. It's not often that you see someone fail in a survival skills video. A lot of these guys are promoting themselves to sell classes and make everything look easy and perfect. Something to try next time instead of chopping a V out of a log. Rip off a piece of bark to put on the ground and then use 2 logs to create a chevron on the ground. Then work in the corner. The logs will help contain the heat without restricting airflow as well as blocking wind that can blow out an infant flame. Sorry, I'm rambling. Nice vid bro.
You can also keep a Bic from leaking by attaching a zip tie around the top of the lighter, you can take it off without cutting it and it keeps the butane button from being depressed in your bag or pocket etc. Where did you find those butane zippo lighters and cover?
@@Doobie603 an elastic band twisted round the lighter under the trigger does the same. Just roll it down a bit when you need to use it and up again afterwards.
You need to keep your Bic lighter in a front shirt pocket to avoid depressing the button. They’re designed to fit in your frocket w/ pens, just like a whiskey flask. They’re made that way for a reason.
@@bendover9813 I got Bic lighters all over the place they wont all fit in my front pocket. Sometimes you throw your lighters in a bag or pack. You know?
You should have been carrying the 100000000000million lumen ebay special flashlight and you could have dried the tender and started the fire at the same time. It works in their stolen/borrowed videos right? Haha. Great vid Matt.
Lol. I told a guy at work I have a 4000 lumen EDC and he's like meh I got a 100000 lumen on ebay for $20 😂 I'm like dude that's not 100000 lumens it's probably 100 lumens at that price. People are so gullible lol.
Carry a ferro rod, know how to prep tinder, carry a lighter, and know how to start a fire without a ferro rod or lighter in both wet and dry conditions. Also I take some cotton, soak it in petroleum jelly, pack it into 1 inch sections of plastic straws, burn the ends to keep them shut, and pack a couple in my knife sheath, bug out bag, vehicle, and wallet. The petroleum jelly soaked cotton takes a spark very easy. With good tinder prep it's very easy to start a fire with. Gathering and preparing your tinder is the most important step in fire making. Also practice in different conditions using different materials.
That skip to bigger sticks before getting a decent pile of small twigs going is one of the main mistakes beginner fire starters usually make. Bravo for showing how that behaves.
The way that the rod is being used is a workable method, but they make magnesium "rods" (actually sticks) that have ferorods on the side. This method of shaving particles before sparking is a magnesium fire starting method. Magnesium will burn with a very hot flame and not just additional sparks from the ferorod shavings.
There is a lot to be said for slow burning embers here too. If you can carry a ferro rod, AND a few scraps of char cloth, then with a LITTLE experience you can make fire look easy. It's not always about the dryness of a tinder, but rather your ability to provide it with SUFFICIENT HEAT to get it from slightly damp, to burning. To that end, charcloth is a POWERFUL spark extender and makes for a really fun fire lighting experience. Kudos to you for showing the mistakes, and understanding that they're constructive. It's also crucial to point out that this is a controlled environment! If anything goes wrong, you are able to go home! Learn with a safety net. Practice close to home. Travel with knowledge once you're a master.
It wasnt the ferro rod it was the person using it. You could have processed that dry log into the smaller sizes you need. Fine tinder first, thenFeather sticks. Then medium. Then work your way up. Toothpick, pencil, finger, so on.Preparing your tinder is key. Whether you use one match. A lighter or a ferro rod. And as Donald says, grab truck loads of materials. Oh and blow gentley to begin with. The more smoke, then you can blow harder.How you do your fire lay is also important. Having your tinder off the damp ground.
no kidding. I don't even know you and I can assure you they are better off. worst piece of advice I've ever seen. just because someone can't light a fire with a ferro rod as well as they think is no reason to NOT carry an extremely dependable, practically bulletproof, lightweight piece of potentially lifesaving gear. glad this is my first video of his so I don't waste time on any more.
Thank you for sharing this video. It illustrates the fact that small tasks can become big challenges when the conditions are not in your favor. I never go into the woods without my folding saw. It was cheap, I bought it at Lowes, it gets the job done. I think the brand name is "Grizzly." There are probably better, and probably worse, but even the worst is better than none. A Wilderness First Responder told me that, when he is in the woods, he carries a "complete, dry fire" with him. This includes (my version) fatwood shavings (size of a softball), a double handful of pieces of fatwood ranging in size from matchstick thickness to finger thickness, about six inches in length, and three pieces of wood about 18" in length, one split into six pieces, one split into three pieces, and one split in half. I carry a Fresnel lens (3" X 5"), a Bic lighter, a Zippo lighter, a ferro rod, a magnesium rod, and a 30-minute road flare. You can light the road flare even if your hands are numb and shaking. It will serve as tinder and kindling and will light the larger hunks of wood with ease, enabling you to warm your hands so you can quickly gather more firewood. If you truly NEED a fire, this may be your only, sure path to success. Again, thanks for sharing this video. It was enlightening. I subscribed. 😎
@@Rick-the-Swift Yes, but with incipient hypothermia, the propane torch requires fine motor skills that may lie beyond my capabilities. Still, not a bad idea.
Carried a ferro rod for the whole time i was homeless, was hands down one of the most important piece of kit i would reguarly use. If you can get birch bark tightly roll up a trip untill you have a 1-2cm thick "stick/log" then cut a few thin slices off the tip and those make stringy pieces of birch bark that catch a spark easily. If you cant get any use those circle cotton makeup pads cut them in half so you have a bunch of semi circles and soak them with candle wax, one pad makes 2 firelighters. When you need to use one tear the semocircle in half so you have two quarters with exposed fibres that you will throw sparks on Gather your firelighting supplies before you need them and keep them dry by covering them with a plastic bag or use your tarp to wrap them up when storing them on the outside of your pack on days where the weather isnt ideal. Use your fire that you make to fully dry out any and all kindling and tinder for the next fire and keep these supplies completely dry as i mentioned previously. The more you prepare the easier it will become the next time you need a fire
I always carry something like a Esbit/firestarter that gives me enough energy to start a fire under very difficult conditions. And of course a powerful, stormproof lighter. There is no honor in freezing to death with a firesteel however enjoyable operating a firesteel might be.
as you took considerable trouble at the start to correctly find and split a good dry log, you should then have used all your advantage to make a large dry, flat platform by puttng both halves together, then putting your nest on the centre of those with small and medium twigs close by to get warm and be really handy.
No worries. Thanks for being honest about your failure. I kind of thought in your first or maybe second attempt that you didn’t have enough wood supplies ready. I always think making a fire is 90% prep work and 10% getting the stinker to burn.
I have been using ferro rods and magnesium fire starters since I was 8 . I am 55 now . Practice makes perfect . Learn to aim your sparks . No bad issues yet . One piece of advice I found out in Alaska in -50 degrees is do not wait until your body is freezing up and going numb to start a fire . Do it long before you get to that point .
Ill never forget my time in the scouts, felt silly at the time but now I see the real life application of those skills and understand better why I had to learn them.
I always carry more than one source of fire. Fire steel, matches, a lighter. Also in my waterproof fire kit I carry compacted dryer lint, wax, dried pine sap, cotten balls with vaseline, toothpicks, and wax coated toothpicks to be used as small tinder that burns longer. All of this easily fits inside a quart ziplock bag. Packaged individually inside in smaller sandwich bags. With this kind of tinder it's easy to start a fire. Even when it's cold windy and wet. I've never needed the matches or lighter before, but I carry them just in case. Always carry at least some kind of dry tinder in a waterproof container even if you only use a lighter or matches.
Birthday candles or small emergency candles. They weigh from little to nothing. If you’re lighting a fire light a candle too until the fire is 100% sustainable.
Anyone who is carrying a fire starting Ferro rod should as well carry some dry fiber with him because if ur In a wet environment and u expect to start a fire it's not gonna work because u have nothing dry to catch a spark on In the first place a good tip is to always carry some string or paracord with ya or wrap around ur Ferro rod some sort of cotton to catch a spark on it won't take any place also carry a small soda can with ya u can make a stove with it by cutting it and opening it like a window shape and this will provide u with security from wind that may close ur fire also carrying some flammable liquid in snow environment will definitely be a requirement to start fires because they are gonna catch on fire pretty easily u can also try using wax from candles to keep the fire going and there is lot more u should take care of before trying to open a fire in a snow environment u need more tools to do it there than u will at a sunny place with no raining in such place u will actually just need ur Ferro rod to start a fire than the rest is easy to feed the fire with more wood over and over good luck and hope this helps someone who actually read it
I know everyone has advice on kindling and starting fires different ways. No matter what way you choose I saw in your video that you had access to a cedar tree. If you remove just the top layer of the bark on a cedar tree, and a lot of other evergreen trees, you will find a layer of fine pulpy mesh like wood. You can easily collect enough of this material to start a fire with just a spark. And if you find dead cedar it'll light even easier. This material is rich with very flammable cedar oil. I used to collect some any time I came across dead cedar and my supply was getting low in my fire kit.
I haven’t made a fire with a ferro rod in years. But carrying a magnesium rod and using it with his ferro rod I think would have made starting the wet tender easier.
@@mumbles1justin Yep, I keep looking at these guys with their ferro rods like they're magical, starting fires with one or two sparks... I've got a well worn magnesium starter that I know will get anything hot enough to catch, plus that cool little sparky thing.
Helpful tip- make some char cloth to catch your spark. Literally will allow you to strike the rod one time. Ps also getting an larger ferro rod will help mine is about 3\8" think and 7" long ive been using the same one for 2 years now. Cool vid keep working at it.
I live in the midwest and we have a lot of humidity. Sometimes it can be almost impossible to start a fire. I always wanted to start a fire with a fire drill but never had any luck. Finally, in controlled conditions, I decided I was going to do whatever it took. What it took was drying the wood out in an oven first. It actually worked at first but after a couple of hours, the humidity soaked back into the wood and wouldn't work anymore. When i go into the wild, I carry a Mag-torch pocket torch and have matches, and ferro rods in my pack.
2 keys, you have to find dry material for the tinder, and small kindling. Which can be tough in that scenario. Having all your materials gathered up and around you so you can add them as you need them is also very important. Love that you didn't have the RUclips Pride and not show the failures! Nice video!
Today I watched a man chop a log with a big ass knife which has a saw on the back 😂 Though Camillus basically being the Ultrafire of the knife world, the saw likely sucks too.
Oh yeah that knife sucks big time. The "sawback" doesn't work for anything. The blade is too thick in my opinion to work as a saw. I batoned that knife through a 6" piece of pine, no knots, on the 4th strike of the baton the blade broke right in half. Stay away from this knife
You can actually find some good knives in Walmart. Gerber Prodigy is an example (I like the non serrated version). You can baton that knife all day. The Camillus is crap and it will snap.
One thing I can say. If you your skill is about the same of getting a fire started with a ferro rod -- never let that fire go out. Keep it going in a survival situation. Shavings from the inside of the log would of been my tender of choice along with the dried pine needles. Gather LOTS of wood. 3x what you think you might need. Of all sizes -- before you attempt to make a fire.
I am one who practiced in my garage with vaseline soaked dryer lint. That was easy. Now I see I need real practice in tough conditions! Funny video, thanks!
That's why I usually will pick up tinder and put it in my pocket so it can warm and dry... but yes, you are completely correct in everything you have said in this video!
Great Demonstration of the importance of dirt time. The first time I tried field use of a Ferro rod, my results were similar. The scrap shavings off a bit of the rod thing is for marginal tinder. I found I had to really fluff up my tinder to get it going. Man, much easier to carry a bit of tinder with me!
The biggest lesson here: You can never have TOO MUCH tinder. Birds nest, pencil thickness, finger thickness - and lots of each level. To be fair, I don't think too many people are going with only a ferro rod thinking it will work, most have some form of tinder packed with them. I don't disagree with the overall message here, but you somewhat proved your own point - practice with your tools and skills regularly.
Yep, ferro rod is the reliable backup. If you have both a chemical lighter and a ferro rod there is no reason to try the ferro rod first, unless it happens to be very cold, windy or you are at a high altitude the chemical lighter will always be easier. But in windy conditions it might not, if its very cold and you're high up it simply might not ignite, and even then the lighter is only as good as its fuel, and the ferro rod isn't suddenly gonna leak all its fuel between one night and the next or be unusable if dunked in water.
Kudos on publishing your errors. Not everybody has the guts to do that. It’s based your honesty integrity and authenticity, and I say that not having seen anything else you do. It might be kind of important to have all your stuff ready before you start lighting. You can’t just start it with your small stuff and then think you can go look for a bigger stuff to burn. It’s either right there when you’re ready to start, or you can’t start. Every time. And that’s no matter what your ignition source is. We can’t really blame the ferrorod for that. That’s about inexperience and planning. Even though the title of your video here is about reasons not to carry a ferrorod, Yours served you very, very well. A person needs to practice with these things quite a lot to make sure that they can use them with confidence in the more adverse circumstances. I don’t know any woodsman that carries only one source of spark. Most people I know carry a Ferro rod, A lighter, a gas torch, waterproof matches, fire strap, and at least a couple of other methods. That’s without counting things like Vaseline, fat wood, wax covered dryer lint balls… your fire so important that you need to carry the entire kit. It doesn’t have to be a big kit, but it needs to have a broad spectrum. Because when things get rough, you don’t know what will work for you if you haven’t spent a lot of time working with each one under adverse circumstances. One more thing. The thing you did really right is that you kept your head and patiently gave it another shot, and another, learning from your mistakes each time. There’s more that could be said here, but it boils down to that much, that you kept your head, learned from your steaks, and patiently persisted.❤️
Best method I've learned to make fire, lay 2 larger sticks down and then lay your tinder on top, making sure you have ample air flow to the base of your fire. From there go through the motions of ignition, add small fuel and eventually your larger fuel. Another method that works is similar to the Dakota fire hole, dig a small trench about 6 inches long and 3 inches deep, then lay a few sticks horizontal over the back portion of the small trench you made, this is what you will lay your tinder bundle and small sticks on to get air under the flame. Then follow the fueling process smallest to largest of your wood. It also doesn't hurt to have 4 ignition methods to get fire going. In order this is what I prefer to use, but sometimes I just use the ferro rods.I will carry all of these either in my pockets or in whatever pack or bag I have with me at any given moment, Bic lighter ( regular and mini with 1ft of 1inch duck tape and a Paracord loop wrapped around both), matches ( I carry storm proof, wooden stick and book matches ), ferro rod (I carry a 6in X 1/2in, and wazoo fire necklace) and compact magnifying glass. I also carry 3 rolled tubes made of 2in X 1 ft of duct tape, mini memo note book, 2 alcohol prep wipes, 3 cotton round pads, beeswax lip balm, 2 wet fire, and 12ft of 3 ply jute cord as my main tinder sources. Also happen to always wear a wife blesser or A shirt for emergency backup for bandages or fire starter, or char cloth material.
One other good option i find always works: steel wool and a 9v battery. This is why my bag has a rod, lighter, storm proof matches, and the classic steel wool with a 9v battery. If all those dont work then im SOL haha.
Fine wool. The courser stuff can be extremely difficult. The silver foil on a gum wrapper can also be shaped and used with any _A_ batteries. Like you, I carry the matches and ferro rod, but also flint and steel, mag bars and blocks, lighter and chemicals...I tend to hedge my bets 😜😂😂😂
@@billyandrew The gum wrapper? Ooo I have never tried that one. In life most have a back up plan. When camping or outdoors I like to have a back up plan, another back up plan, an "oh shit" plan..... And then last but not least the "oh if this does not work i am fucked" plan. Hahaha
Poor guy! I've been there before where my fire died on me and I'm a decade's long prepper and survivalist. Mountain, desert, arctic. It happens to the best of us. Thanks for the video. It brought back a memory I wish I could forget. 😊
Thank you for being so genuine. Because this is exactly what would happen to me if I went out there and try to start a fire with that snow and everything. So preventative & have things ready before you get the fire started. Easier said than done. Thank you
I want to share this trick I'm playing around with: A year or so ago, I was ripping some pine boards in my shop. The shavings were beautiful. I got thinking how nice they would look in an egg carton with hot wax poured onto them. Kinky, I know. Anyway, I did this, then cut the individual egg doohickies apart and tossed them in a coffee can, which then disappeared in my shop. Until a week ago. I decided to see how one of them would work in conjunction with a magnesium fire starter. I've carried one since about 1986, and have had good luck. On a side note, I observed that the hot wax, as a bonus feature, had also impregnated the paper carton material, since it obviously had not worn a condom. So the whole thing is waterproof. Sweet! And the test went as follows: I scraped a modest amount of magnesium into a depression I had made in the egg cup while the wax was still hot. One shot of sparks set it off nicely. It burned for about fifteen minutes with sufficient heat to boil a canteen cup of water. There are now several of these in my day pack to serve as emergency fire starters. Disclaimer: I don't know of anyone who has made these before, but someone probably has. Therefore I do not accept credit for the idea. Be smart, be safe out there!
I make these with dryer lint stuffed in the egg carton hole and then tied it up with jute twine and soaked the whole thing in wax. They burn for about 10 minutes even when super windy. They’re an invaluable piece of kit for sure.
I agree with most everyone else about getting 2-3 times the amount of tinder and kindling. Gather your tinder and kindling when you can find it along the way rather than the time you really need to build the fire. If you are going to carry matches/lighter/ ferro rod, then carry cotton balls with Vaseline also. Also split sticks by cutting halfway through and swinging the stick like a baseball bat against a rock or tree. Your dry kindling is in the center.
You could have roughed up some of the dry materials that you found to make them much much finer. If you put the time in, it would have caught on a regular strike or two of the ferro. If you insist on trying to shortcut with metal shavings, they make magnesium rods for that exact purpose.
I’m not sure that I would trust that piece of junk Camilus for batoning..lol..he would do much better with a $10 Mora 511 and a Silky Saw PocketBoy..I would also recommend some fatwood and/or some Vaseline covered cotton balls..not to mention he is smothering his fire and not giving it time burn a little before he starts throwing more material on it
This was an important video. This shows the reality of trying to start a fire in real conditions. It's like the intros to EVERY survival game show how they show the contestants starting fires with hand drills effortlessly but in the field, they couldn't get one going with a flamethrower if they had one.
Before the current ferro rods were commonly in use or even commonly known about the “ Coughlins” Magnesium 2” block with sparking insert (actually a small ferro rod) was my mainstay. In fact I have started probably 200 fires with mine over a period of years. Eventually I machined it into a “ wallet chain belt holder “.Since it is part of my wallet I always have it and can make a fire (or have a strobe light) no matter where I am. Part of its operation requires scraping off magnesium for tender so it eliminates part of the problem of finding dry tender when using a ferro rod alone . It works extremely well , but like a lot of fire making methods it requires trying it out at least once or twice ahead of time. Although I always have it with me I now mostly use a ferro rod.
Congratulations on doing a ‘what not to use ‘ video.... too many people are afraid of looking inept, but we All need to know what Doesn’t work as well as what Does work.
Ferro rods work fine, if you know what you're doing; he picked crappy tinder and kindling and his fire skills are lacking. Grass and leaves still hold moisture even when they feel dry, especially when cold. Notice the smoke it made when he lit it? That's because it's not dry. His area looks a lot like mine (northern New England); I would have looked for some birch and grabbed some fine papery outer bark from a standing tree for the tinder, and either some dead standing saplings or the dead lower branches from pines for the kindling. Of course, you should ALWAYS have some sort of emergency tinder with your fire kit that will help to ignite a stubborn fire in an emergency anyhow; I prefer the good ol' standby: a small baggy of homemade Vaseline cotton balls. Get out there and practice with your gear!
I went and tested my fire kit in 15deg F with 20mph winds. That’s negative 3 wind chill and some super challenging conditions to start in. Takeaway 1: always have more tinder. No mater how much you think is enough you need more. Takeaway 2: if every step of your fire isn’t ready to go NOW, do not light it. It’s better to gather and make all your fire steps than to rush it and waste resources. Takeaway 3: it’s fucking cold. Your hands are cold your nose is cold, your fingers will go numb etc. make sure to alternate gloved hands and keep a look out for cold injury. Lastly - bring a KIT not just a fero rod. Have that wax infused Jute, some petroleum jelly cotton balls, some lint, for your birds nest. Multiple sources of FLAME and spark. Also when using a fero rod get a big fucker with a dedicated scraper. More material means bigger sparks and longer afterburn
I mean, if you're bringing a whole kit there's several much easier tools to start a fire with... lighter, matches(especially with wax coated tips), potassium permanganate and sulphuric acid, etc. Potassium permanganate belongs in your wilderness survival kit for other reasons too: disinfects water, cleans wounds, treats fungal infections. The sulphuric acid doesn't need to be strong to ignite the potassium permanganate, battery acid will do. That said, the magnesium chunk on the ferro rod sure is handy, carve off a bit with your knife, then use a more sensible lighting option, in a survival situation preserving energy can be crucial.
I kayak and found that "crack" lighters (small torches) can be in water all day but blow out the water and they light. Not true for flint BIC lighters. They're also more wind resistant.
@@graveseeker burn is a term my teenage son uses to imply that someone was roasted or the butt of a joke. I used it in a play on words because he had major issues with his fire.
I’ve been in Boy Scouts for more than 10 years(started at six, currently 16). My troop prefers using lighters, but we use ferro rods if we have to. We also carry dryer lint with us. It’s a good fire starter. A ferro rod can ignite it with one spark. Essential for bringing with you on camping or hiking trips in case you get lost or something. Now, the way that you built your fire… You don’t use tinder to build a fire. You use it to start it and get it going. After that, it’s kindling. Throwing dead leaves and stuff onto the fire to make it burn hotter works, sure, but wouldn’t you rather hold onto that? Could be useful in the future.
An enjoyable video. It's your personality that makes the video's worth watching. I once said you could do a video of a trip around your town and I'd watch. That still holds true. Keep it up and keep them coming.
Matt is now part Dave Canterbury suvival expert? Hell yeah now my 210% favorite channel Edit: also no offense but that looks like a sketchy rambo type survival knife id look at Cold Steel, CRKT, or some other "beefier" knife brands
When I was a scoutmaster, I taught the scouts to gather armloads of all basic materials ands have them stacked and ready to go before the first spark was struck. It is called "building" a fire for a reason. You cannot build anything unless your materials are right there at your fingertips. One scout would be making fine shreds for tinder, another sorting small twigs for laying on tinder and so forth upping the thickness until the larger logs were all laid out and prepped. To be fair, your cautions about the ferro rod are very useful and thank you for that. Keep at it.
@@northwales1000 It's funny how I go look on your channel, nothing. No video on how to make a fire. Somehow you think I should take your word on what is considered successful or not.😂
Ya, right. After only 1 minute you told me everything I needed to know. You are right, you're not a pro. Nobody is who leads us into a discussion about ferro rods by telling everyone never carry one, when it just happens to be the most reliable fire starting method, in the wild. Your real problem is FIRE BUILDING not fire starting. You tell us at the beginning not to carry a ferro rod then show us your well worn one that yo u most definitely carry. As I said Ya right. Thumbs down. :-(
Hey! Ferrorods are great and very reliable but you need to practise with them in various conditions. Your video makes a great point - its not as easy as some people on youtube will have you believe especially not in those conditions. We have to practise and figure out a technique that works for them. A tip that should work well for most people is to carry the tinder in your pants pocket for maybe an hour in order to dry it out.
In the boy scouts they taught us to take very dry grass rough it up rub it on the side of your nose and the oil would wick like a candle instead of just flash in the pan you get a longer lasting flame to light the squaw wood and then add wood very slowly very tiny kindling you don't just throw logs on it
That's a great idea if you can soak up some oils from your skin. Seems pretty insignificant though but good trick for extreme emergency I guess. Better off to find some fatwood I think.
![Megan Thee Stallion - Bigger In Texas [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QxTkZTLWdo4/mqdefault.jpg)
After watching this whole video I feel confident in disregarding everything this guy says about fire.
Totally
Common Sense tells you a feral rod will not light wet material. This is a seriously lame video.
Pine trees all over the place in those woods. Surely there were some dry dead branches at the bottom of those.
He knows nothing about building fires.
@@phild8095 and should be able to find some fatwood too
These problems are not with the ferro rod- it provided hot sparks reliably. Rather, the problem is improper fire-building technique.
Honestly, I don't even leave it to chance. If you take melted candle wax and mix it with cotton balls, you can make a firestarter that works well with ferrorods. You soak the cotton balls in wax and let it cool solid. Then in the woods, you peel the waxed cotton ball apart and make a nest to catch sparks. Works even better than shredded bark.
@@scottwpilgrim Yeah I always have a wad of cotton with magnesium flakes I can pull apart for tinder. Wax works great, too. As with anything, there might be problems gathering tinder, depending on the weather, moisture situation, etc. One could get the best tools, but they're worth nothing if you don't know what you're doing. The best survival tool is your brain! And experience, of course, always helps.
Exactly! And proper use of a ferro rod.
i dunno, cotton ball with vaseline works every time for me
and that "back and forth" action on the ferro rod rubbed me the wrong way. Those back strokes spend sparks flying the wrong way
never used one but wanted to say, i use animal fat and.. just a lighter, sorry :D lol, get it started though.. i just fill tins when i cook..
The Ferro Rod isn't the problem. I think he would have had just as much trouble starting a fire if he was using a lighter.
Click bait title, misleading to gain views.
@@MrGhostVortex I wouldn’t say that,I think the point he was making was, If you don’t practice or use it regularly to make a fire, it will give you a false sense of security for when you really need one. Stress test your skills, try to make a small fire in miserable conditions, learn what will and won’t work.
@@spike.strat1318 its easy at home in the best conditions , but its a whole other story outside in the cold when its mostly wet and frozen materials , i carry cotton balls with Vaseline and fatwood and always carry a ferro rod and lighter just in case ... i like it easy
I think he would have to
@@spike.strat1318 Not that complicated, he just has a very improper way of building a fire in cold/wet/damp/snowy conditions (or in general, it seems). All you need to do is this: build your fire on a bed of split logs to prevent it from being extinguished by moisture/snow from the ground, then scrape the inner part of a log to create your tinder (or whichever method you’d like) and prepare/organize kindling by size (dry, processed from inner parts of logs), then lastly place bigger/damp pieces of wood around the fire to dry after you ignite the fire.
A magnesium rod is ideal for scraping particles to assist in preparing your tinder bundle for lighting. A Ferro rod is ideal for creating sparks. They are cousins, but different in purpose. You certainly can do your technique, but if you do, you might want a more chunky version, perhaps a six-inch by 1/2 inch rod. It will last longer and not break. The military issues in their survival kit a combo device with a magnesium bar with a ferro rod on one side as a striker. you use one side to scrape particles off into a little pile, then the ferro rod to ignite it.
Agreed
Which military does this? I'm trying to find the item for purchase myself.
@@CameraCommando I was never issued a magnesium bar for survival, but I'll check if there's an NSN. Thank you
I worked in a sporting goods store and we started selling both. If I knew what each was for I would have made sure that I would have explained what they were and how to use them.
@ANONM60D, Harbor Freight Tools sell a low cost magnesium bar with a metal "shaver" and striker. I used to buy them for $1.99, and one time bought them for 99 cents each. That was a couple of years ago. Check current price, also watch for sales.
Been teaching my kids how to start a fire using a ferro rod in the Pacific Northwest (wet conditions) since they were 6 years old. The most important step is not the actual ignition, it's the preparation and gathering of the right kindle.
finally someone who really said what they mean , not this other comments from above that goes like " I've been starting fire using ferro rod since I was a baby..." then trails off and doesnt mention how they start fire using ferro rod in their own way but just proceed to mock the uploader
Hey! I’m in the PNW too. Also agree with you 100%, prep is everything.
@@hellp5310 I use a cotton ball with a tiny bit of Vaseline, and a Zippo ferro rod. Best rod I've owned, and the cotton ball gives me about 7 minutes of flame. If you prepare your kindle and get organized, you will succeed even in wet conditions.
Exactly! He had virtually no materials and no prep. See my comment above.
I'm on the PNW too but have always been in the city .. would love to meet some people that can teach me things I've never had to learn before being that I was raised in Vegas 😅
Thoughts from an elderly Alaskan: A firesteel is nice to have after practicing with it. But it is not for everyday fire making. Old timers use matches. Also, avoid using material from the floor of the forest. If you look around, you will see dead branches remaining on trees. Those are the nice dry fire makers that you want because they are not damp or punky. If you do get caught in a situation that your ferro rod is the last hope, prepare your small fuel extra well and light it in a protected area. This advice comes from a guy who has trouble building a fire with a stack of newspapers and five gallons of gasoline.
I snort laughed at the last sentence lol
I am living in an house that is mainly heated by woodfires.
Some days even bone dry paper is not in the mood to light.
I always joke that i consider houses burning down fake news, even lint is fire proof!
@@pouncepounce7417 well ... i think thats because of more fire retardent stuff being washed makes the lint less flammable, maybe try it with say a specific wash made up of only cotton and wool items in the dry, after being washed without detergents or conditioners .... then try some of that lint .... do a comparison test?
@@Gomorragh that's a good point actually, if the lint is from mostly polyester clothes it may not ignite the same way as lint from cotton.
Texas, you are bang on. This guy needs to heed his own advice in the subject line of this video. Your last line dud make me chuckle!
Kudos for effort and eventual success.
A couple pointers:
1. Fallen logs are probably damp--dead standing trees are a better bet.
2. You should start with at least a baseball sized bit of tinder.
3. Progress up in size from shavings to pencil, to finger, to 2x finger, to wrist size, and have at least double of what you think you'll need.
3. A hard scrape of the ferro rod will make better sparks than trying to play it like a crazed violinist.
4. The inside of dead logs are usually dryer. Don't be afraid to split them and get rid of the outside.
5. A dry base reflects heat back up--build a fire on a split log.
6. Preparation is key. Make sure you have everything ready before you introduce the spark.
Please, make videos! Your knowledge is straight forward.
Agreed.
Pro Tip: always carry a road flare when going into the woods and expecting to start a 🔥 fire...
They are perfect for starting a fire in emergency, terrible weather , situations.
This has saved my life in a solo camp situation, about a decade ago.
Best advice I ever got was "Pull the ferro-rod up against your striker" not push the striker against it. This is the correct way to make the best sparks and direct them toward your tinder with the striker held in place.
Thanks for sharing that. I saw so many things wrong with his approach. You nailed all the points for proper correction.
for #1 make sure you check the rules in the area you are. A lot of places you camp, backpack, wilderness areas, etc have rules about "not" taking standing dead, not allowed. Only dead on the ground.
It is always good to carry multiple, compact ways to start a fire. Different situations call for different options.
Not to brag but my fire kit fits in an old large prescription bottle. Big enough for a mini bic, long burn matches, a small Ferro and some tinder.
Small, and with a little Teflon tape, 100% waterproof.
My go-to is a butane lighter wrapped in duct tape.
First rule of collecting fire making materials....when you think you have enough, get 10x more of each!
And don’t put logs upon a twig fire lol
I used to collect 5 times more than I thought I needed and dry the rest near my first fire,
That way I had a bit spare for when it rained for a day or 2
Agreed
@@sofa-lofa4241 From Lil Giant Great idea! You just put wet leaves, twigs, etc. on the ground next to the fire to dry?
@@henryvalero9235 I found it is better to have it off the ground so it catches more heat from the fire,
I either use a log or cut a forked branch and ram it into the ground, then you can place your bundle in the fork,
If it's windy then you may need to cut a strip of bark to tie the bundle up to stop it blowing away
Best advice is carry more than one source of fire lol.
Also a small magnesium block with a Ferro Rod made onto the side is a really good idea that's the whole point of them right. I give the guy points for trying to give people good advice but it seems like he didn't really think this through before he made the video LOL
I carry several ways to ignite and in my stuff I have different materials to help get a fire started. I'm not worried unless I have to use that bow method or whatever it is called. I guess I was unfairly labeled a pyro by some when I was a kid but I can usually get any fire started. If I only had some WP artillery shells then things could get started long distance. Lol.
I actually have a small bag that has several ways to start a fire.
Ferro rod, magnesium stick, butane lighters, one a jet, one regular... matches, and even some tinder.
Plus, there are mini glowsticks in the tiny pack, to see what you are doing if it's pitch black out there.
I have a hunk of pure magnesium from a junk tool that was scrapped.
It works better than the bars at the store.
Second best is to not carry whatever the hell that knife saw thing was😂
@@danieljones317 Ditto. At least 2 BIC cigarette lighters and a refillable one (not gas) along with enclosed supplemental lighter fluid. And protected emergency matches, a lighter style match with fluid, and great tinder of different sources. Just bringing a ferro rod without quality tinder or a backup lighter or matches is a disaster waiting to happen. Cotton balls and petroleum jelly, steel wool, Weber fire starters, cotton lint, charcloth, birthday candles (with flame), etc, work great.
You've taught us to take the most difficult route to making a fire possible
Making good choices comes from experience....Experience comes from making poor choices
There is plenty of small dried twigs attached to standing trees. You don’t have to waste precious calories chopping large logs to get dry wood. Look for a group of hemlock trees and you will have plenty of dry kindling, even in the rain.
And don't bring the walmart Camillus, bring a hatchet.
You have not suffered the bow drill my son.
@@jacobfarms650 that's your son?
Everybody hates the smoker until your plane goes down and it gets cold. : )
I assure you no one is mistaking you for being a professional.
He is way above an indoctrinated "professional". Calling him that would be an insult
You must be a professional !
😂 so true
@@22ndaccountduetocensorship57 Not indoctrination. Money.
Man, I'm sure I would be dead if it took me anywhere that long to start a fire.
This is exactly why I always carry a magnesium/ferro rod in my EDC, my camp kit, my backpack... I have started a fire in tne snow in two minutes. Always collect tinder, kindling and fuel before you even start. Magnesium burns at fourteen hundred degrees. If you set your fire lay properly it will not fail. Do your homework, practice several times. It could save your life.
Well said brother
And a bic lighter works twice as fast and regardless...
@@lonewolftech nope. Bic lighters don't like extreme cold. Internal pressure drops in em.
Fire piston and solar(depending obviously) are other really useful ways
@@BlackHawk2029 there are also whole beaches full of Bic lighters trust me I live in Hawaii and the garbage patch gets closer all the time.
One of my favorite strategies for getting a good tinder nest is finding dead dry seed heads of weeds. They almost always have tiny hairy projections, and the seeds are loaded with oils and carbohydrates that catch fire quickly.
Good job on the third attempt. Nice work for not giving up! Here is a little feedback from an Eagle Scout. Whenever you think you have enough tinder of different sizes to build a fire, double that amount for each size before you get started. When you use your ferro rod, hold the striker in place, apply pressure on the ferro rod, and pull the ferro rod backwards. This prevents your striker and hand from disturbing your tinder bundle and puts the sparks right where you need them. Finally, not all strikers are the same. Some metals will spark a ferro rod much differently than others. It is a matter of trial and error finding which striker works best with the ferro rod you are using. All the best with your videos.
Sound advice, and you watched till the end... I stopped watching when he was chopping on the small log and getting a small pile of small chips (in the snow) and totally disregarded them. Maybe when seeing that, put something down for the small chips to land on making it easy to collect and stay dry? Winter, base of trees where leaves collect... dig down a little and see if there is a dry layer of useful material? USAF Survival School Grad (did Boy Scouts also), and this make my brain hurt. To his credit, states he is not a professional at the start.
A great striker for ferrorod is a piece of hacksaw or saber saw blade. Keep it in your wallet with a small ferrorod. Heat it red hot, then drop into water to make the steel martensite hard. Then use an EZ lap to make the edge perfectly flat with two sharp square scraping edges. Oh, yeah, this also makes an excellent firesteel for use with flint, but ferrorod is much more powerful than that.
@@richardnineteenfortyone7542 I have a piece of broken file that I heated at one end to soften it (to drill a hole through), then ground a semi-sharp chisel edge on it. That's the tool I use with my USAF magnesium firestarter which has a ferro rod embedded in one side. The thicker steel is good for scraping decent magnesium shavings off the block and still makes good sparks off the ferro rod.
Additional advice (from someone who was never a "Boy Scout" at any level): When adding tinder to increase a fire, put a couple pieces on and let them catch thoroughly before adding more. This will make it less likely you will smother the fire. If you're going to pile a bunch of tinder on a fire, you might as well throw a snowy log onto it, immediately. The fire will most likely go out, but your anger and temper will now keep you toasty warm.
You got a ways to go bub.
Kudos for posting a video that shows mistakes and less-than-successful effort. That takes courage. As a wilderness survival instructor, I've started many fires with a ferro rod. One of the tips I give my students in winter-time is DO NOT wait until you need a fire to start looking for tinder. Always carry a cotton drawstring bag and always be on the look-out for dry tinder. When you find it, put it in the bag and put the bag in a coat pocket. I don't recommend plastic bags because if there is any moisture in the tinder the plastic bag won't let that moisture escape. One more tip... get a different knife and maybe carry a collapsible bow saw. I don't think I've ever seen so much energy expended just to start a fire.
I could not disagree more. People could die trying to replicate that bad technique.
Yep, a better knife and a folding saw would supply good dry heart wood to feather. Maybe find a coniferous tree up behind you for sap. Texas
I was cringing when he was only looking at wood that was laying on the ground.
@@papajeff5486 great advice brother. Driest part in the heart wood. Bravo
@@arctodussimus6198 agreed. Recipe for death by hypothermia
I wouldn't recommend shaving the rod, unless you were seriously up the creek.
The reason why many fire kits come with blocks of magnesium is so you take shavings off *that* to mix in with the tinder, and then ignite them with the ferro rod.
I always buy mag blocks or bars seperately and make scrapings, when I get time on my hands.
@@billyandrew good idea. Its a pain to have to do on the spot.
@@thebiggestpanda1
Ain't that the truth. 😂
The easiest, though, is powder.
You can buy it on Amazon.
A tin holding five 10g packets.
Alternatively, buy it in bulk, along with a batch of small ziplock bags. I bought five bars a while back, so I'll scrape those first, then take up the powder.
I like ferro rods and playing with them,but I don’t think it’s a Sin to have Bic lighter,or Zippo,or matches on yourselves.. I am not a hero but when SHTF your brain is only thing that will save you..Coleman mag and ferro rod block (basically US army ones) I use them and they work…
Elite dangerous is a good game....got thousands of hours under my belt.
Dad taught my 7 brothers and me to start any fire. Small amount of shavings and start them, then slowly add your leaves or and twigs. Just like build a big fire. So many things I see on these videos by you and others, my daddy taught us kids. The bug out bags is the same kits he carried and gave us for our first vehicle. My dad and mom were in their twenties during the depression. My dad was a trapper in Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and was a Hobo and road the rails from Iowa to Oregon. I am so grateful for that knowledge and I tried to teach my 4 kids what he taught me. I like watching these videos its like a refresher course for me.
@Gorilla Gorilla will I never said a word about not using a rod. I was saying how it's easier when you use small amounts until you get the fire going. That I learned how to start surviving when I was young. Every vehicle I own has at least 4 Clipper lighters, 1 flint rod, and 4 medicine bottles with matches in them, gallon zip lock bag with dryer lint covered in wax and a can of fluid for the lighters. I usually have a jump bag at home set up the same way. My purse has right now 6 Clipper lighters; I just got done topping them off, matches in medicine bottle, and one with waxed covered lint. I'm just stopped smoking 4 months ago, plus I collect Clipper lighters. So, I always have them around me.
So to answer your question. It's been a very long time because I'm always prepared. I did teach some friends when I was homeless 2 years ago how to use a flint rod, waxed covered lint to start a fire. They had no clue on even how to get a real fire going with a lighter or matches. So I taught them how, with all 3, how to build a shelter too. It was wintertime in December in Idaho. Don't underestimate me because I'm a woman. I know a lot of things and could probably do circles around you on how to survive in Idaho. I can also survive in the desert, too. Having a father who taught me and the fact I stay on top of learning and refreshing my skills. I've been learning for 40+ years. How many years have you been learning?
@@MommaBear208 You sound much like myself. I'm sorry this man underestimated you. When "one" has this knowledge of survival, it becomes our way of life. Other's question it and have no level of understanding of how thoroughly we can survive in the worst of conditions. You sound like a good lady. :-). Our knowledge keeps us going. People question and razzle others over feral rods and lighters in there own immaturity, do not sweat it.
The trick to feeding the fire is having all your wood ready before you even light it. You don't want to be running around looking for materials and sticks the correct size AFTER ignition, do it beforehand so it's all right there. Then you won't panic and smother it by piling too much of the wrong size materials on so you don't lose the flame. You want to keep levelheaded... _"Attitude is a small thing that makes a big difference."_
@@MommaBear208 m
For future reference if your gonna start cutting off a lot, cut at one of the ends not in the middle. @ 4:05 don't blow away the wood chips or saw dust, use it to your advantage to light your fire. You should have roughed up the grass bit to wear got finer smaller pieces, you want as much small dust and flaky pieces from dry grass to catch a flame. Peelings from a ferro rod won't ignite, small flakes the size of grains of sand are what you want as an ignition source if your going that route. Best thing to do is remember that camelus machete is used for brush-clearing not wood chopping, get yourself a fixed blade belt knife that measures from 3 in and 6in and you'll be fine. As a general rule keep 2 handfuls of tinder, kindling, 1 arm load of small fuel and 2 armloads of medium fuel. You should also carry a few cotton balls and petroleum based lip balm in your pocket to have a good fire starter and extender. Worse comes to worse just always carry a few strips of duct tape on the inside cuff or zipper seam of your jacket and a mini Bic lighter and you'll be fine.
He snuffed the fire by adding too much wood too quickly without enough “bird nest” material including wood shavings. He also waited a long time before even starting to put wood on. You have to start with small twigs and sticks first and keep feeding the fire until the heat really starts to increase. Then you can gradually start to add larger pieces of wood on while still keeping plenty of kindling to fuel the fire until it really picks up and starts consuming the larger wood. But you need a lot of small twigs and sticks to build plenty of smoldering coals at the base of your fire before it can sustain itself with the larger logs. I’ve used ferro rods for a long time and even though I also carry or use different methods, I would never want to get caught with an extended stay in the woods without a good ferro rod and knife at my side. There’s no real reason why you shouldn’t carry one in the woods. They’re small, lightweight, easy to carry and easy to use! I recommend familiarize yourself with using them before relying on them but they can save your life or someone else’s!
He hacked at a 6” log twice and didn’t collect a scrap of kindle from the whole exercise. Surprisingly, The pile of shaving didn’t seem to peek his interest at all.
@@shaneparfitt77 lol
Yeah, I've started many with a ferro rod. I've found it easiest with at least one scrap of paper, or dry leaf.
*drinks beer *nods head
but he totally started a good with with a ferro rod.. is "Never carry a ferro rod" just a rhetorical title , which makes you click, to discover you SHOULD have one?
Im confused . ..
If your going to use the ferro rod as a tinder you’d be better off carrying a second tinder source like fat wood or a magnesium rod/block.
Cotton balls with Vaseline and ferro rod a perfect combination and juse a real axe
Exactly,I keep a medicine bottle full of Vaseline cover cotton balls in my bag,usually some fatwood too as well as a small roll of jute twine
Saws are a godsend for processwood
Old topic, but I feel pretty confident using a ferro rod/magnesium combo, Bic lighter and waterproofed matches that I carry in a backpack. Build your skills and practice with different gear but don't be overconfident. Oveconfidence kills.
As for the shaving pile, I would recommend that you purchase a magnesium flint combo. It's much more effective than trying to shave your flint down which also makes that rod run low faster
I bought one of those magnesium bars and yes got a fire started eventually but I also decided to burn it as it was so time consuming so I told everyone to stand back "it's gonna be bright" and put it in the red coals, and it melted and nothing bright ,nor did it burn. Hmmmn don't buy cheap imitations. Now I carry Birch bark or sliced inner tube and my fires are lit with matches. You need to go out on a rainy miserable day and practice what you think you know!
Its not flint its ferrosium
BIC is about 1$ at any gas station comes in a mini size too and takes the flick of a thumb. Why kill yourself to have a bushcrafty start your fire? If you want a bushcrafty start master the bow drill and you wont need a lighter or a ferro rod however all tools are good to have. But a BIC works even after its been dropped in the water and it will work if its completely out of fluid to start at least ONE fire maybe more.
@@ArmaGuyz you can also use the spark from the BIC to light a tinder bundle
@@brucewmclaughlin9072 Well yeah, shaved magnesium only ignites at the kind of temperatures the sparks hit when they're struck from a ferrocerium rod (about 3,500°C), and even then only when they're ground down really small to increase the surface area. A campfire (that burns at around 900-100°C) isn't anywhere near hot enough to spontaneously ignite a whole block of magnesium, considering it'll melt first comfortably at about 650°C. What the fuck did you expect?
Jesus Christ. It isn't 'a CheAp iMiTaTiOn', it's physics dude.
You're jamming too much cold fuel on too fast and smothering the fire. Let it build up and absorb the heat more slowly. Fire=fuel+heat+oxygen. The first one would have worked fine.
true
Good job showing how hard it would be for the average person to actually survive without lots of practice 👍
@marthale7 that's why those who wants to survive "out there" practice throughout the year, not only during dry hot summers :P . been there, done that. learned hard way too .
@@ApocGuy and flick your BIC
I bet this guy never practiced his source. Grass and leaves hold moisture. Fat wood and birch bark have oils in them. Dude did you get your survival skills from a high California hippie?
It would be less hard if he used a smaller knife and a pocket saw. That knife he used is just not suitable for the job. Bigger is definitely not always better.
Which is why I carry 2lbs (tightly packed) of fine steel wool and a few 9 volt batteries as a last resort
This is why it's always worthwhile to actually test your technique and equipment in a controlled environment. Maybe it's been raining alot in your area so take a drive to your local forest/camping area and actually try making a fire, that way if you fail and things start going poorly you can just hop back in your car and leave without harm, re-assess your techniques and try again later. So that way when it's a real situation you know what works and what doesn't in a safe and controlled way.
"HEADLINES" Missouri Man Freezes In Backyard
his body was found after residents reported a bright light pointing up at the sky
Rescuers reported a ferro rod frozen to his hands
Last seen making a video for youtube on how not to freeze to death
😅
That's why the old military fero rods were attached to a magnesium block you use the magnesium shavings and save your ferocium. You might want to try that
Well I respect the raw nature of the video and the honesty in the filming. You seem like a genuinely good guy and my guess is that you are acquiring skills as you grow older and spend more time in the woods. If I’m being absolutely frank, the problems you experienced here would not happen to an experienced woodsman. The mastery of fire building has to do with the preparation of the materials and the technique with ferro rod. There is a certain art to stacking wood, teepee style, that allows damp wood to dry out quicker as the fire accumulates a coal bed as well, which takes time and practice to learn. What you’ve shown here is a realistic depiction of what can happen and what you might encounter if you don’t have the recipe just right. In an experienced set of hands, those conditions wouldn’t present a huge challenge. That said, thank you for a well made, honest and thoughtful video.
🎯😎👍
Why not Judy use a lighter?
@@HOLLASOUNDS
The point is to make a fire without a lighter.
Next progression in skills is to make a fire without a lighter or a Ferrell Rod.
Hence Bushcraft/Survival.
@@HOLLASOUNDS lighters tend not to work well or at all below about 4 degrees C/40-ish degrees F. Ditto if they get wet. A ferro rod you can drop in a creek, wipe it off and it'll still work. Lighters are great to have and you should carry one, but if it's your only firemaking tool and it fails you're gonna have a bad time.
Well said Sapphail. 🙂 I didn't think about the resiliency to water. 😊
This is the channel for me. Subscribed. I’m not interested in how the professionals demo fire builds because they don’t show the failures. I fail. This video helped me learn what fails so I don’t repeat the mistakes. Thanks.
Ferro rods are great
I'm kind of dreading the video where he tries to learn bushcraft knife techniques. Hope he has a medic standing by.
@@ronagoodwell2709 Or at least a tourniquet!
A good fire maker isn't necessarily a good teacher! They should tell you what they are going and why!
As I watched this I'm reminded of a short story I read as a kid, by Jack London, "To Build A Fire." A young man, his first year in the Yukon, went out alone in sub-zero weather, his first mistake. His over confidence in his survival skills, dependance on man made resources; matches, and his underestimate of nature's wrath, got him killed. Glad you survived lol.
usually i don't care about grammar online because who does, but for the love of god please go back to school
@@brohanime Your punctuation is terrible. You should probably brush up on English first, before telling others to "go back to school".
Regardless, English may not be his native language, or he could've relied upon spell-check. Either way, you should keep your unwanted and unnecessarily rude opinions to yourself.
@@brohanime Oddly as just another human educated in english I understood his comment clearly and didn't see a garmaric mistake. You english majors are the death of communication demanding perfection while missing the point, too communicate!
@@owenbevans6062 of course you didn't notice any grammatical mistakes given that you used the wrong "to" and you spelt grammar as "garmaric". you should also probably go back to school and ask for a refund on the English education you purport to have.
@@brohanimean u wit know puctuatin or caps ha ha
It is always a good idea to look for standing dead trees if you need dry tinder. The stuff on the ground absorbs moisture from both the ground and precipitation thoroughly soaking it with little chance to dry, wheras standing dead stuff sheds moisture and dries off in the free airflow preventing soaking through to the middle. Peel off the outer layer until you reach the dry stuff. Usually dry wood is not too deep. Build a stockpile of useable fuel before you set your fire; you need to keep it fed to make enough coals to keep it lit during crappy weather.
Collect tinder while you walk if you think you will need a fire. Keep your eyes peeled for an area of potentially dry fuel wood and build your fire near it so you never have to leave site of your fire to gather additional wood to stockpile especially for an "overnighter". Only split wood if absolutely necessary; try to gather more manageable sizes you can break. In survival situations, you need to consider your energy expenditure trying to do things especially in the cold.
Remember, you can become hypothermic even on a cool, damp summer day. So, cudos to you, sir for trying to set a fire in "real world" conditions and failing! You learn faster if things go awry and you are more likely to remember what NOT to do. Carry more than one fire-lighting source; what if you drop one in the deep snow? Practice, practice and practice some more until it is second nature to set a fire regardless of conditions. Cheers.
remember: fire likes a chimney. a little air underneath and heat going up the chimney to draw it up. so keep the tinder up off the floor with a few larger dry sticks so air can get under it. Build on top of the tinder a chimney in "2x2 log cabin" style over the top, so that when the fire starts it's drawn up into the "chimney" of sticks and they will be lit on fire by the tinder.
I use the rocket stove design for my firepit wood stacks. Burns very long and well.
Truth. People need to understand the chemistry of fire. Air(oxygen) and heat are just as important as the fuel.
Thanks for this. I got quite a chuckle as I watched you struggle - reminded me of myself in so many ways. But a I was also reminded of a valuable lesson such an endeavor taught me. Not always, but often, the key to success when solving a puzzle, finding a solution, comes down to two things: PERSISTENCE & PRACTICE.
When something goes wrong, you need to combine that persistence with a loosely structured approach to analyzing why its not working. Then you make a small change, retest, then reanalyze.
In this example some of the possible reasons you were not getting a fire might be: Is my ferro rod acting 'normally'? Do I have enough tinder? Is it too wet? Do I need to collect finer materials? Am I exposed to too much wind?
This is why practice is so important. Before you can start a fire in challenging conditions, you want to be confident that you can start a fire with your ferro rod in ideal conditions.
Also, in most situations, you will typically learn a new skill fastest if you have someone willing to act as your mentor. This requires a person who clearly posses the skill you seek AND is able to teach it (these arev2 separate issue).
Mentor might be a friend, an older brother, a teacher, or simply someone you respect. Mentors can help you quickly identify what you are doing wrong. Don't bevaf.raid to pay your mentor. By this I mean, for example, be willing to sign up and pay the $35 fee to take a community
college 1 day course. Try to talk with someone who went to the course last year. Did they feel it was worth the price of admission.
You’re smothering your fire before it gets going. You need to let the fire breath for 30 seconds or so before you completely cover it with so much material.
Coalcraker Bushcraft will show you how to use that rod properly.
Any real Bushcraft channel would. TAoutdoors would be a grand start off as well.
It takes more expertise to change a flat tire than using a ferro rod . This "science" of using a ferro rod has gotten stupid .
I hope some one shows him
Looks like the ferro rod is working OK, doing just what it is supposed to do: getting things started. Don't blame the rod for your poor planning.
I think he's actually right. Ferro rod is a bad choice to rely on in an emergency. I like using them for fun, but really the best thing to carry for emergencies is a bic along with some dryer lint and vaseline.
I don't think the ferro rod is the problem here either.
@@mortsdans Multiple sources of lighting.. prep for an emergency sure.. knowing what types of materials light easier as well natural fat wood saving charcoal from previous fire holds sparks well that a rod can ignite..
@@chrisburrell8489 true. I have to agree, a ferro rod is amazing practice, everyone should use one as much as possible. Except for in an actual emergency. My multiple sources of fire when it counts are multiple bics 🙂
@@mortsdans from what I see in the video he needs to make the material smaller to help with catching the sparks more efficiently. Check out making what's called a birds nest. If your bic gets submerged in water then what? I'm just saying it's skill and there's a learning curve.. in damp conditions as well fat helps or something like that to help light smaller tinder saving charcoal from a previous fire catches a spark immediately try it out... Next thing I want to learn is the bow drill and using a pocket fresnel lense to start a fire just in case..
I find these survival videos a bit funny. Here in Australia, it isn't so much if you can find something that will burn, it's more if you can find something that isn't already on fire.
After many years of experimenting and making mistakes, I eventually settled on a butane zippo insert in a stainless steel Zippo body. Before that was a mini bic that got the button depressed in my pocket and was empty when I tried to use it. I found "survival lighters" to be too bulky and burn through fuel too fast (jets). Regular Zippos dry out in your pocket. But a lighter is just more effective and easier to use at roughly the same size and weight compared to a ferro rod. I went with the unpainted stainless Zippo body for heat conduction in cold weather. It can easily be warmed up with body heat in extremely cold conditions below what butane likes to vaporize at.
I still have ferro rods integrated into a few other items like my Mora knife with removable ferro rod in the handle. This is more of a backup in case the lighter breaks (unlikely) or I just lose it (more likely).
I prefer the Thunderbird insert for zippo bodies to the zippo branded butane insert because you can see the fuel level.
Thanks for keeping it real. It's not often that you see someone fail in a survival skills video. A lot of these guys are promoting themselves to sell classes and make everything look easy and perfect.
Something to try next time instead of chopping a V out of a log. Rip off a piece of bark to put on the ground and then use 2 logs to create a chevron on the ground. Then work in the corner. The logs will help contain the heat without restricting airflow as well as blocking wind that can blow out an infant flame.
Sorry, I'm rambling. Nice vid bro.
You can also keep a Bic from leaking by attaching a zip tie around the top of the lighter, you can take it off without cutting it and it keeps the butane button from being depressed in your bag or pocket etc. Where did you find those butane zippo lighters and cover?
@@Doobie603 an elastic band twisted round the lighter under the trigger does the same. Just roll it down a bit when you need to use it and up again afterwards.
Some sage advice Sir.
You need to keep your Bic lighter in a front shirt pocket to avoid depressing the button. They’re designed to fit in your frocket w/ pens, just like a whiskey flask. They’re made that way for a reason.
@@bendover9813 I got Bic lighters all over the place they wont all fit in my front pocket. Sometimes you throw your lighters in a bag or pack. You know?
Like a wiseman once said "we learn more from our mistakes"
It was good learning from yours. Thanks. 👍
Was that lofty Wiseman?
You should have been carrying the 100000000000million lumen ebay special flashlight and you could have dried the tender and started the fire at the same time. It works in their stolen/borrowed videos right? Haha. Great vid Matt.
Lol. I told a guy at work I have a 4000 lumen EDC and he's like meh I got a 100000 lumen on ebay for $20 😂 I'm like dude that's not 100000 lumens it's probably 100 lumens at that price. People are so gullible lol.
Carry a ferro rod, know how to prep tinder, carry a lighter, and know how to start a fire without a ferro rod or lighter in both wet and dry conditions. Also I take some cotton, soak it in petroleum jelly, pack it into 1 inch sections of plastic straws, burn the ends to keep them shut, and pack a couple in my knife sheath, bug out bag, vehicle, and wallet. The petroleum jelly soaked cotton takes a spark very easy. With good tinder prep it's very easy to start a fire with. Gathering and preparing your tinder is the most important step in fire making. Also practice in different conditions using different materials.
That skip to bigger sticks before getting a decent pile of small twigs going is one of the main mistakes beginner fire starters usually make. Bravo for showing how that behaves.
The way that the rod is being used is a workable method, but they make magnesium "rods" (actually sticks) that have ferorods on the side. This method of shaving particles before sparking is a magnesium fire starting method. Magnesium will burn with a very hot flame and not just additional sparks from the ferorod shavings.
There is a lot to be said for slow burning embers here too. If you can carry a ferro rod, AND a few scraps of char cloth, then with a LITTLE experience you can make fire look easy. It's not always about the dryness of a tinder, but rather your ability to provide it with SUFFICIENT HEAT to get it from slightly damp, to burning.
To that end, charcloth is a POWERFUL spark extender and makes for a really fun fire lighting experience.
Kudos to you for showing the mistakes, and understanding that they're constructive. It's also crucial to point out that this is a controlled environment! If anything goes wrong, you are able to go home!
Learn with a safety net.
Practice close to home.
Travel with knowledge once you're a master.
Char cloth is not the answer. If you are going to carry anything carry cotton balls weih so pertolium jell in them.
This video is pure gold... It is not easy to see how to start a fire in other whether condition (especially winter)
It wasnt the ferro rod it was the person using it. You could have processed that dry log into the smaller sizes you need. Fine tinder first, thenFeather sticks. Then medium. Then work your way up. Toothpick, pencil, finger, so on.Preparing your tinder is key. Whether you use one match. A lighter or a ferro rod. And as Donald says, grab truck loads of materials. Oh and blow gentley to begin with. The more smoke, then you can blow harder.How you do your fire lay is also important. Having your tinder off the damp ground.
Boy am I glad my kids learned basic survival from me. That's all I'm going to say about that 🤠
no kidding. I don't even know you and I can assure you they are better off. worst piece of advice I've ever seen. just because someone can't light a fire with a ferro rod as well as they think is no reason to NOT carry an extremely dependable, practically bulletproof, lightweight piece of potentially lifesaving gear. glad this is my first video of his so I don't waste time on any more.
I'd love to see your video. Will you provide me with a link.
Thank you for sharing this video. It illustrates the fact that small tasks can become big challenges when the conditions are not in your favor.
I never go into the woods without my folding saw. It was cheap, I bought it at Lowes, it gets the job done. I think the brand name is "Grizzly." There are probably better, and probably worse, but even the worst is better than none.
A Wilderness First Responder told me that, when he is in the woods, he carries a "complete, dry fire" with him. This includes (my version) fatwood shavings (size of a softball), a double handful of pieces of fatwood ranging in size from matchstick thickness to finger thickness, about six inches in length, and three pieces of wood about 18" in length, one split into six pieces, one split into three pieces, and one split in half.
I carry a Fresnel lens (3" X 5"), a Bic lighter, a Zippo lighter, a ferro rod, a magnesium rod, and a 30-minute road flare.
You can light the road flare even if your hands are numb and shaking. It will serve as tinder and kindling and will light the larger hunks of wood with ease, enabling you to warm your hands so you can quickly gather more firewood.
If you truly NEED a fire, this may be your only, sure path to success.
Again, thanks for sharing this video. It was enlightening. I subscribed. 😎
A propane canister with an igniter head works pretty good too 😎
What, no flamethrower?
@@Rick-the-Swift Yes, but with incipient hypothermia, the propane torch requires fine motor skills that may lie beyond my capabilities. Still, not a bad idea.
@@rogermccaslin5963 I have not been able to find one at a reasonable price.
Carried a ferro rod for the whole time i was homeless, was hands down one of the most important piece of kit i would reguarly use.
If you can get birch bark tightly roll up a trip untill you have a 1-2cm thick "stick/log" then cut a few thin slices off the tip and those make stringy pieces of birch bark that catch a spark easily.
If you cant get any use those circle cotton makeup pads cut them in half so you have a bunch of semi circles and soak them with candle wax, one pad makes 2 firelighters. When you need to use one tear the semocircle in half so you have two quarters with exposed fibres that you will throw sparks on
Gather your firelighting supplies before you need them and keep them dry by covering them with a plastic bag or use your tarp to wrap them up when storing them on the outside of your pack on days where the weather isnt ideal.
Use your fire that you make to fully dry out any and all kindling and tinder for the next fire and keep these supplies completely dry as i mentioned previously.
The more you prepare the easier it will become the next time you need a fire
I always carry something like a Esbit/firestarter that gives me enough energy to start a fire under very difficult conditions. And of course a powerful, stormproof lighter. There is no honor in freezing to death with a firesteel however enjoyable operating a firesteel might be.
as you took considerable trouble at the start to correctly find and split a good dry log, you should then have used all your advantage to make a large dry, flat platform by puttng both halves together, then putting your nest on the centre of those with small and medium twigs close by to get warm and be really handy.
This. No clue why that wasn't the way he started. Enjoyable video though.
No worries. Thanks for being honest about your failure. I kind of thought in your first or maybe second attempt that you didn’t have enough wood supplies ready. I always think making a fire is 90% prep work and 10% getting the stinker to burn.
Why not carry a cupple cheap lighters?
I have been using ferro rods and magnesium fire starters since I was 8 . I am 55 now .
Practice makes perfect . Learn to aim your sparks . No bad issues yet .
One piece of advice I found out in Alaska in -50 degrees is do not wait until your body is freezing up and going numb to start a fire . Do it long before you get to that point .
Ill never forget my time in the scouts, felt silly at the time but now I see the real life application of those skills and understand better why I had to learn them.
I always carry more than one source of fire. Fire steel, matches, a lighter. Also in my waterproof fire kit I carry compacted dryer lint, wax, dried pine sap, cotten balls with vaseline, toothpicks, and wax coated toothpicks to be used as small tinder that burns longer. All of this easily fits inside a quart ziplock bag. Packaged individually inside in smaller sandwich bags. With this kind of tinder it's easy to start a fire. Even when it's cold windy and wet. I've never needed the matches or lighter before, but I carry them just in case. Always carry at least some kind of dry tinder in a waterproof container even if you only use a lighter or matches.
best way to go imho,i do exacly the same
Tinder! WTF is tender? That’s what you do after you start the fire. 😁
Birthday candles or small emergency candles. They weigh from little to nothing. If you’re lighting a fire light a candle too until the fire is 100% sustainable.
@@BretAllenStudios Tender? Dang near kilder!
F*#×@ing genius! Threw half a rod away for a fire that not even started. Best advice, ever.
Anyone who is carrying a fire starting Ferro rod should as well carry some dry fiber with him because if ur In a wet environment and u expect to start a fire it's not gonna work because u have nothing dry to catch a spark on In the first place a good tip is to always carry some string or paracord with ya or wrap around ur Ferro rod some sort of cotton to catch a spark on it won't take any place also carry a small soda can with ya u can make a stove with it by cutting it and opening it like a window shape and this will provide u with security from wind that may close ur fire also carrying some flammable liquid in snow environment will definitely be a requirement to start fires because they are gonna catch on fire pretty easily u can also try using wax from candles to keep the fire going and there is lot more u should take care of before trying to open a fire in a snow environment u need more tools to do it there than u will at a sunny place with no raining in such place u will actually just need ur Ferro rod to start a fire than the rest is easy to feed the fire with more wood over and over good luck and hope this helps someone who actually read it
I know everyone has advice on kindling and starting fires different ways. No matter what way you choose I saw in your video that you had access to a cedar tree. If you remove just the top layer of the bark on a cedar tree, and a lot of other evergreen trees, you will find a layer of fine pulpy mesh like wood. You can easily collect enough of this material to start a fire with just a spark. And if you find dead cedar it'll light even easier. This material is rich with very flammable cedar oil. I used to collect some any time I came across dead cedar and my supply was getting low in my fire kit.
You could have picked dead standing wood, split it, shaved some and lit it.
yep i was just thinking the same thing mate. the ground is never a good place to look for tinder.
I haven’t made a fire with a ferro rod in years. But carrying a magnesium rod and using it with his ferro rod I think would have made starting the wet tender easier.
@@mumbles1justin Yep, I keep looking at these guys with their ferro rods like they're magical, starting fires with one or two sparks... I've got a well worn magnesium starter that I know will get anything hot enough to catch, plus that cool little sparky thing.
Helpful tip- make some char cloth to catch your spark. Literally will allow you to strike the rod one time.
Ps also getting an larger ferro rod will help mine is about 3\8" think and 7" long ive been using the same one for 2 years now. Cool vid keep working at it.
I live in the midwest and we have a lot of humidity. Sometimes it can be almost impossible to start a fire. I always wanted to start a fire with a fire drill but never had any luck. Finally, in controlled conditions, I decided I was going to do whatever it took. What it took was drying the wood out in an oven first. It actually worked at first but after a couple of hours, the humidity soaked back into the wood and wouldn't work anymore. When i go into the wild, I carry a Mag-torch pocket torch and have matches, and ferro rods in my pack.
2 keys, you have to find dry material for the tinder, and small kindling. Which can be tough in that scenario. Having all your materials gathered up and around you so you can add them as you need them is also very important. Love that you didn't have the RUclips Pride and not show the failures! Nice video!
Today I watched a man chop a log with a big ass knife which has a saw on the back
😂
Though Camillus basically being the Ultrafire of the knife world, the saw likely sucks too.
Oh yeah that knife sucks big time. The "sawback" doesn't work for anything. The blade is too thick in my opinion to work as a saw. I batoned that knife through a 6" piece of pine, no knots, on the 4th strike of the baton the blade broke right in half. Stay away from this knife
I broke one just chopping with it, they look cool but they’re crap.
You can actually find some good knives in Walmart. Gerber Prodigy is an example (I like the non serrated version). You can baton that knife all day. The Camillus is crap and it will snap.
@@Doobie603 from what ive seen gerber is a reliable brand
@@T34theAmericanheavy yeah but they cost your left nut, there are cheaper options which work just as well
One thing I can say. If you your skill is about the same of getting a fire started with a ferro rod -- never let that fire go out. Keep it going in a survival situation. Shavings from the inside of the log would of been my tender of choice along with the dried pine needles. Gather LOTS of wood. 3x what you think you might need. Of all sizes -- before you attempt to make a fire.
Exactly right…. I dont know why a guy is making a video, when he should be Watching some videos to LEARN how to start a fire ..🤓
I am one who practiced in my garage with vaseline soaked dryer lint. That was easy. Now I see I need real practice in tough conditions! Funny video, thanks!
That's why I usually will pick up tinder and put it in my pocket so it can warm and dry... but yes, you are completely correct in everything you have said in this video!
Great Demonstration of the importance of dirt time. The first time I tried field use of a Ferro rod, my results were similar. The scrap shavings off a bit of the rod thing is for marginal tinder. I found I had to really fluff up my tinder to get it going. Man, much easier to carry a bit of tinder with me!
The biggest lesson here: You can never have TOO MUCH tinder. Birds nest, pencil thickness, finger thickness - and lots of each level.
To be fair, I don't think too many people are going with only a ferro rod thinking it will work, most have some form of tinder packed with them. I don't disagree with the overall message here, but you somewhat proved your own point - practice with your tools and skills regularly.
And if you have some cotton on you (T-shirt, underwear...) or the filling of your coat you can take a small part of it and use it as tinder as well.
Yep, ferro rod is the reliable backup. If you have both a chemical lighter and a ferro rod there is no reason to try the ferro rod first, unless it happens to be very cold, windy or you are at a high altitude the chemical lighter will always be easier.
But in windy conditions it might not, if its very cold and you're high up it simply might not ignite, and even then the lighter is only as good as its fuel, and the ferro rod isn't suddenly gonna leak all its fuel between one night and the next or be unusable if dunked in water.
Great video, teaches that prepping is more important then getting first flames.
Kudos on publishing your errors. Not everybody has the guts to do that. It’s based your honesty integrity and authenticity, and I say that not having seen anything else you do.
It might be kind of important to have all your stuff ready before you start lighting. You can’t just start it with your small stuff and then think you can go look for a bigger stuff to burn. It’s either right there when you’re ready to start, or you can’t start. Every time. And that’s no matter what your ignition source is. We can’t really blame the ferrorod for that. That’s about inexperience and planning.
Even though the title of your video here is about reasons not to carry a ferrorod, Yours served you very, very well. A person needs to practice with these things quite a lot to make sure that they can use them with confidence in the more adverse circumstances.
I don’t know any woodsman that carries only one source of spark. Most people I know carry a Ferro rod, A lighter, a gas torch, waterproof matches, fire strap, and at least a couple of other methods. That’s without counting things like Vaseline, fat wood, wax covered dryer lint balls… your fire so important that you need to carry the entire kit. It doesn’t have to be a big kit, but it needs to have a broad spectrum. Because when things get rough, you don’t know what will work for you if you haven’t spent a lot of time working with each one under adverse circumstances.
One more thing. The thing you did really right is that you kept your head and patiently gave it another shot, and another, learning from your mistakes each time. There’s more that could be said here, but it boils down to that much, that you kept your head, learned from your steaks, and patiently persisted.❤️
Best method I've learned to make fire, lay 2 larger sticks down and then lay your tinder on top, making sure you have ample air flow to the base of your fire. From there go through the motions of ignition, add small fuel and eventually your larger fuel. Another method that works is similar to the Dakota fire hole, dig a small trench about 6 inches long and 3 inches deep, then lay a few sticks horizontal over the back portion of the small trench you made, this is what you will lay your tinder bundle and small sticks on to get air under the flame. Then follow the fueling process smallest to largest of your wood. It also doesn't hurt to have 4 ignition methods to get fire going. In order this is what I prefer to use, but sometimes I just use the ferro rods.I will carry all of these either in my pockets or in whatever pack or bag I have with me at any given moment, Bic lighter ( regular and mini with 1ft of 1inch duck tape and a Paracord loop wrapped around both), matches ( I carry storm proof, wooden stick and book matches ), ferro rod (I carry a 6in X 1/2in, and wazoo fire necklace) and compact magnifying glass. I also carry 3 rolled tubes made of 2in X 1 ft of duct tape, mini memo note book, 2 alcohol prep wipes, 3 cotton round pads, beeswax lip balm, 2 wet fire, and 12ft of 3 ply jute cord as my main tinder sources. Also happen to always wear a wife blesser or A shirt for emergency backup for bandages or fire starter, or char cloth material.
The best, but the longest to read and I'm so cold indoors I can't hold my phone for that long to read. Sorry, I'll read it when it's warmer. 🙂
One other good option i find always works: steel wool and a 9v battery. This is why my bag has a rod, lighter, storm proof matches, and the classic steel wool with a 9v battery. If all those dont work then im SOL haha.
Fine wool.
The courser stuff can be extremely difficult.
The silver foil on a gum wrapper can also be shaped and used with any _A_ batteries.
Like you, I carry the matches and ferro rod, but also flint and steel, mag bars and blocks, lighter and chemicals...I tend to hedge my bets
😜😂😂😂
@@billyandrew The gum wrapper? Ooo I have never tried that one.
In life most have a back up plan. When camping or outdoors I like to have a back up plan, another back up plan, an "oh shit" plan..... And then last but not least the "oh if this does not work i am fucked" plan. Hahaha
0000 fine steel wool will also take a spark from ya ferro rod as well
Poor guy! I've been there before where my fire died on me and I'm a decade's long prepper and survivalist. Mountain, desert, arctic. It happens to the best of us. Thanks for the video. It brought back a memory I wish I could forget. 😊
I always use fatwood... the grandkids are always amazed!
I wish I could find more of that myself. But pines and firs are hard to find around here.
Potassium permanganate and glycerine ... they'll be even more amazed.
(Learned this in the Rifles regiment)
@@LastBastian Amazon has it
@@LastBastian Make your own 'fatwood': put some wooden sticks into melted wax and let it soak.
@@bernhard7658 Not sure I understand that concept. How does wax turn normal wood into fatwood?
Thank you for being so genuine. Because this is exactly what would happen to me if I went out there and try to start a fire with that snow and everything. So preventative & have things ready before you get the fire started. Easier said than done. Thank you
I want to share this trick I'm playing around with:
A year or so ago, I was ripping some pine boards in my shop. The shavings were beautiful. I got thinking how nice they would look in an egg carton with hot wax poured onto them. Kinky, I know. Anyway, I did this, then cut the individual egg doohickies apart and tossed them in a coffee can, which then disappeared in my shop. Until a week ago.
I decided to see how one of them would work in conjunction with a magnesium fire starter. I've carried one since about 1986, and have had good luck. On a side note, I observed that the hot wax, as a bonus feature, had also impregnated the paper carton material, since it obviously had not worn a condom. So the whole thing is waterproof. Sweet!
And the test went as follows:
I scraped a modest amount of magnesium into a depression I had made in the egg cup while the wax was still hot. One shot of sparks set it off nicely. It burned for about fifteen minutes with sufficient heat to boil a canteen cup of water. There are now several of these in my day pack to serve as emergency fire starters.
Disclaimer: I don't know of anyone who has made these before, but someone probably has. Therefore I do not accept credit for the idea.
Be smart, be safe out there!
pretty sure every boy scout ever have made these
I make these with dryer lint stuffed in the egg carton hole and then tied it up with jute twine and soaked the whole thing in wax. They burn for about 10 minutes even when super windy. They’re an invaluable piece of kit for sure.
@@drivingmissmolly they sound positively incendiary!
I agree with most everyone else about getting 2-3 times the amount of tinder and kindling. Gather your tinder and kindling when you can find it along the way rather than the time you really need to build the fire. If you are going to carry matches/lighter/ ferro rod, then carry cotton balls with Vaseline also. Also split sticks by cutting halfway through and swinging the stick like a baseball bat against a rock or tree. Your dry kindling is in the center.
You could have roughed up some of the dry materials that you found to make them much much finer. If you put the time in, it would have caught on a regular strike or two of the ferro. If you insist on trying to shortcut with metal shavings, they make magnesium rods for that exact purpose.
You really should use that knife right and feather stick some wood and baton it down to different sizes so you can safely grow the fire.
OMG I was thinking the same thing. Mybe he should learn to make a fire in the snow and rain before he gives tips about it.
Can you build a fire without the knife, batoning, and using a feather stick? Or, are you a one trick pony?
Thinking the same thing
I’m not sure that I would trust that piece of junk Camilus for batoning..lol..he would do much better with a $10 Mora 511 and a Silky Saw PocketBoy..I would also recommend some fatwood and/or some Vaseline covered cotton balls..not to mention he is smothering his fire and not giving it time burn a little before he starts throwing more material on it
@@garrettferrell6821 you can 100% baton at least the thin ones to get several sizes. Any knife could to that. Even my folders can.
This was an important video. This shows the reality of trying to start a fire in real conditions. It's like the intros to EVERY survival game show how they show the contestants starting fires with hand drills effortlessly but in the field, they couldn't get one going with a flamethrower if they had one.
Without proper skill and complete knowledge or understanding. But at least he is honest and trying to learn.
False, this video shows the result of ignorance. If it highlights anything it's the need for REAL knowledge and practice with REAL techniques.
@@graveseeker Ok Jeremiah Johnson...
Before the current ferro rods were commonly in use or even commonly known about the “ Coughlins” Magnesium 2” block with sparking insert (actually a small ferro rod) was my mainstay. In fact I have started probably 200 fires with mine over a period of years. Eventually I machined it into a “ wallet chain belt holder “.Since it is part of my wallet I always have it and can make a fire (or have a strobe light) no matter where I am. Part of its operation requires scraping off magnesium for tender so it eliminates part of the problem of finding dry tender when using a ferro rod alone . It works extremely well , but like a lot of fire making methods it requires trying it out at least once or twice ahead of time. Although I always have it with me I now mostly use a ferro rod.
Just because of you, I went grabbed my supply back out my truck and I’m using what I have to start a fire in my fire pit, just to see if I can.
Practice makes perfect.
Hopefully NOT using those techniques.
@@graveseeker you should post a video of your better techniques
Congratulations on doing a ‘what not to use ‘ video.... too many people are afraid of looking inept, but we All need to know what Doesn’t work as well as what Does work.
Ferro rods work fine, if you know what you're doing; he picked crappy tinder and kindling and his fire skills are lacking. Grass and leaves still hold moisture even when they feel dry, especially when cold. Notice the smoke it made when he lit it? That's because it's not dry.
His area looks a lot like mine (northern New England); I would have looked for some birch and grabbed some fine papery outer bark from a standing tree for the tinder, and either some dead standing saplings or the dead lower branches from pines for the kindling.
Of course, you should ALWAYS have some sort of emergency tinder with your fire kit that will help to ignite a stubborn fire in an emergency anyhow; I prefer the good ol' standby: a small baggy of homemade Vaseline cotton balls.
Get out there and practice with your gear!
I went and tested my fire kit in 15deg F with 20mph winds. That’s negative 3 wind chill and some super challenging conditions to start in.
Takeaway 1: always have more tinder. No mater how much you think is enough you need more.
Takeaway 2: if every step of your fire isn’t ready to go NOW, do not light it. It’s better to gather and make all your fire steps than to rush it and waste resources.
Takeaway 3: it’s fucking cold. Your hands are cold your nose is cold, your fingers will go numb etc. make sure to alternate gloved hands and keep a look out for cold injury.
Lastly - bring a KIT not just a fero rod.
Have that wax infused Jute, some petroleum jelly cotton balls, some lint, for your birds nest.
Multiple sources of FLAME and spark.
Also when using a fero rod get a big fucker with a dedicated scraper. More material means bigger sparks and longer afterburn
I mean, if you're bringing a whole kit there's several much easier tools to start a fire with... lighter, matches(especially with wax coated tips), potassium permanganate and sulphuric acid, etc. Potassium permanganate belongs in your wilderness survival kit for other reasons too: disinfects water, cleans wounds, treats fungal infections. The sulphuric acid doesn't need to be strong to ignite the potassium permanganate, battery acid will do. That said, the magnesium chunk on the ferro rod sure is handy, carve off a bit with your knife, then use a more sensible lighting option, in a survival situation preserving energy can be crucial.
I kayak and found that "crack" lighters (small torches) can be in water all day but blow out the water and they light. Not true for flint BIC lighters. They're also more wind resistant.
@@nunya___ By "crack" lighters do you mean piezoelectric turbo/jet lighters? Because that makes sense.
@@OnlyKaerius Yes. Those. the best survival lighter ever.
Practice makes perfect. Thanks for showing the failures as well as succeses.
Just some more advice from a non professional lol.........you don't need to blow so much, once the flame is going let it burn.
Ikr?!
He thought it was because the leaves were too wet, whereas we could see it was catching nicely on our side, then ooof, it's gone. 😂😂
There seems to be a lot of these guys out there
I see a house in the background...that's your best bet.
That's tough...
🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@jamesbowen5573 Nope, that's truth. He has absolutely no clue how to source/process tinder or build a fire.
Oh burn!! Oops guess not! 🤣
@@DaliDoll686 What does that mean?
@@graveseeker burn is a term my teenage son uses to imply that someone was roasted or the butt of a joke. I used it in a play on words because he had major issues with his fire.
I’ve been in Boy Scouts for more than 10 years(started at six, currently 16). My troop prefers using lighters, but we use ferro rods if we have to.
We also carry dryer lint with us. It’s a good fire starter. A ferro rod can ignite it with one spark. Essential for bringing with you on camping or hiking trips in case you get lost or something.
Now, the way that you built your fire…
You don’t use tinder to build a fire. You use it to start it and get it going. After that, it’s kindling.
Throwing dead leaves and stuff onto the fire to make it burn hotter works, sure, but wouldn’t you rather hold onto that? Could be useful in the future.
Idk man. I carry three ways to start a fire and I've never had a problem with a ferro rod. Seems like a click bait title.
An enjoyable video. It's your personality that makes the video's worth watching. I once said you could do a video of a trip around your town and I'd watch. That still holds true. Keep it up and keep them coming.
Matt is now part Dave Canterbury suvival expert? Hell yeah now my 210% favorite channel
Edit: also no offense but that looks like a sketchy rambo type survival knife id look at Cold Steel, CRKT, or some other "beefier" knife brands
That’s a cheap Walmart Camilus..I’m honestly surprised he didn’t break it on that frozen log
When I was a scoutmaster, I taught the scouts to gather armloads of all basic materials ands have them stacked and ready to go before the first spark was struck. It is called "building" a fire for a reason. You cannot build anything unless your materials are right there at your fingertips. One scout would be making fine shreds for tinder, another sorting small twigs for laying on tinder and so forth upping the thickness until the larger logs were all laid out and prepped.
To be fair, your cautions about the ferro rod are very useful and thank you for that. Keep at it.
Huh. First I've seen that. Using the rod as a magnesium block. Good stuff. Thanks a bunch.
Thank you. Too many videos on here, that will only show their successes. They also need to show themselves failing, like you did the first two times.
He didn't have any success
@@northwales1000
He was 3rd time lucky at the end of the vid.
@@billyandrew burning tinder isn't successful.
@@northwales1000 It's funny how I go look on your channel, nothing. No video on how to make a fire. Somehow you think I should take your word on what is considered successful or not.😂
@@srbontrager how many videos have you posted. That's right, pot calling the kettle black. It's called kindling for a reason, easy to light
Ya, right. After only 1 minute you told me everything I needed to know. You are right, you're not a pro. Nobody is who leads us into a discussion about ferro rods by telling everyone never carry one, when it just happens to be the most reliable fire starting method, in the wild. Your real problem is FIRE BUILDING not fire starting.
You tell us at the beginning not to carry a ferro rod then show us your well worn one that yo u most definitely carry. As I said Ya right. Thumbs down. :-(
HIs point was, I believe, is that if you don't know how to use one, there's no sense in carrying one, same as a gun or any other tool.
I am sure you missed the point!...watch and actually listen to video again...just saying!
his calamus machete saw told me everything I need to know lol...
You clearly missed the point of the video.
After 1 minute you clearly didn't get all you needed to know because you missed the whole point of the video
Hey! Ferrorods are great and very reliable but you need to practise with them in various conditions. Your video makes a great point - its not as easy as some people on youtube will have you believe especially not in those conditions. We have to practise and figure out a technique that works for them. A tip that should work well for most people is to carry the tinder in your pants pocket for maybe an hour in order to dry it out.
In the boy scouts they taught us to take very dry grass rough it up rub it on the side of your nose and the oil would wick like a candle instead of just flash in the pan you get a longer lasting flame to light the squaw wood and then add wood very slowly very tiny kindling you don't just throw logs on it
That's a great idea if you can soak up some oils from your skin. Seems pretty insignificant though but good trick for extreme emergency I guess. Better off to find some fatwood I think.