How to Use a Ferro Rod

How do you start a fire with a ferro rod?

As we’ve mentioned above, you need a blade with a squared-off and uncoated spine. This can be the spine of an axe or a knife, but a knife would be much easier to maneuver. You will be using the knife to strike the ferro rod so that it produces sparks. These sparks need to fall onto the dry tinder to fire it up.

How does a ferro rod work?

Ferrocerium is a synthetic pyrophoric alloy that produces hot sparks that can reach temperatures of 3,000 °C (5,430 °F) when rapidly oxidized by the process of striking the rod, thereby fragmenting it and exposing those fragments to the oxygen in the air.