Ferro Rod Marketing Myths, Side by Side Testing

[thedarknessjosh]

Kick ass dude! That's the most work to show people a fair test I've seen on youtube.

[Lean540]

The reality is, they all make sparks well enough to create fire without much difference in effort. As long as you prep properly, you will have fire. If you want to pay $30 instead of $3, and there are people that want to, thats your perogative.

I see this in camp all the time, the guy with the $700 knife standing next to the guy with the Mora both happily doiing the same thing. Now, I have my own thoughts about it but, nothing wrong with that, right?

[DugbaLaser]

Great idea! But your equipment was not precise. Else they would have BOTH broken on the same stoke. Suggest a weighted-downward-force striker rather than human. I notice one company is now claiming a NEW & IMPROVED! 2ed gen ferro rod.

BTW, often strikers work far better off one edge than the other. It feels sharper, like a burr sticking out. Particularly on cheap knife backs and hacksaw blades, ...work best for me. I have some broken glass I wanna try, window, bottle, & dinner plate.

[houseoffire72]

Great video man! Good side by side test to break through the marketing hype. In fact Im subbing:)... It's simple, if it creates sparks you will get fire with good tinder. And thats the bottom line:) Any idea where I can buy a case of ferro/mischmetal rods 3/8" X 4" ?

[ThePetrifiedwood]

@houseoffire72

Best place to look for them in my experience has been ebay. There are plenty of sellers there. But if you truly want to buy in bulk you will have to contact the manufacturer (JX Metals) in China and they do have minimum orders. If you're looking to buy less that a couple hundred you will be better off buying them elsewhere.

[houseoffire72]

@ThePetrifiedwood I could do a couple hundred them LOL FIRE FIRE FIRE :) looked on ebay too only found 26 different sellers, none with what i wanted... Thanks bro for the help:)

[pedalpusher101]

How about trying lighter pressure and shorter strokes. I have three different rods and each one acts different and nothing like the ones I see here on YT.

[ThePetrifiedwood]

@pedalpusher101

You are probably using light my fire brand rods. Have a look at my video "Proper techniques for striking firesteels" to see the difference between the two and why longer harder strikes are needed with mischmetal rods.

Also, I make a striker called a strike-all tool that outperforms the so-called "super strikers" and allows you to use shorter lighter strikes with a mischmetal rod.

[ThePetrifiedwood]

@pedalpusher101

The mischmetal rods do not work as well with lighter pressure and shorter strokes as the "Light my Fire" brand firesteels. This limitation can be overcome with a special striker. (See my Strike-All fire tool video.)

[Terratracks]

Well i can tell you from experience that goingear rods are far superior to the much lower cost rods.

Also the tungsten carbide strikers are much better.

[ThePetrifiedwood]

@Terratracks

Who is the manufacturer for goinggear's rods? I think it's JX Metals, the same as the one firesteel*com uses. There is no difference.

[Terratracks]

@ThePetrifiedwood Then i suggest that you collect a few more ferrorods/ferrocerium. I have a box filled with them from dozens of different sellers on ebay and abroad. Some will spark like the flint in a zippo lighter, some will flare like the goinggear. Some are very hard and near impossible to use, some are in between, and some are soft. Even goinggear put out a note than some of the new rods are harder than before when compared to the same rods from 3 years ago which is an improvement.

[ThePetrifiedwood]

@Terratracks

This is exactly the kind of hype I have disproved with my video. No solid proof. I challenge anyone to prove the going gear rod is superior to any other mischmetal rod. In fact, I challenge anyone to prove the goinggear rod isn't made by JX metals in China. Really, I want to see real, solid proof, not hearsay.

[bucketfreak196868]

I can't say I agree that these are made in the same manufacturing plant as I'd say there's likely upwards of four places in china making these things I will say I own one from lite my fire which is a small scout model then two of the larger models one off of ebay and another manufactured and sold under the Coghlans name brand the scout model cost more than the two large models and they all seem the same they work great.

[ThePetrifiedwood]

@bucketfreak196868

Thanks for commenting! Any idea of the names of those other manufacturers? I'd like to check out their websites or see what would be involved in buying wholesale from them.

[bucketfreak196868]

@ThePetrifiedwood Yes there are plenty of wholesale sites out there just Google china wholesale but watch out for the guys selling eighth inch diameter chunks of flint glued to a rod of aluminum (these are all over ebay now) in fact you might do well to contact one of the sellers on ebay selling legit ferro rods and see if you could work out a deal with one of them it would be a safer bet.

[0pteryx]

If you want to have fun with Ferrocerium, heat it till it's red hot, the strike it hard and fast against a hard surface.

[maethorize]

My firesteel that I use almost daily came from a cheap knock-off of the BlastMatch which was given to me by a friend of mine who owns an outdoor and tactical gear store because the outer shell was cracked. The whole thing would have cost roughly $10. The firesteel that I salvaged from it is far better than any LMF, Coghlan's or Primus rod I've tried. YMMV of course.

[Terratracks]

@maethorize Most of the blastmatch knockoffs have a rather hard 1/2" diameter ferrorod and have a very bad ceramic striker and no matter how how you push the imbedded striker is not rough enough . You can remove the rod and make a handle for it. It sparks well enough with a good striker. The problem with this video is that there are two types of ferrorods. The harder type that acts like old flint and steel and the ones that glob shavings of magnesium. This video is not very factual.

[bobcrawman34]

4:18 FOR THAT!!!!!!

[willtry2survive]

A well thought out test. presented fairly, with good information. Excellent video sir.

[majouner]

The rods may be the same, but the quality of service you get I why I choose to buy from Ron F. He make syre you are satisfied! Good customer service is worth the little extra money in my book.

[ThePetrifiedwood]

@majouner

I had good service with both sellers. One cost less than the other.

[deanznz]

one chinese manufacturer is jxmetals, maybe like you say they are the only ones.

[ThePetrifiedwood]

@deanznz

Thanks for the information!

[Diopterman]

Thanks for posting this! I appreciate the effort.

[canadianvirgil]

So basically they both give you a spark lol. I've never been too loyal to brands anyways, well except for guns and whiskey lol.

[OzaawaaMigiziNini]

@ Wilcox and Petrified. The Doan's bars are basically the US Military Magnesium Bar.

[MariaDajcar]

@OzaawaaMigiziNini NO! The US Mil-spec are made by Doan Machining, and the Canadian are from Coghlan's of Winnipeg. I have used both since about 1986 or 1987, and the US Mil is FAR BETTER, If only in the resistance to corrosion (you know, how they turn to dust) the Coglan's falls to dust in a very short time, even in the unopened package. The US Mil, is better , lasts far longer, mine was old in 1987, and I would have it still, if I had not gave it to an ex-girlfriend, for her EDC kit.

[ManTheBush]

Ferrocerium rod is made from Iron, Magnesium and mostly of an alloy of rare earth metals called mischmetal with an excellent pyrophoric percentage: 98%min. The required chemical composition: Mischmetal(rare earth metal): Abt. 75-93% Iron abt. 5.0-19.3% Magnesium 1-4% Rare earth metal distribution: Cerium 49-59% Lanthanum 26-39% Neodymium 0-10% Praseodymium 0-7% Pyrophoric percentage: 98%min. Hardness: 70-90 HV

[ThePetrifiedwood]

@ManTheBush

Thanks for the chemical composition!

[70TheProfessor]

I like the scientific testing approach! The results were very visual and showed no difference. Thanks for a cool video!

[mrsvinarich26]

got to love em

[OzaawaaMigiziNini]

Petrified, This is something I have been saying for a long long time now, thank you for finally showing some solid evidence to it. The only addendum I could add is that when it comes to Magnesium Bars, there is some difference (we've done a side by side comparison on these, and there's even a video on youtube by another gent). Ferro rod versus Firesteel? No noticeable difference, but the best bet with Magnesium Matches/Bars is to get the DOAN brand, rather than the cheap Coghlan's/ Made in China

[ThePetrifiedwood]

@OzaawaaMigiziNini

I've never tried the Doan's bars to know the difference. I did order some of the round magnesium rods (with no ferro rod attached) that seem to work pretty good. Next time I order a mag bar I'll give the Doan's a try.

[MrOneleggedjosh]

Thanks for the comparison.