Dispelling Several Ferro Rod Myths 

I like how you talk to us like a friend and you really care. You always seem so calm and relaxed.

Always honest, always reliable, always back up your claims with real world demonstrations. Much respect. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

How to identify the real deal among RU-vid ferro rod users- his ferro rod has been used until it is pointed. Thanks as always, and my best to you and Connie.

I'm a novelist myself, and I've listened to many other survival guide experts. And none of them have really gave me the information that I need. You on the other hand have helpful information as well as demonstrations and you'll explain it that it's understandable and easy to understand. I also like your calm and friendly disposition... Thanks

Man, I learned more from 8 or so minutes of myth debunking from this awesome person than I have from watching a dozen videos on ferro rods. I'm subscribing.

As a long time member of a SAR organization, I can tell you, you are very competent and credible. Best I’ve seen anywhere on the internet. Good job, Lonnie.

A lot of the "Flint" issue comes from the cigarette lighter industry calling the small fero rod on the striker a flint. Thanks Lonnie for the great information.

Really has a Bob Ross type feel to him i love it!!

I work in a outdoor equipment store, and I really appreciate these kind of videos. I have a lot of knowledge and experience, but I dont know all and I cant test it all, so these to the point videos made by experienced honest people really helps me advise my customers. So thank you! :)

I’ve never been so much as camping but I love channels like this, Primitive Technology, and various science channels just to watch people who are experts explain how things work.

Learned something new...didn't know you can strike a ferro rod with a piece of glass! Now i'm gonna try all different materials to see what works...thank you for the info!

Man I like your stuff. You don;t carry $$$$ of equipment. You just do it with basic tools. That is real skill. Keep it up my brother!

You would so blessed to have an ancestral skill mentor like Lonnie versus innumerable pretenders who have now appeared. He has remarkable teaching skills and is an excellent communicator. Wise too.

Great tutorial. Anybody who knows anything about survival in the bush knows you're the real McCoy. These people who think they know better probably haven't spent any real time in the wilderness. Best to you and Connie. 🙏

I was excited to see you pop up on my phone. I could listen to you describe how paint drys as it is happening. You have a very trust worthy way about you. A uncommon trait today. I think the beard of knowledge helps. 🧙‍♂️

Always learn something new when I watch Lonnie on his videos. Thanks! Mike.

I remember the first video I ever watched of yours was, "Is A Ferro Rod Worth Having?" Talk about coming full circle.Thanks for sharing, Mr. Bushcraft Wizard.

Hello from Europe to both of you, nice to see that you are fine. I was a bit worried to see and hear nothing for a howl Month. Nice Video, as always. The way you share your knowledge is calming and interesting at the same time! I'm experimenting also with different types of ferro rods and realised just last week, that one of them is that soft, that it will be used up very quickly. I trained some kids to start fire, and after that day, it was half gone. Greetings to both of you!

You have a good radio voice, you're simple, not flashy, and I could gather all you talked about easily while also working on another project and only having my eyes on half the time. You'll be good to learn from.

No hype, just honest education from a man that cares. Always amazing content!

Great to see you again Lonnie. First practical application I've ever seen for a magnesium bar!

Great video! Another myth is that anyone can use a ferro rod or magnesium block. You must try out and become accustomed to all of your tools before you need them. I was one who had brand new gear in my pack. When I tried to use it, I didn't know how. Like you said with the different compositions of the rods, add to that the moisture content of your tinder, your own personal striking style, and your striker. Having the wrong striker make a huge difference for me. (I was using a blade that didn't have a 90° spine, it worked 12% of the time and I was tearing up my ferro rod.)

Thank you for explaining that! There are definitely two types hard and soft and both have different ways you go about striking the rod.

Thanks Lonnie, I love your videos. I love your "laid back" presentation style. Hello to Connie on camera too. Keep the videos coming.

Some myths die hard. You have a done a good job of dispelling a number of them while adding extra value to the discussion. Thanks Lonnie

God bless You! Greatings from Austria/Europe.

One more time, VERY useful video, Lonnie. From Louis, France.

Thank you Lonnie! You are a great teacher! Blessings on Ya'll!

Good to see you again! Thanks

Straight to the point.No fluff.I'm new to all this but I learned a lot just in this one video.😎👍

Wow man I just learnt a whole load of amazing fire techniques in 8 minutes. I love his voice it’s really soothing for me.

Although I live a lifestyle in which I don't have a need for starting fires, this was very informative. You've made quite the enjoyable video to watch, thank you.

Great video, Lonnie, and love that pointed ferro rod! I actually have a pair of original "Swedish Firesteel" rods from over 20 years ago when they first came out - the maker produced them in a small workshop (I should have got them autographed). You're right about the composition, as the old rods I have don't shave easily but still throw great sparks.

good to know Lonnie good to see you on here again love the video take care up there.. stay safe god bless you and the wife to you both .

Great video, as usual. I think you're right about the carbon steel confusion. It makes perfect sense.

Great knowledge I also believed that only carbon steel worked..!! Now I know different.. thank you from Texas

Love your videos! Love your calm, mellow demeanour and honesty. Thank you for giving me someone like me and even likely close to my age to join while I'm soaking up anything I've forgotten or missed from growing up in the Michigan woodlands. Best wishes. ;)

Excellent content, as usual! Thank you and keep’em coming.

Well done, sir. I thought carbon steel was necessary, but now realize the SS blade I tried it with, was not 90° on the back. You save suffering, and lives with your lessons.

Thanks Lonnie for ANOTHER excellent video!!! You answered a number of questions regarding strikers I've been researching , plus the use of magnisium (?) to start fires more easily! May you ans your wonderful wife stay SAFE and HEALTHY my friend!!!

Thanks again for your videos brother! It’s all about experience!! Lots of people say.. do it this way, or do it that way..... we all have to ultimately respect each other and do it the way that works for us! Thank you you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us again sir! Very best wishes 👌🏽👍🏽👍🏽😎

yes this is indeed very true,many people are confused in this kind of fire making, i always love to hear their discussions and then try to reason with them great info as always atb Steve

Lonnie, thank you kindly for this. Your integrity always speaks volumes! Thank you again!~

Thanks for your teaching on ferro rods. You myth busted lots of things I’ve been told.

Thanks for the Demo Lonnie, good info for someone who wants to go out in the wild and not rely solely on matches.

When I was in the Army, I had access to all the shop areas, being the head Crew Chief. First on Hueys and then the first Black Hawks to go into regular service. The sheet metal shop always had magnesium sheets in there. I remember when I was a kid, I would go to the hobby shop and get a few small strips of magnesium and was surprised to see how hot they burned. So I always glitched some of it from my friend in the metal shop. It sure does burn hot. I never asked him what they used it for on aircraft. That stuff would burn up in a minute. I think it was just old stock from when he took over the metal shop.

Great info Lonnie. I love your channel. Its awesome to see another Alaskan out there doing it for real

Thank you for the good info on your videos. Me and a friend will be doing some winter camping while practicing some survival tactics. We are using your videos as a tool to help us.

Excellent tutorial Lonnie.Most people have no idea how the different methods work.Thanks

Lonnie and Connie, thanks for sharing, always excellent content. Great to hear from you again ! God bless !

Great video man. Have an amazing Sunday, Andreas from Off Grid Sweden 🇸🇪

I too have used quartz for ferro rod back in 2016. Where I was in Wyoming had an abundance in quartz as well. I was pleasantly surprised how well it works. Keep up the good videos in sharing valuable information good sir :)

All great points, I’ve met a few people who were shocked when I’d use stainless steel on my ferry rod. I’ve never even considered glass, that’s a new one for me. Keep the vids coming!

Thanks for the insights, sir! I have a 1" magnesium rod I bought awhile back ... I like to scrape shavings from that into a prescription bottle for use on the trail. I carry a large Ferro rod on my knife sheath to spark it (or White Birch bark!) to get a flame. Thanks for sharing ... God Bless

You sir have an excellent voice for narrations or radio! Deep and calm

Wonderful demonstration on the ferro rod, and how it will deliver a spark with darn near a dry noodle by the looks of thing! I am one of those that was under the impression that you needed carbon steel blades to strike a spark. No I know better thanks to you. Much appreciated. Cheers from Winnipeg.

Good one Phresh, I've noticed some confusion about these concepts over the years.

I have to say I've never finished one of your videos without feeling it was time well spent. I love magnesium because it will burn in damp or wet conditions. I keep a small plastic bag of shavings at the ready to save the time of shaving. (I'm too arthritic to be playing with bow drills) However, I wrap that in aluminum foil to avoid contact with heat or a spark. Keep that valuable knowledge coming. Us old folks are forgetful. :o)

Sir, you are the Bob Ross of Bushcraft, and I love your vids. Appreciatchya!

As always a great video with simple, straightforward, honest facts. I like.

good info as always Lonnie, good job filming Connie.

I did learn something today. Cheers✌❤

Another great video, thanks! I was amazed by the glass, I must admit. Who knew! Really can learn something new everyday.

Thank you, Lonnie for exposing the myths on ferro rods. I learned a lot! It’s quite surprising to know that one can use quarts or even broken glass. I always enjoy yout calm and peaceful

Thanks for the video!

I wanted to have lanyard attached strikers for my ferro rods that would maintain a sharp edge. Many of the carbon steel ones that you get can be easily dulled, with use, and not work as well (or not even work at all, when new, until you grind a good sharp square edge on them..). Ferro rods are tough, and really seem to be hard on strikers. A good striker can be a piece of tungsten carbide. It is HARD and holds up well. It is also hard enough to use as a knife edge sharpener. I bought some tungsten carbides made for lathe machine cutting tool bits. Square ones with square edges and a hole for mounting. I put them on my lanyards along with the carbon steel strikers. I use them for "sharpening" the strikers, which always work much better with fresh sharp edges. Also quite handy for touching up knife blade edges, too, but you have to hold the carbides carefully so as not to cut your fingers with your knives.

I spent a lot of time in the bush in western Canada and I find you very knowledgeable about bush craft. I have used many of the same techniques myself.

LOVE YOUR CHANNEL LONNIE! I was a "survivalist" from before they coined the term! I was born in '46 and went through Cub Scouts, Webelos (where I started my "shooting career" with 22LR single shot rifles and spent my 1st ever night alone, sleeping under the stars, in the "wilds" of SE'n KS - rattlesnakes & skunks were my only concern!) and Boy Scouts thru "Star". At the age of about 14 I learned to fly an old Cessna 140 (tail-dragger) that a neighbor had and joined the Civil Air Patrol/Civil Defense and left scouting. At 16 I got my 1st car, the day after my Birthday, and that was the end of everything but cars and girls for awhile! I stilled fished and hunted of course, taking girls fishing with me and ranging farther afield with hunting via my car. I graduated Hi School in '64 and married the summer of '66 and after a year of marriage, birth of my daughter and translocation to Chicago, got back into serious hunting and fishing, especially in WI and the UP, MI. I also started canoeing extensively, learning to run whitewater in northern WI. I combined fishing, hunting and canoe camping in the wilder areas of Wisconsin and started going into survival mode in the late '60's, just to test how "good" I was. As a young boy my dad had read stories of the Mountain men and pioneers and their exploits, so he'd set a high bar for my outdoor education. I was divorced in the mid-'70's and my girlfriend and I extensively camped and canoed during the warm months and I camped and bow-hunted deer in the Fall in the UP of Michigan - some really wild places where they had the largest Black Bears in the Lower 48 near Superior (Royal) Gorge, a very deep, impenetrable, canyon. I also ice fished and cross country ski camped in Wisconsin. Finally, I left the Chicago area just prior Christmas of 1980 and moved to Colorado's West Slope, where I camped above 7, 500 ft elevation for most of all four seasons, working here and there for a week, or so, just to keep myself in food and ammo, etc. I slept in my heavy down bag down to -30 F with no bad outcomes and ate a lot of Snowshoe Rabbit stew, etc. I loved it then, and look back on it fondly, but I'm old and busted up now, can't walk of stand, my knees being shot, and I'm glad I did it, but likely will never camp, fish and hunt like that again. I haven't shot a firearm "live" since 2014, but shot my cowboy guns and 357 Mag Colt back in the day, that the muscle memory seems permanent! I still "shoot" my Glock 26 at a laser target with a 5/16" dot about 10 or so feet from my bed as I'm mostly bed bound now. I'd reckon based on my laser "groups", that I'm still dead on for a brain-stem shot at combat distances. I have a Custom Shop J-Frame S&W SS 3" 60-15 in 357 Mag, loaded with 38 Spcl +P for backup just in case the 9mm G26 fails to stop a big dude attempting harm on my wife or myself. For "distance" work I have a Mossberg 500 20 ga with a rifled bbl that'll through a 14" pattern at 5 yds with #3 Buck and group 2 1/2" at 100yd with conventional slugs, and 3" at 200 yds with sabot slugs. My 600 yd rig is a Thompson-Center All Weather 270 Win which I'll be selling soon, there's no good place to shoot it on Maui past 300 yards and as I can't really hunt anymore, I'm only interested in man-sized targets out to 300 yds max in the event of a hurricane and marauders/looters, etc. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK - FROM ALL I'VE EVER LEARNED, YOU'RE THE REAL DEAL!

Great demo Lonnie thank you! Ive used both softer cheaper rods and harder ones like that swedish one there. Over the years I simply noticed I had a little bit more success with the light my fire rods and first strike ignition. So I only use them now. The word is the softer ones makes a bit longer curly shavings that burn longer, hence why they should be more effective on damp material. But I dont know. Nothing I have noticed myself.

Hello again Lonnie , I had heard about Quartz being s good source for a spark, always a good learning experience watching your videos.

I saved this one for a bad day. Thanks for being so cool, Lonnie.

Hi Lonnie and Connie, thanks for the video, your right , there is a difference in the hardness of some ferro rods ,and some people struggle to make sparks whith the supplied scraper, they just haven't got a square edge that holds up long enough, As you demonstrated anything whith a hard sharp corner will do in a pinch.Myself I purchased a 3"×1/4"×1/4" hss tool steel bit from an engineers supply, and fitted it into a piece of antler for a handle ,whith a lanyard onto my ferro rod, this gives me 4 sharp corners to use,and it doesn't go dull, total cost around £2.50. As always looking forward to the next video, Best Wishe's to you both,Stuart uk.

Terminology can be the problem. The Boy Scout manual shows a photo of a ferro rod and calls it "Flint & Steel" . Maybe because we call the sparker in a lighter a piece of flint when it is actually a mini ferro rod. Terminology, like common names for plants, can make things confusing. Thanks for joining the battle I have been fighting the past 15 years!

Thank you. This did actually clear up some confusion for me. I wonder what would happen if you tossed the whole magnesium block in the fire?

Lonnie ... Learned some new things today!!! Thanks, my friend, and please keep the videos coming!!! Send Connie my warmest regards!!! Y’all take care, be safe, all my best and God bless!!! Chuck Knight from Buffalo, Texas. 🤠🐩🙏😎

Lonnie your videos are so educational, Love them all, keep them coming, thanks

Lonnie I have a steal just like Yours I picked up rocks I use That spark real well

Takes real balls to tell a man who lives his life like you do that you're doing it wrong lol. Another quietly informative video. Thank you.

when using a fire starting aid it's you want to know which part of it is causing the spark this can help you know what materials you can use to help make a spark and how to use it. I liked the video and how you showed us what each piece of the equipment was doing it made it a lot easier to understand why these misconceptions come about.

Thank You Lonnie for another great presentation!! You handle your topics with great calmness and respect something that is very much appreciated!! I believe much confusion has entered the community as the result of inconsistent nomenclature as I've seen manufactures and RU-vidrs alike refer to a ferrocerium rod as a "fire steel" Thank You again Lonnie(and Connie) for all the time and Love you put into your videos!!🔥🔥

Hey Lonnie, I think most who enjoy your videos, trust your honesty. The idea that you'd have a phony rock is pretty funny to me. Because of how people can be, you're trying to demonstrate it's just a quartz rock...Hilarious actually. Thanks!

I have several fire kits and they all have a magnesium block, along with ferro rods But I also have a peace of a file in each for scraping the magnesium off the block. The file makes it easier to get a good pile together. If the weather is a bit wet I also carry some gauze pads with petroleum jelly smeared on them. A bit of magnesium and one of those gauze pads gets a fire going really well.

Even though I have spent a lot of my 64 years in the bush I always learn something new with each of your videos. If I am ever involved in a forced plane landing in the deep bush where I would be stranded for a month I would hope you are on that plane as well. Kind regards from Northern BC Canada.🇨🇦

Great Video on those. I used a piece of an old broken ceramic ashtray when trying different things and got mine to spark. Thanks for making this and showing us more ways and myths. Take Care and Stay Safe.

The chemical composition of flint and quartz are the same, silicon dioxide. Good video.

Vielen dank für die Tipps und liebe grüße aus Deutschland👍🤘

So wise and friendly... both thumbs up to you!,

Lonnie, in the video you stated that you appreciate all of us. Well, all of us definitely appreciate you and Connie! You will probably never know but I would guess that the information you provide has or will save the life of someone someday. Please give Buck a pat on the head and a treat. God Bless!

Yea i was actually lol after you used the glass shard...amazing properties of different elements....especially the Walmart magnesium bar......cool!

i miss AK, i lived there for 14 + years, in the village of Kink across the inlet from Anchorage, ..

I learn something new every time I watch one of your videos! Thanks!

The properties of magnesium are why it is frequently used in strips to ignite thermite. Using slivers or shavings of magnesium is very effective with a ferro rod, often times not necessary but it is one of those “quality of life” tips. Excellent, concise information in this video. I am now subscribed.

Wow, there was snowfall already where you are 😲 Anyway, good to see you back again 🙂 Honestly, I believe people are confusing magnesium blocks with ferro rods when they talk about making a lot of shavings to start a fire 😅

Love the video and your channel. Here's my pet peeve: The biggest thing that has ever bothered me is for those folks that watch shows like Survivor. On that show, the host says, "You will win fire in the form of flint." That is completely inaccurate. That show gives the contestants a magnesium block with a ferro role embedded in it. That being said, none of those idiots can ever get their fires lit. If you cannot light a fire with a magnesium block, please stay out of the wilderness. Note: This comment is not trying to suggest that that show is anywhere near real "survival," I am just talking about how these myths are often spread. Peace.

Lonnie and Connie ... EXCELLENT information; better video!!! Learned something new today!!! Thanks!!! Keep the videos coming!!! Chuck Knight from Buffalo, Texas. 🤠

Nice to have you back Lonnie.

I agree with your comments Lonnie. We also don't have flint in the states. Finding a rock or material with a hardness of 70 or higher with a sharp edge is all you need. Good stuff here as always. Thank you again.

I never buy any other firestriker. I will always stay with light my fire. I've tried primus and about 10 other off brands. Light my fire is far superior with a long lasting easier to create spark. I never use more then 3 strikes for any tinder. Birch and gathered fatwood are my favourite. Good video.

Awesome as always. Thanks for making these

Great video, I appreciate the info as always!