Value #1: Chinese Firesteel vs Light my Fire 

cheap does not mean bad quality, expensive does not mean excellent quality. don't waste money for branded. be a smart consumer. gooooooooood comparison.

We bought and have used this very ferro rod on Amazon. We bought two for the kids to use while working on their fire making skills. Very good quality, easy to use and the handle is large so that their small hands can hold onto it easily. They are reasonably priced by comparison. We ended up buying three more.

Gotta love that "thingy" on the striker

Hello Maarten, the rounded part at the end of the striker on the chinese model should be used to gently scrape some magnesium off the rod before actually striking. These little particles of magnesium now on your tinder will give it a littke boost to pick up faster, especially if the tinder is somewhat humid. Great review, continue your great work.

I think if you want to compare the ferrocerium rods only, you'd need to use the same scraping tool for both. It makes a big difference. The black scraping tool has a little lip on it so it takes more material of the ferro rod. Though this makes sense too, they are as they come as a whole. I prefer a knife with a sharp 90° edge on the spine of the blade as a scraping tool.

I noticed short fire steels are harder to start fires with as well . I like the fact that the Chinese fire steel is longer 😄

I just bought this and it cost me $3.82 CAD, free shipping. That`s just ridiculous man.

I was about to buy the LMF these days but after I watched this video I purchased this Chinese alternative. I like the wooden handle which can be used to make a tinder as a last resort. Thanks

I agree with you about the better shower of sparks from the Chinese steels. Much better than my LMF. I bought 10 of the Chinese blank ferro rods for just a couple of quid off Ebay and I have great fun whittling my own wee wooden handles for them (thanks to another of your great DBK vids, cheers) when out in the forest. Great fun to make up pine pitch/charcoal glue to attach them to the rods too. The end result is far superior, and prettier than an LMF, and much more fun to acquire. Great channel lads, one of the most informative and entertaining channels on here, well done.

I feel like it's so tricky to find a good ferro rod. I thought light my fire was supposed to be one of the best, it's usually towards the top of "top ten" lists online, but here it is getting beat by some unknown brand fire steel

I agree , those big companies making money on the same chinese steel but just package more fancy in my opinion(they don`t make the rods , they buy them in bulk and add their brand , you pay for the brand)...I just bought 4 rods, 1/2" x 6" on ebay at $4.50 per rod ,where some other big companies charge close to $30 to $50 usd each from web stores, a complete rip off when all you need is to just get a wood knob from harware store and drill the hole you need or fatwood as a handle (use it as tinder to shave off) drill a hole and glue it in!.... what I noticed on many chinese firesteels is that the striker can be good or bad... the sparks depends on the metal you use on the firesteel... I been using lately the cut edge closer to the handle because it never gets used up there anyways and I get tons of heavy sparks, instead of using those little serrated blades with 2 fingers that is uncomfortable to use ...if I have a knife, hold it with a full grip, I just use the cutting edge and I don`t even see damage on the blade after cleaning it, but if that gives me triple amount of sparks when I need it , I won`t worry about the edge then ,knife blades need to be sharpen sometimes too!

Greetings from a Chinese who doesn't own one single knife or fire steel, just enjoy watching your videos, great job! channel subed)

Bought one of these after watching. So glad I did ! They are as good as my Light My Fire one and it cost £2.22 including postage to UK! Thanks again mate ! All the best from Scotland. Garry

Son of a bitch... that looks like the one I bought from a Swedish company I did not know it came from China... lol. It was not cheap. Boy am I pissed... its the exact same fire steel. I think I paid $17 for the damn thing. Uberlenben Zunden... do not make the same mistake I did.

Its really nice to see a honest review suggesting the purchase of the cheap alternative rather than just going on brand name. btw. in Australia we call that Wood rot rather than wood mould.

I've been using basically only Chinese firesteels. First one I bought was the cheapest I could find on eBay, for less than a dollar, very small, but I got to learn how to use it to make a fire. Then I started buying bigger ones, and I even have some 1/2" x 5" rods that work just great. And they're all chinese, never had a single problem with them

I only use chinese made 5"x1/2" ferro rod blanks, cost is around $5 including post. I then add a cobra weave paracord handle which includes a lanyard for the striker. They offer similar performance to all other ferro rods (from experience and testing several brands) and offer magnificent value for money. Don't watse your money on 'branded' ferro rods they are a rip off.

i have a 1/2" by 5" Chinese steel and very satisfied. i think it was $8 but took about a month to arrive to US. the light mu fire version was three timea the price

I just ordered 10 pieces from ebay for the price of €7,20 included free shipping.

Come on Baby light my firrrrrrreee! (Jim Morison, The Doors, 1969)...!

I like the bayite Ferro rod 1/2" x 6". Great review ill check them out

Nice to know that you know how to use a fire steel!! Most people are way too quick to blame their lack of knowledge of any given item on " Chinese" made products (it's never their fault)! If I pay high dollar on an item it better do what it's supposed to do (after I'm trained on the use). Good video, nice job!

I am watching these guys instead of tv now, more entertaining. Thank you for filling the void in my life until The Expanse returns!

Wow your videos have come a long way.

Wow! You guys have come a long way.

Another great no bullshit review. Thank you!

Great video and great demonstration

Harder, lasts longer? Not if you need umpten strikes to make fire. The point isn't how many strikes you can make, but how many fires you can light.

Ooooops, I have ordered a light my fire and it is on the way now. Shouldn't have seen this video. :) Thank you for the easy and intuitive comparison.

Well, light my fire (or other firesteels from sweeden) are in my oppinion the best you can get. The price is a bit higher but you get a good product for your money :)

This nice review confirms my idea of chinese firesteels, on e-bay you can get them bare so you can make your own handle from metal, a piece of wood or stag, they are so cheap you buy several of them and leave one in the car, one in the backpack, one on your knife and so on.

I just got this firesteel from gearbest. I live in Canada so it took a couple months to get here but for 3 bucks including shipping, its worth the wait. I like it better than the lightmyfire ones.

I bought 2 of these cheap fire steels based on this video. They arrived today and they're awesome. You even get a bottle opener and a ruler! LOL. Yes, they're very cheap and very good.

Hi, Great comparison video. I always wondered if the high price of Light my fire was justified...apparently not!

ive got cheap chinese rods that seem to work OK too. A hacksaw blade will get decent sparks off the steel, but ive found that wrapping a piece of sandpaper round the rod and pushing it forward gives off even a larger amount of sparks! They are not the easiest things to strike with the flimsy striker that some are provided with.

hey thanks so much for the tip on these ferro rods ausome job on all your vids great information thanks again learned a lot from you and virtuovice keep vids coming

I'm just sitting back with a hot drink while people argue about fire steels in the comment section lol :D

thanks, this answered my question well...God bless...doug (central Canada)

Sometimes cheaper is better :) Thanks for the review - Martin

another great video DBG haha! I had never heard of Gearbest before but I've ordered 2 hammocks from them on your recommendation. guess I should've commented on that video? anyway thanks again and keep up the great work!

Awesome video!

The best fire steel I have tested is "the big chinese one with the small orange handle" from eBay. The striker also has a orange handle. The striker is above supreme.

magnesium helps to start the fire the rod is made out of Ferrocitium, if that's spelt wrong correct me. It's a Ferro rod and some like my Doan have magnesium blocks attached. But the firesteel is made from Ferrocitium.

Very cool! Thanks, from Utah!

Things made in China may be cheap in price because the labor is cheap it doesn't mean the quality is cheap. They have been working with steel for thousands of years so obviously they must know a thing or two here or there. Just remember that fancy computer you're on is probably made in China and so is almost everything we use these days. I just found a good deal on Amazon for $12 CAD two 1/2" x 5" ferrocerium rods, should arrive this week, got my fingers (and tinder) crossed.

You make that look so effortless. I've bough a few firesteels from china now, and none of them spark that well. Not sure if it's me or what, but it takes an extraordinary amount of force to produce any spark, and it's not nearly as brilliant. The only way I've been able to get a good flash out of it is using the blade of a knife instead of the spine, but obviously that damages the blade quite a bit.

Very good video thanks for sharing

nice job, nice review

Ik had van knives en tools een aurora firestarter. 32,00. Paar maanden geleden wat staafjes uit China besteld en vandaag 1 zending binnen gekregen. Zijn veel beter dan die aurora. En dan te bedenken dat je voor de prijs van 1 aurora 42 (!) van die Chinese hebt. Ze zijn ook veel groter, en veel zachter. Er zit ook een strijker aan, en als je zacht schraapt, schraap je er gewoon magnesium af. Leuk om een hoopje te maken en dan aan te steken. Daar krijg je alles mee aan ^^. Denk dat aan die Chinese ongeveer 3x zoveel materiaal zit dan aan de aurora. Ze zijn dan wel zachter, maar denk dat ze net zo lang mee gaan vanwege de veel grotere omvang.

I paid over $100 for a matching desert ironwood burl firesteel from Bark River for my Bravo. I never use it.

In my opinion...I would make that striker double as a scraper for making fire starter..what u need ruler for ???.instead of bottle opener !!!

Looks like the only reason to buy LMF is being The Doors fan

those don't cost much at all, good review

Good review, thanks for posting! 😀

Cheers good video Maarten. Was this before Mikkie joined you?

hi guys! one quick question , in the online shop the lengs are on "pcs" do you know which one its the one you used?

maybe a stupid question from a beginning bushcrafter... but why would you choose a firesteel over a lighter??

Nice review.I have the big fat fire steel from china and they are really good at 3 for £10 you cannot go wrong.The only downside is you have to wait 2-3 weeks for them to arrive. atb Ted

I absolutely agree with you. They are better.

Far from being a reliable comparison test, but it's nice to have this feedback form cheaper options. Cheers!

awesome review!!!! I've always bought the china made ones cheap and effective !!!!

Dose IBDK stand for I Don't Be Knowing

I’ve just started watching you two guys and I love it. Very informative, it’s believable as in your not selling someone’s product and you guys are fucking hilarious! I CANT BELIEVE HOW YOUNG YOU ARE IN THIS VIDEO! How long have you been doing these clips. Keep doing them. You two are the best.

how many phones do you go through?

I bought two fire steels that are 15 CM long by 10MM thick. I figure if I see a bear in the woods I can hit him w/ the steel if he gets to close, (hehehehe)

Could you guys do a review of the Cold Steel SRK in CPM 3V steel ? And what do you think of U2X steel? Anyway, thanks for the awesome vid's ! I'm 13 and they really help. Keep it up!

As far as I know only two factories (countries) make the actual fire steels being China and Austria. You pay for the brand name on the handle.

great review thanks! I'm with you on the cheap firesteel being good, I think the quality of the striker is more important (bits of hacksaw blade are really bad!). best wishes from the UK

great review thumps up keep it coming. proud to be dutch!

Is that the standart size of the chines firesteel?

Echt cool en je leert er veel van (maar dan op een leuke manier😉)! Dit is toch je eigen stuk bos?

Please don't tell me Moras are really made in China too😓

The light my fire one gave a better aim of sparks than the other one

Hi may i ask you what is your dbk firesteel made of? Is it better than the chinese one ? You can clearly tell the truth , i will buy it anyway , i really love Your work.

try pulling the firesteel back and keeping the striker still, if you use a knife it protects tinder from rain.

Keep in mind that swedish stuff is not so «expensive» in Norway and sweden. And its more expensive to make things in the nordic countries. Hultafors or gransfors axes that everyone says is so expensive, not worth it etc. Well i can get a Hultafors classic 65cm or gransfors forest axe for 80$.. wich is the same as you buying a 60$ axe, cus of higher $ per hour in the nordic countries. That lmf fire steel costs 13$ here.. when i worked at a post office as a teenager i got 25$ per hour and 33$ at weekends. I got a chinese firesteel that throws nice sparks but with alot of effort.. while lmf is more smoother and throws good sparks at low pressure also.

What are your thoughts on magnesium bar fire starters I have always liked them - cheers good upload

The good old times :)

Sounds like a jungle with all the bird sounds. Man that's nice.

The $3.39 fire steel that became $14.99 once DBK was put on the handle.

If it draws a good spark - as in the words of forged in fire It will light a fire. Everyone pushes light my fire steel this and fire steel that . I find Chinese firesteel works just as well as all others and is far less expensive. Properly prepared fire tinder and you will get a fire.

Say Heah M&M, A while ago, I ordered a 6" firesteel from a RU-vid I ordered it with a Leather belt carrier and afatwood handle. It showers great. As far as the Striker, I like the one that came with my Light My Fire with the Red handle with the whistle.,,. p

I also prefer wood because its sustainable, as long as its sustainable sourced.

I just bought one through the link solely based on your recommendation

is uberleban chinese ?

NICE HAIR FROM 4 YEARS AGO LMAO lololololololololololol sorry im drinking a lot at home

'like' number 1000! baby!

I have survival stuff but there are 3 things preventing me from making videos; 1. I am 17, 2.I have an annoying voice, 3. No forest near me to do this alone :( I can do some on like a table but stuff like knife testing I can't :(

I tested many and they are all much of a muchness

Chinese made products by and large these days are not crap, remember at one time they used to say the Japanese made junk too, Chinese companies also have great customer service and look after their customers, if it's made in China I would always rather deal directly with the maker, same product cheaper and cheaper shipping too, and I find the Chinese to be more honest too.

U missed THE point regarding Chinese piece...it WILL break apart from that wodden handle in few days of normal/heavy use.

The ancient DBK EDIT: Holy crap this got a like from DBK

Gearbest are great,I hope they don't raise their prices as they grow..

I have a Kershaw fire steel. IT SUCKS!!! Never once started a fire... I use the fire steel in my Moraknive. IMHO

Hello, I bought and would not recommend. Light my fire is better with slow precise movements. Chinese version of the slow movement does not create sparks :-/

Also for 10USD light my fire is pretty cheap

pull the rod instead of pushing the scraper.

I order the light my fire knife over a year ago through amazon. Knife and fire steel together was under $30 if I remember right. A good review but it depends on how often you use these items.

My exact same experience. No me gusta light my fire.

I forgot my magnesium flint in the fire But thanks to science it didn t light because it isn t mixed with air