Small Ferro Rod Strikers

Lately my primary means of starting fires has been the ferrocerrium rod.  This is one of those situations that bigger really is better however I always have seemed to have gotten small rods.  Primarily I do lighter weight backpacking and hiking, so carrying a 1/2 inch bar doesn't seem to fit that.  Additionally when I am out backpacking there is usually some backup, either a mini bic or some stormproof matches.  I use the ferro rod most often because it takes more skill and practice, and it takes time to get good with.

Recently at navigator I tried making a fire in the rain with the kit I brought.  I had good tinder material, chunks of fatwood, jute cord, and waxed wood shavings.  I also brought the Sparrows Lockpick flint butcher set.  This consists of three ferro rods, one large diameter that is stubby with a hole and lanyard, another longer moderate diameter, and a smaller one drilled with 2 holes.  It also comes with a dedicated striker, which has an aesthetically interesting design, looking much like a butcher knife.

At navigator I found using this striker to be very difficult when my hands were cold and wet.  I have seen some people on the internet connecting lanyards to it, which gives more usability, however I still not convinced it will work well in cold weather situations.  Eventually one of the other participants used his gobspark to get our tinder lit.  So I set out last night to try a bench top experiment with different rods and strikers all of small size.

The gear:
flint butcher set
LMF style rod with handle and striker from livefire
ceramic striker from wazoo survival
rod equivalent in diameter to those in some buckles
cheap and crappy ferro rod and magnesium block

For each of the ferro rods I tried each of the three dedicated strikers and subjectively compared the consistency to generate sparks and especially huge ones.  I found that the hardest to use was the flint butcher striker.  I only ever got weaker sparks, and never the big gobby ones that stayed lit for a while.  This could still be a technique issue, but as of right now it isn't working well for me.

The middle of the road was the scraper on the livefire striker.  This worked well on all of the ferro rods, however one issue with it is that only one of the sides has a good 90 degree grind.  It does also have some grooves at the end, which can also be used.  This is also the piece of kit that I have the most experience with.  I have had trouble before in wet weather with consistency.

The last and my favorite of the bunch was the little ceramic striker from Wazoo.  It was the easiest to get lots of consistent pressure and big sparks from all of the ferro rods, regardless of size.  It is also the smallest and lightest of all 3 strikers.  That is an advantage in my view in warmer months where you won't have gloves, but it would be the hardest of them to use with gloves.

So what I learned was that for the smaller sized ferro rods the best performing dedicated striker I tested was the small ceramic one.  As such I will likely switch to carrying that instead of stashing it deep inside my survival kit.  Additionally for colder weather conditions a different setup is probably a good idea, specifically one that works well with gloves on.  One of my big concerns is still weight, so I likely will never carry a giant ferro rod all year round.  From what I saw at navigator the gobspark is probably a good bet for winter.