Do you know what the Ten Essentials for the Outdoors are? From the Boy Scout Handbook, it includes a pocketknife, first aid kit, extra clothing, rain gear, water bottle, flashlight, trail food, matches/fire starters, sun protection and map/compass. Let’s take a look at starting a fire with a flint.
What is it?
A 6″ fire-starting steel rod kit capable of producing a shower of hot sparks, despite weather conditions.
Hardware specs
Large 6” Ferrocerium rod will keep starting fires up to 30,000 strikes.
What’s in the box?
- Emergency paracord and whistle
- Multifunctional scraper tool
- Tinder holder and cotton
Design and features
The6-inchh rod feels substantial. When I was a kid, I had a tiny keychain version that was no larger than a match. This thing is about as big as a Sharpie pen.
The metal scraper has a scale on both sides plus a bottle opener notch.
Inside the capsule is a wad of cotton tinder, in case you don’t have anything suitable to start a fire.
The orange bit is actually a whistle and snaps into the black part to form a paracord end.
Setup
After going through the Cub Scouts my son is now in his first year of Boy Scouting. I thought I’d let him take a crack at it. His 11 year-old muscles had a little trouble producing a shower of sparks, but with some patience and persistence…
Success! “Woo hoo!” was his quote.
Performance
I discovered that with the included metal scraper tool, technique is key. Scraping at a roughly 45 degree angle gave slightly better results.
Positives
- Beefy 6″ rod will likely never run out in your lifetime
- Everything you need for basic survival included (paracord, scraper, whistle, tinder capsule)
Negatives
- You’ll need a little bit of grunt power to produce sparks of sufficient quantity.
Final thoughts
The SurvivalHax 6″ Fire Starter Flint totally beats my wimpy flint steel of yesteryear. I like that it includes not just the steel, but a few other items that make this an no-brainer for one of the Ten Essentials for the Outdoors.
Price: $22.99
Where to buy: SurvivalHax.com or Amazon.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by SurvivalHax.
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when I was a cub scout we had to make a fire with sticks
the husband of our den mother used a fire drill
most of us at least got smoke but I figured I would die of exhaustion before I created fire
I prefer a bic lighter now but a nice big ferro rod like this would be a nice addition to my kit