Finding my center at REI today I was chatting with a guy I know who works there. He showed me a 'toy' the guys had been playing with, the Sparkie fire starter by Ultimate Survival. They also make wet fire tender and the bigger brother of Sparkie, the BlastFire match that Doug has reviewed in the past.

Kewl. Was all I could think. About the size of a bic lighter the sparks were better and more consistent than my Light My Fire fire steel. I bought it.

I got home, grabbed my son, went out back and attempted to start a fire. I had my doubts the wind was at least 20 mph. I grabbed some dead grass, balled it up, set it in a depression and in two strikes I had a ball of fire. Ten seconds max.

This item is replacing the sparklite in my EDC. It will rest next to a sleeve of REI waterproof matches, a LMF firesteel modified with hacksaw blade striker, mini bic, piezo lighter, occasional zippo, wet fire tender and some coglins fire starter.

I think this item is a great addition. Standard disclaimers to REI and Ultimate Survival (not sponsored by them)

I love the photo of it fitting neatly in the Altoids tin.

It's amazing. I will definitely add it to my kit!

I'm glad comms you liked the sparkie, I had bought 2 of them when they were first released, 1 was for testing and the other was for carrying. When I first used them I had one jam up on me right off the bat by striking more than the 3X that the instructions stated not to do. I rinsed it in the sink to free up the jam and the more I played with it, it has not jammed since. I don't care for the cheep plastic around the holder that holds the flint nor the small amount of flint that it has. After carrying one for some time and using it frequently at home and work playing with the test one, the latch is so wore down that it deploys in my pocket more than not. Compared to the size it takes up and the amount of flint available, I went back to my old blast match flint that I had removed from the carrier and a hacksaw blade. The Sparkie did what it was intended but the initial jam ruined any trust I had in the unit, plus long term survival I opted with a bigger amount of steel than that little piece in the sparkie. The one hand spark is a good idea, if they went with a different design and the same diameter as the blast match I might reconsider carrying one.

The steel they use makes starting fires real easy with any of there products, I still think the blast match rod are in my top ten carry.

I just bought two more of Coughlan's fire starter kits at Sportsmans Warehouse for less than $5 a piece. The kit has the little steel match and 8 cotton tinder in a plastic case. While not quite as easy to operate as the sparkie or the blast match (no practical way to do it one handed), I can make it work easy enough.

I dunno, I like having nice, reliable, easy to use tools. I was perusing ultimate survival's website a couple weeks ago after buying their signal mirror and a couple micro whistles at Sportsmans Warehouse, and I saw the Sparkie and watched the video. I vasillate whether or not I really need one, given I already maintain a robust stock of firemaking stuff. Since money is not really an issue, it boils down to can I replace another firemaking tool in my kit with this and call it an upgrade? Maybe I will.

Oak of SPARKITE has addressed the flint issue. Forum members may recall the limited run of aluminum units with a hex retaining thread. This allows removal of the spring tension mechanism and replacement with a fresh flint ( standard lighter flints.)
with an enclosed hex key and some spare flints you would be hard pressed to wear one out.

Firemaking devises and methods in the survival community seem to follow the 'better mousetrap' Holy Grail. Some people become adept with one or more sytems while others embrace a different approach.

Part of the fun- everybody is having fun, no? - is the magpie impulse to mess around with Kelly Kettles, K&M matchcases etc

Again, like sleeping bags, we all crawl into our choice at night, and either have, or have not a warming fire.

The Sparkie was a pure impulse buy as a reason to replace my sparklite. I have never had an issue with my sparklite and still think that less moving parts is best for gear longevity. It will remain in my rotation.

My decision to replace came down to my comparison of how much spark was created by activation of each product. The Sparkie puts out at least as much as my LMF Fire steel which is much stronger than the sparklite. I'd also say it puts out more than the mish-mash magnesium blocks. Though not as much as a Blast Match.

There is no comparison in size, the sparklite is a fraction the weight and for my UL trail running kits the sparklite will remain.

I don't want to be a party-pooper but exactly how is this thing better than a good butane lighter, or two? Hard to tell for sure but size seems to be twice that of a mini-Bic.

So how would carrying this be better than having two mini-bic; one ready to go in a pocket and one wrapped in wax paper (good tinder) and sealed in foil to to protect it.

Then there is cost. Mini-Bics go for about a buck a pop. Sparkie, based on a Google shopping search, roughly $12 to $15.

IMHO new products need to be judged against existing, established, products which often have been proven over many years of good service. No need to kill promising new products in the cradle or forsake real improvements. But likewise there is little benefit for a person interested in survival preparedness to place too much emphasis on novelty

Well, it throws a lot more sparks and it doesn't generate a flame from a limited fuel source. The Sparkie is waterproof and not as finnicky about temperature. It won't blow up on impact. It stands a better chance of making it through TSA.

Well, there's a few anyways.

Really, it's not. Depends on how you define "better" but all the semantics aside, a cheap BIC lighter is very reliable, helluva easier to use and loads more effective than any flint, ferro rod or spark-throwing gizmo. And if a BIC lighter fails or you happen to lose it (neither has happened to me in my 20 or so years of "weekend warrior" bushcrafting) you could as well carry a spare. Possibly wrapped in a waterproof package so you can pretty much guarantee it will work when you need it. And it's still going to cost about 90% less than a sparker/ferro rod at about the same size and weight. So you're basically right about the Sparkie being a novelty item for the most part.

Frankly, most people couldn't even start a fire with a ferro rod under ideal conditions. Let alone on a rainy day when everything is soaking wet and you happen to be close to hypothermia. A lighter (gas or butane) is far more useful inasmuch as it produces an open flame. No need to look for proper tinder first, you can light some birch bark or reasonably dry kindling right away and have a decent fire going quickly.

IME, the ONLY advantage of the flint/ferro rod/magnesium fire starter is reliability. Those things will throw a spark even when wet and they tend to be close to indestructible. To me, that's a good enough reason to carry one just in case (YMMV). A BIC lighter or even a Zippo will probably not light if you drop it in the water. Also, it will run out of fuel at some point. So aside from being a novelty item, a decent ferro rod or any other device working on the same principle can be viewed as a backup method. Which is only effective if you're proficient with it and carry proper tinder in a waterproof container as well.