Hi guys I ended up on the County comm website last night by mistake but before I left I noticed this brass quick light style fire starter "1.5 inches long and only $4.80.

That's looks like a cool device. It's small and inexpensive, so why not throw it in a kit?

I'd throw it in a kit, but I still have a couple of criticisms about these little sparkers. One is you need specialized tinder. It's going to have to be cotton or similar, and it can't be a little wet. The sparker is going to throw not nearly as many sparks as a ferro rod and scraper.

Another criticism is that a Mini Bic requires less room overall than this sparker from Countycomm. Here's why. For this sparker from Countycomm, you will need to carry tinder within a case (preferably waterproof). In contrast, a Mini Bic includes a sparker and tinder all within one unit that costs about a dollar, and you still have the sparker on a Bic if the fuel runs out for whatever reason.

Could you fit this Countycomm sparker and its tinder into a container that's smaller than a Bic? Perhaps you could with some ingenuity. Let's suppose you could. You then have to ask yourself, is that package more reliable/useful/convenient than a Mini Bic? The Mini Bic, a humble little device, sets the bar pretty high.

Nice little sparker, and it looks smaller and a lot more robust than a plastic sparklite. It would be nice if they included a bail loop on the screw end so the device could be attached to something.

I have two concerns with it if used as a primary fire source: In addition to the special tinder that ireckon mentions, you would have to carry spares of those tiny lighter flints. Replacing those with cold hands would be a challenge.

The second concern is related to my bail loop comment. The brass will patina to a dull brownish color....drop the sparker in muskeg or forest duff, and it would be nearly invisible.

Probably useful in a mini kit with cotton balls etc, but for me, I'll stick with orange mini bics.

I bought one with no particular need in mind a few weeks ago. Work has been kicking my behind of late and I've started no fires with it.

The comments in this thread make sense to me. Compared to a Spark-Lite, I don't see any real advantage other than if you plan for it to be a primary fire starting method and you'd rather replace flints than sparkers.

I make my poormans sparklites from dead lighters I find when running or walking. They're free, tiny and work well. As for tinder cotton, dryer lint, duff and shredded fringe from a pair of cut off jeans have all worked well. You can see one in my current thread 35mm psk. The best are made from BICs. Stronger flint throws a more robust spark, but are considerably larger.

Nice, but not for me. For that price, you can purchase a 4 card pack of mini BICS that will provide a lot more better and flexible options in the long run...

Why not just buy a new lighter. They are so cheap they are practically free, tiny, and work significantly better than a spark-lite so long as they have fuel.

You don't really take old lighters you find along the road as trash and put them into survival kits do you? who knows how long they have been sitting there rotting away. Why take the chance on something when a fresh,new lighter is so cheap?

I have always avoided to mini-spark things if possible.(even the good ones) They are waaaaay to dependant on the proper type of tinder, not to mention trying to use one when it's -50 deg cel outside.

Exactly.

If you are going to carry something that makes flame or spark it may as well be reliable.

Looks like a smaller version of the excellent TAD sparker. At that price I'll have to pick up a few. Thanks for the heads up! CC is a great vendor, BTW.

Thanks Phaedrus, happy to help.