Doug.. Phaedrus, et al, thanx for the advice. My city and my hiking EDC kits have yellow mini-Bics with a “collar” of a few wraps of electrical tape under the “ trigger”, to prevent accidental discharge. I also have a vial of hurricane matches + strikers, Unico, I think. I don’t always have a ferro rod. Maybe I should?

Currently my city kit also contains one of the small boxes of Diamond (mini) strike anywhere matches, wrapped in Saran Wrap. They seem to work , in good conditions anyway, for friends who have a need to light-up or burn rope ends, etc. My consideration of paper matches was the thought of putting some + a striker, not a whole pack, in my wallet, to back up my daily pocketed mini-Bic.

I hadn't thought of paper matches in a wallet. Since each matchbook is two "sheets" of matches stapled together, it's easy (and free) to try. I would be interested to see how the heads hold up when squeezed all the time -- would the material wear off? An interesting experiment!

As for ferro rods, they're useful and fun to use. (Also they impress youngsters -- he made fire without matches!) But there are situations, in my experience anyway, where an actual flame is the only way to force damp natural kindling to burn. So, I still think of it as a backup with strengths and weaknesses.

Ferro rods require good tinder. If you can't make it from available materials then you must carry it.

Agreed. I have always packed a candle stub, though, so I thought "no chance" with a ferro rod. But YouTube claims it will work if you scrape off the wax and feather the wick. I need to try this.

You can also increase your odds with a bit of alcohol based hand sanitizer/accelerant (Purell is a common brand). it can be obtained in very small bottles.

Good to know. I EDC Medline hand sanitizer.

Jeanette Isabelle

Mmmmmm....just thinking. Would an alcohol prep pad be good to pair with a wallet carried ferro rod?

Sounds reasonable but an actual test for lightability and duration of burn would provide a simple yes or no answer.

I wouldn't bother personally. Even when stored properly those little individual alcohol prep pads seem to dry out within a year or two. Carried in a wallet I have to think they'll dry out much faster. Once the alcohol is gone they're not much use.

Alcohol prep pads are not packaged well enough for that and they do not burn very long. It will be dried out when you need it, and it wouldn't do the job well either.