Greetings.

Was looking at a firstarter for my keychain. I already carry a small disposable lighter in my pocket and a Spark-Lite in my wallet. However, I also wanted something along the lines of flint/steel/magnesium/ferrocium for my keychain for redundancy. Basically something durable but still compact (office environment).

What I've seen so far:

• Hot Spark from Boy Scouts of America = $2-3 USD
  
  Fire Starter from Kershaw = $9-12 USD
  
  7NH or Keypouch from World Survival Institute = $10-12 USD (I'm currently leaning towards the Keypouch )
  
  Scout 7NH from Firestarters.com = $14 USD

I was also looking taping a few of the mini ferrocerium rods from Hoods Woods to a sharpened key blank or my UtiliKey. Rods = $15 USD/5 pk

Once again, I'm looking for something small and portable that won't raise too much attention from the PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. when I pull out my keys.

Any comments on the above or any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. THANKS!

I had a similar problem. You can find my solution here .
The ferrocium rod were 2 Euro for 6 rods. I carry the rod without magnesium for a couple of years. So far I had no problems.

i use the old model BCB ranger flint on mine keychain, with a p-38 as striker. Compact and they are quite widely avaible here.

I use the new model BCB flint because the old one, as the name suggests, is no longer available. The one that you describe as the kershaw firestarter is actually a swedish firesteel (and the saw is a laplander saw). The swedish firesteel is, in my opinion to large for a keychain. It would be a good size if you removed the handle bit and drilled a hole through the actual flint (quenching with lots of water).
Hope this is helpful.

Roland,

IMO, BSA Hotspark for what you describe, hands-down. Big bang for the buck, innocuous, and starts a lot of fires - several hundred on my EDC one (teaching Scouts) so far.

Lose the supplied scrapper, though...

Tom

Rastro, you can get the "scout 7NH" (or a clone of it) for under $6 per unit here...

http://www.survivalkeychain.com/firerod.asp

I purchased a few of these for myself earlier in the year...you won't even notice it on your keychain and David Kochan (site owner) is a great guy to deal with (excellent service to the UK).

This other site also sells them (in two different sizes) for half the price that firestarters.com are asking...

http://www.cutleryshoppe.com (in the "outdoor & survival" section/page)

Steve.

I second the HotSpark. Inexpensive enough to have spread through your gear as-well-as on your keychain. Most people would see it as a key instead of a firesteel if on your keychain. Best $2 you can spend in my view.....don't leave home without at least one.

I got a Hotspark and one of those small swiss army knives on all my key chains, in all my cars, and in all my kits. It's so cheap and simple you should buy a few. I usually put the hotspark on the main key ring and the knife connected by one of those things that allow you to seperate one set of keys from another. That way if I go into somewhere with a metal detector or something I can easily leave the knife behind and it makes it easier to seperate when I need to use the blade with the Hotspark.

I was wondering, has anyone encountered problems with airport security when carrying a firestarter on their keychain?

Is the flint and magnesium firerod a half-and-half combination, or the usual rod of flint glued into a groove in the side of a thicker, larger rod of magnesium?