Originally Posted By: Medicineball
Some of you may have seen this, but there's an interesting discussion about rods vs. Lighters on bugoutbagquest.

The link to the post is here - the discussion is in the comments below the main post.

http://bugoutbagquest.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-to-use-to-start-fire.html



Here's what I said over there:

Quote:
I tend to agree with much of what Firesteel.com has said. However, my three means for fire making are two ferro rods and one lighter. I don't trust matches, and I trust a Bic lighter a little bit more than I trust matches. Ferro rods are the most rugged, even if not the easiest to use. For folks concerned about the weight of a ferro rod, come one now. All ferro rods are not the same. There are small ferro rods that have negligible weight such that its value far outweighs the weight cost.

For tinder, the heavyweight champion is cotton balls infused with Vaseline (Burt's Beeswax lip balm if not Vaseline). I'm not 100% sold on magnesium, but that's probably more of a personal thing. I need to practice more with magnesium to gain more confidence.
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