I could have made more of a fuss, or mailed it, but it wasn't worth it for a $5 item. (I also violated my general carry-on rule -- don't pack anything you're not willing to part with.)

The more I think of it, the more it seems like human error. It might be that the separate striker used for other ferro rods is the issue, and they simply misunderstood the directive.

BTW, this happened on the Canadian side of the line (CATSA, not TSA). However, I thought it would be of general interest since our reg's are more-or-less harmonized with the U.S.