10 years ago before I knew anything about ferro rods, I went to Academy Sports and bought a Bear Grylls'. I got lucky because it was a soft, provided big gobs of molten metal, never rippled, nor corroded. I wore it out pretty quickly and then bought a Light My Fire ferro rod. Again, it happened to be soft and easily ignited tinder just like the Bear Grylls'. As a gift, I was given a very hard 6" x 1/2" ferro rod (a Ripple Rod). Still unaware of the differences, I struggled to get hot enough sparks to ignite tinder as it just kept on RIPPLING more and more. I chalked it all up to my inexperience. Until, one day when somebody gave me a good soft bayite keychain ferro rod. LOL! It all became clear to me had been going on. Bayite is still the brand I use today, these 8 years later. It's a soft 3 1/8" long by 5/16" in diameter, throws gobs of hot sparks, never ripples nor corrodes. Hard ferro rods ARE usable but undesirable to say the least. Just a heads up. Please follow the LINKs below and SUBSCRIBE. Thank You! Ferro Rod Playlist kzfaq.info/sun/PLkoXX8XsMW3lI6k8TH1Bljf57Yvp9K1WD Why I Grind A Point On My Ferro Rods kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eJt-isp82Li6Zqs.html

I had no idea there were differences in the hardness. No wonder I have been having problems throwing sparks. Just a WOW moment here. Bayite will be my very next Amazon purchase. Thank you sir.

Yup ... The "Bayite" Ferro rods are the preferred spark makers in my camp. If an American maker can reliably produce anything comparable, I'll stock up on their rods. Thanks for sharing, Dave ... God Bless

Good to see you and the fire table in my feed again.

Thank you for words of wisdom and the recommendation!!

So calm, I really enjoy your videos. From Aus 🇦🇺

Thanks again for your observations. It really helps while I’m learning.

Good advice David , thanks for sharing , God bless brother !

Thanks again David.

Good advice Mr west thank you so much 👏👌

Great information. Thanks

I’ve had some that are too hard and you’re on spot with this observation. Also have “skating” with knife back unless really bearing down or spine not freshly ground flat. No fun when compared to soft. Good video.

Thanks David for the tutorial on fire steels. I've run into problems with some ferro rods too, but was uncertain as which ones were the good ones. I do like the keychain ones from Bayite as they are handy.

I'll be sure to order some. Just added it on my eBay watch list. My first one was a light my fire and I have a handful of those I save in emergency kits. The only others I have are Coghlan's that I use every day. I've learned to deal with them, but I throw the strikers away and I keep a good sharp 90 on the spine of my knives. Don't know how many Mora Companions I have, but for my EDC I always have my LT Wright Genesis as their spines are not only sharp, but hard as well and stay sharp.

Thanks for the advice👍 worth it's weight in gold.

👍👍👍Always a pleasure watching your posts. Under correction, I am lead to believe that some of the harder rods are imports from a land to the East .. similar to the 'Magnesium Blocks with built-in Striker. I have a Coghlans bought many, many years back in which the magnesium is nice and soft and gives a good, robust burn. Bought way before 'Ferro Rods' made their appearance on the Outdoor scene. I understand that later versions of some Magnesium blocks are made of a harder 'alloy' (?) which do not work nearly as well. Perhaps this is the same with Ferro Rods .. the more 'alloy' therein, the harder the rod? A good share .. thanks .. take care ..

I didn't liked ferro rods till i came across the swedish light my fire Army ones. I always EDC one of them

It's been hard for me to go from hard to soft ferro rods, but I suppose I need more dirt time with it. I'm hoping to do that this summer, you've inspired me to want to work on this skill. It is possible to shave hard ferro rod ripples off with a metal file,, though I could see why someone wouldn't want to waste the material

Hello David, you make it look easy. God is good.

David …What makes the Bayite rods good … the rods Gerri or striker. These keychain rods give a lot of sparks. Thanks. Great job ☝️☀️🇺🇸

Thank you David for that information. I’ve been having the same problems. Can you tell me the name of a good ferro rod ? Thanks again , another great video.

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I don't know what type mine is but its never let me down anyway, yet..

So how do you know if a rod is hard or soft before you buy one God bless you brother stay safe

Thank you. Good info. After scraping my ferro rod I notice a yellowish residue on my knife blade. It wipes off fairly well, but not 100%. Is this residue toxic if I go to use the knife in cooking or eating? Should I keep a separate knife for fire starting? I don't know the compounds that make up the ferro rods.

Is it safe to say all (or most) Bayite rods are good and soft or do they put out the occasional stinker? I'm very new to this and that's really the only brand I've heard of.

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What happen with Nathan Ferro rods I have not seen you use it ? It's hard or soft Nathan Ferro rod ?

hey dave! can you tell exactly which ferro rod on amazon that you get?

Is it safe to keep a fero therod on a key chain with keys?

shut that bird(s) up lol

Do not buy FerroFire. HARD! Very hard.