The Woodsman's Journal Online: From a Little Spark May Burst a Flame...©

Sparks from a lighter with ferrocerium rod, from Wikimedia, HERE.

Last week, I wrote an article about how to paint a lubber line on The Ultimate Survival Tool”, manufactured by FreedomGorilla, HERE, which is a type of “5-in-1 Survival Whistle” that has a ferro rod, a “flint of pyrophoric metal”, from which sparks could be struck by the back of a pocketknife; and from that little spark may burst a flame, if you were out of matches.

A “flint of pyrophoric metal” is made of ferrocerium, (known in Europe as Auermetall), a pyrophoric alloy of mischmetal¹, a man-made combination of rare-earth elements, iron, and magnesium and is also called a ferro rod, a spark rod, or a flint-spark-lighter. Because of ferrocerium's easy ability to ignite in adverse conditions, it is used as an ignition source for lighters and as an emergency fire lighting device in survival kits. The ferrocerium rod is often called a “flint”, despite it being completely unlike natural flint, since both are used to create sparks to light a fire.

Ferrocerium is soft, and when struck with anything sharp and hard, such as a piece of steel, a bit of flint and even a shard of glass, porcelain, or ceramic, it will produce hot sparks that can reach temperatures of 6,000 °F (3,315 °C) Striking knocks fragments off, igniting them by frictional heating, due to cerium's remarkably low ignition temperature of 302 to 356 °F (150 to180 °C).

You can also strike sparks from a piece of steel, but when it comes to striking sparks with steel, it isn't the steel, but the carbon in it that
matters. As the carbon content increases, and the steel becomes harder, more and hotter sparks are produced. No matter how hard the steel is, however, it will still be softer than the flint, or other silicate stone, being used to strike it and it will spall off fragments. The striking action ignites the fragments causing the spall to oxidize as it flies through the air. Any carbon steel suitable for crafting a durable blade should work to produce sparks, with either a ferro rod or piece of flint. If the steel is struck a piece of flint, its sparks will ignite at a temperature of 932^o F (500^o C) and burn at a temperature of 2,498^o F (1,370^o C).

Stainless steel however, while it does produce sparks, yields fewer sparks, and is not a very good striker.

Many survival manuals, such as the Survival Training Guide, 1955, and Survival: Search and Rescue, 1969, show people using the sharp edge of their pocketknife blade, to scrape sparks from a ferro rod. This makes me crazy, the instructor in me worries “that people who are new to the wilderness will think that is the right way to do it!.”, while the historian in me notes “when tinderboxes were still a thing, that is not how they did it at all!”, and the survivalist and knife aficionado in me says, “gahh!..you’re going to ruin the edge of your knife!”.

The right way to do it...

The correct way to use your pocketknife and piece of flint, or a ferro rod¹ to strike sparks, is to use the spine (back edge) of the blade, or the back edge of your pocketknife’s screwdriver blade.

When tinderboxes were still a thing...

In the days before matches, or when matches were scarce, people placed a piece of punk or charcloth on top of the flint, holding it in their left hand (or less dominant hand) and then with their right hand (or more dominant hand) struck it “with a piece of steel(usually the back of the steel blade of a pocket-knife...Some knives had a special blade for this purpose and some men carried a small pocket steel for striking a light. It is said that the knife blades were frequently deeply indented by constant use on the flint”².

You’re going to ruin the edge...

While you can use the sharp edge of your blade, scraping the edge of your blade against a ferro rod knocks bits of steel off, as tiny glowing, white-hot sparks, and this will quickly ruin the edge of your blade and it is completely unsafe to use a piece of flint against the sharp edge of your knife.

Some tips for using a ferro rod

1. Don’t spare the rod...scrape hard. Scrape hard, gentle scraping won’t provide enough friction to ignite the flakes.

2. Scrape off the paint. Ferro rods are often painted with black paint to prevent corrosion and to keep them from bumping against each other during shipping. So, you have to scrape off the paint, before you can strike sparks from the rod. Scrape hard, the force you would normally use to strike sparks off the rod will also remove the paint and expose the ferrocerium.

3. Move the rod, not the striker. Unlike when you use flint and steel (where you strike with the steel not the flint), with a ferro rod you must hold the striker in one hand, and pull the rod away with the other, like you’re pulling on the cord of a lawn mower. This will help you aim the sparks and keep you from knocking your tinder all over the place.

4. Pick the right tinder To catch the sparks, you will need the right tinder. Use natural, light fluffy, fuzzy stuff like char-cloth, punk, cotton balls, cotton dryer lint, milkweed or cattail seed down, goldenrod fluff, rubbed and crushed, dried grass or the inner bark of cottonwood trees. Other types of tinder, like dry, dead leaves, wood shavings or small pine branches, which would normally light with the open flame, are too coarse, and won’t light until you get the fluffy stuff flaming.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Not All Steel Is Created Equal”, where we will talk about what is the best steel for a survival knife, 1075 or 1095 high carbon steel, or stainless steel? And what is the best survival knife anyways?

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site. I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

¹ Mischmetal means “mixed metal” and is a combination of cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, other trace lanthanides are-earth element and some iron) and is approximately 95% lanthanides and is hardened by blending in 5% oxides of iron and magnesium.

² From “Pen Pictures of Early Pioneer Life in Upper Canada, by A. “Canuck”, 1905

Sources

“Canuck”, A.; Pen Pictures of Early Pioneer Life in Upper Canada, [William Briggs, Toronto, 1905], page 141 to 142, https://books.google.com/books?id=pGY-GEEY4QkC&pg=PA140&dq=Striking+sparks+with+a+pocket+knife&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjy_824oPH-AhUyjokEHWgSAHsQ6AF6BAgQEAI#v=onepage&q=Striking%20sparks%20with%20a%20pocket%20knife&f=false, accessed May 13, 2023

Colvin, Fred H.; and Juthe, K. A., M.E.; The Working of Steel, [McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc. New York, 1922], pages 9 to 13, https://books.google.com/books?id=jWNJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11&dq=pocket+knife+steel&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj__L3dovv-AhXqFVkFHWWTAhs4MhDoAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=pocket%20knife%20steel&f=false, accessed May 17, 2023

Department of the Air Force, Survival: Search and Rescue, AFM 64-5, August 15, 1969, [Washington D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office], page 2-21, https://books.google.com/books?id=ICAxuH7126EC&printsec=frontcover&dq=survive&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwisgrqZkM38AhUHF1kFHU2EBnY4FBDoAXoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=survive&f=false, accessed May 13, 2023

Gordon, Ben; “Why Flint Probably Won’t Spark Your Knife (or Hatchet)”, © 2023 Copyright Bulwark Consulting LLC of Wisconsin dba Ben Gordon Outdoors™, https://bengordonoutdoors.com/why-flint-only-makes-sparks-from-some-steels/, accessed May 12, 2023

Glazebrook, Richard, Sir; A Dictionary of Applied Physics [MacMillan and Company Ltd. London 1923], page 549 to 550, https://books.google.com/books?id=tknPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA550&dq=pocketknife+carbon+points&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi8w-X3mvv-AhXVMlkFHcLvBywQ6AF6BAgIEAI#v=onepage&q=pocketknife%20carbon%20points&f=false, accessed May 17, 2023

Knifeguide; “1095 Steel – Is it a Good Knife Steel?”, https://www.knifeguides.com/1095-steel-for-knives/, accessed May 16, 2023

KnivesShipFree; “How to turn your ESEE knife into a firesteel striker”, April 12, 2015, https://www.knivesshipfree.com/blog/how-to-turn-your-esee-knife-into-a-firesteel-striker/, accessed May 12, 2023

McCafferty, Keith; “Primitive Survival Skills”, Field & Stream, February 2006, page 54-56, https://books.google.com/books?id=572F69alwGYC&pg=PA56&dq=Striking+sparks+with+a+pocket+knife&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjy_824oPH-AhUyjokEHWgSAHsQ6AF6BAgOEAI#v=onepage&q=Striking%20sparks%20with%20a%20pocket%20knife&f=false, accessed May 13, 2023

MacWelch, Tim; “Survival Skills: 3 Handy Tricks For Ferrocerium Rods”, Outdoor Life, November 11, 2014, [© 2023 Recurrent], https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/survival-skills-3-handy-tricks-ferrocerium-rods/, accessed May 20, 2023

MacWelch, Tim; “4 Tips to Avoid Fire-Making Mistakes with Spark Rods”, Outdoor Life, July 19, 2017, [© 2023 Recurrent], https://www.outdoorlife.com/use-these-tips-to-avoid-beginners-mistakes-with-spark-rods/, accessed May 20, 2023

Mee, Arthur; and Thompson, Holland, Ph. D., Editors; The Book of Knowledge, Volume XXIV, [The Grolier Society, New York, 1911], https://books.google.com/books?id=AG46AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA5540&dq=pocketknife+carbon+points&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjXi8TxnPv-AhW4EVkFHfGpAuw4FBDoAXoECAgQAg#v=onepage&q=pocketknife%20carbon%20points&f=false, accessed May 17, 2023

Oberg, Erik, and Jones, Franklin Day; Iron and Steel: A Treatise on the Smelting, Refining, Mechanical, Fifth Edition, [The Industrial Press, New York, 1918], page 89, https://books.google.com/books?id=F8QxAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false, accessed May 16, 2023

Integrated Publishing; Hull Maintenance Technician, “Figure 6-11.--spark pictures formed by common metals”,[© Copyright Integrated Publishing, Inc.], page 6-16, https://enginemechanics.tpub.com/14119/Figure-6-11-Spark-Pictures-Formed-By-Common-Metals-189.html, accessed May 17, 2023

Salmon, David; Longman’s Object Lessons, [Longmans, Green and Co., New York, 1895], page 135, https://books.google.com/books?id=tAUCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA135&dq=Striking+sparks+with+a+pocket+knife&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjy_824oPH-AhUyjokEHWgSAHsQ6AF6BAgMEAI#v=onepage&q=Striking%20sparks%20with%20a%20pocket%20knife&f=false, accessed May 13, 2023