Gear Review: Boy Scout Hot Spark ferro rod survival fire starter

The best survival gear doesn't have to be expensive. But it must be reliable and able to work under extreme conditions. One of the best ferrocerium rods for firemaking is the Boy Scout Hot Spark.

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by Leon Pantenburg
I like stuff that works. Some of these items include my Cold Steel SRK survival knife, Ruger 10/22, a Swiss Army Classic keychain knife, my Gerber folding saw and a 42-ounce enamelware cup. Included in this list is a Boy Scout Hot Spark ferrocerium rod.
Because of its reliability, a Hot Spark is included in my keyring and Altoid tin survival kits. Backup ferro rods are also scattered throughout my gear. They don't weigh anything, or take up any space, and the ferro rod firemaking technique, properly done is utterly reliable. (Check out the ferro rod firemaking video!)
The Boy Scout Hot Spark on my keyring survival kit costs about three dollars at any scout store. It has a good handle and the ferro rod is very effective. Because it is easily included and convenient, it will be taken along.
Here's why I carry a ferro rod:

• Extreme reliability: A ferrocerium rod, when scraped with a hardened steel striker, will produce sparks with temperatures of up to 5,500 degrees. These sparks will readily ignite many forms of tinder. (Check out the video on finding tinder under survival conditions) A ferro rod is also good for hundreds, if not thousands of fires. Matches, lighters and many other methods are finite.
• Compact and easy to carry: That means you can carry several as backups.
• Work under conditions that would disable other firemaking methods: This is one of the
  most important reasons to carry a ferro rod. Butane lighters are easily disabled by cold and moisture or a grain of sand. Matches are unreliable and degenerate over time. Every firemaking method has some disadvantage, but I believe a ferro rod has the fewest.

Your only survival tools are those you have along! Check out the Hot Spark video review!

The quest for a reliable, easy-to-use backpacking stove never ends, and I have the collection to prove it! But the Solo Stove is really impressive, and worth taking a look at.

(Disclaimer: This review is my opinion. I was not reimbursed for doing this review, nor does Solo Stove at the time of this review, advertise on SurvivalCommonSense.com or any of its affiliates.)

by Leon Pantenburg
I'm caught in the baby-boomer backpacker quandary. On one hand, I like gear that works, and proven items are hard to leave behind. But my aging, abused knees make going light mandatory. I've had to replace effective, proven gear strictly on the basis of weight.

The Solo Stove biomass backpacking stove

But some things you can't lighten up and one of those is stove fuel. It is heavy and if you run out in the wilderness, your stove becomes dead weight.
Here's my stove philosophy: You don't need much. Probably 90 percent of the time, all a backpacker requires is boiling water to brew tea or coffee or rehydrate food.
So the idea of a lightweight backpacking stove, with no moving parts, that burns twigs, pine cones, sticks etc is very attractive. So, I contacted Solo Stove to do a test and review. (Check out my Solo Stove test video below!)
My stove arrived in the mail a few days later, and first impressions were very positive. The stove fits perfectly inside my standard carry 42-ounce enamelware cup, and nesting the Solo Stove inside was a no-brainer.
Workmanship is superb. The Solo Stove is well-built and made of heavy gauge stainless steel with no seams, but it only weighs nine ounces. There are no parts to break or ports or vents to clog.
The Solo Stove is a natural convection inverted downgas gasifer stove, according to the company website, that incorporates a secondary combustion for a more efficient and cleaner burn. The bottom vents allow air to enter and flow up the bottom of the grate to feed the primary combustion, a top down smolder. In addition, air entering from the bottom vents heats up within the inner wall and rises up and out the top firebox vents causing a secondary combustion at the top of the stove.
The Solo Stove doesn't just burn wood, according to the website, but actually cooks the smoke out of the wood and then burns the smoke twice. This technique makes for a cleaner burn, the company claims, which means less smoke. This would also allow the stove to burn more efficiently which means it requires less fuel.
Anyway, all this hyperbole is shinola unless the stove works, so I set out to do some testing.

It takes very little fuel to boil water. (Pantenburg photo)

The first item was fuel. I took a stroll in the pine forest behind my house and gathered biomass stuff. This included damp and decaying sticks and twigs and a few pine cones. I grabbed a big handful.
I lighted the stove with a cotton ball and petroleum jelly, ignited with a ferro rod. The stove lighted very easily, and all it took was a few twigs to get a blaze going. I broke the twigs into small pieces and loaded the stove, and in no time, I had a blaze going. The top was just right to put that 42-ounce cup on, and everything balanced well.
I fed the fire through the slot in the side of the top, and in a few minutes, had boiling water. A Jetboil could have done the job a few minutes faster, but so what?
The only downside I can see is the inevitable wood soot buildup on cooking utensils. But you know that going in. The best idea is to make a separate bag or container for the cooking utensil, and segregate it from the rest of your gear. Or, you can cover the utensil bottom with aluminum foil before cooking.
Based on my testing so far, I really like the Solo Stove. With Coleman gas hitting over $8 per gallon here at the Walmart, fuel cost savings could be considerable. And the fuel is never going to get any lighter.
A biomass stove that can take advantage of easily-obtainable fuel is something all of us backpackers should be looking at. I've got a backpack trip scheduled for the middle of July, and the Solo Stove will be going along.

The top five reasons to put a ferro rod in your survival kit

The ability to make a fire during an emergency situation can save your life. But what is the best survival firestarting method? My money is on the ferrocerium (also commonly referred to as a flint or magnesium stick) rod. Here are five reasons you need one.

Check out these custom ferro rods!

by Leon Pantenburg
Several years, the late Dr. Jim Grenfell and I set out to research the most effective practical firemaking method. After extensive research, the ferro rod, combined with cotton balls and petroleum jelly, came out the winner. (To read the rest of the story, click on the top survival firemaking methods.)
Ferro rods are easy to come by and cheap. The Boy Scout Hot Spark on my keyring survival kit costs about three dollars at any scout store. It has a good handle and the ferro rod is very effective.
Ferro rods are also available at most sporting goods stores. But I'm surprised more outdoorspeople don't include them as part of their survival gear. Here are some things to consider:

• Extreme reliability: A ferrocerium rod, when scraped with a hardened steel striker, will produce sparks with temperatures of up to 5,500 degrees. These sparks will readily ignite many forms of tinder. (Check out the video on finding tinder under survival conditions) A ferro rod is also good for hundreds, if not thousands of fires. Matches, lighters and many other methods are finite.
• Compact and easy to carry: I carry a tiny ferro rod in my wallet, another on my keychain, and a third in my survival gear. (Some people might say I obsess about firemaking tools, since I also carry a BIC mini lighter in my pants pocket, my jacket pocket and my pack!) If a survival tool is not compact and easy to carry, it may get left behind. Your only survival tools are those you have along!
• Work under conditions that would disable other firemaking methods:This is one of the
  most important reasons to carry a ferro rod. Butane lighters are easily disabled by cold and moisture or a grain of sand. Matches are unreliable and degenerate over time. Every firemaking method has some disadvantage, but I believe a ferro rod has the fewest.
• Easy to learn: Every survival technique should be practiced before you rely on it. Making sparks with a ferro stick is easy, but you have to use the correct technique to get a fire started. Check out the video on starting a fire with a ferro stick.
• Wide range of uses: I use my ferro rod as a survival tool, of course, but also use one to light my propane Camp Chef double burner stove, my barbeque grill, backpacking stoves and wood stoves.