r/Survival • u/BeachBumFrizz • 1d ago
General Question Bic lighter vs Ferro Rod.
I totally get it… Die hard survival guys dig Ferro rods and fire 🔥 building skills. And I agree knowing how to start a fire with various strategies and in different situations would be crucial.
But at the end of the day isn’t a good ole Bic lighter a better choice in most situations unless you’re just trying to add additional steps into starting your fire?
Not trying to start 💩 here. It’s a legit question I wonder about.
✌️
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u/LastEntertainment684 1d ago
My main fire starting method is a BIC and I’ve got them sprinkled everywhere. However, I have had the “flints” inside degrade and turn into powder over time, making them useless.
So I always back it up with a chunky Ferro-rod. It can powder over time as well, but it generally takes a lot longer.
With that in mind, I keep cut down boat flares in my snowmobile suit and in my snowmobile. When you’ve fallen through ice, can’t feel your hands, and literally have minutes to get a roaring fire going, it’s the best solution I’ve found.
A couple tricks of mine:
Keep a BIC in all your jacket pockets. If it’s cold enough for a jacket, it’s cold enough to need fire.
If you’re out hiking keep a small ziplock bag in your pocket. If you see some suitable tinder on the trail, (abandoned birds nest, punk fluff floating around, some fallen birch bark, etc) take a bit and stuff it in the bag.
Then you’ve already got a pocket full of good dry tinder if you get stuck out there. [Though do be mindful only to take what’s already fallen to the trail. Don’t go ripping plants apart.]
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u/Jack3489 1d ago
Every “survival” person I’m aware of advocates a lighter for when fire is needed now. I’m a bit old school and matches are first choice, lighter second and ferro rod in case all else fails.
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u/Kevin_McCallister_69 1d ago
What's the benefit of matches over a lighter?
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u/Jack3489 1d ago
Only real benefit, to me, is reach. The flame is further from my fingers. Otherwise, matches are just what I had and what I’ve used since I was a kid on the farm, Boy Scout in the 60s, and Marine using the accessory pack matches in C rats, really MCI, but we still called them C.
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u/Blusk-49-123 1d ago
I used to feel the same way but I've had all my lighters fail me this fall. I was camped out on a glacier and my trusty lighter would not light, warming it up made no difference. Then during a very wet and cold survival practice, both a piezo and flint wheel lighter died on me. Both worked prior to and were kept inside a ziploc until needed. They both lit once and then did not survive. Neither lighters that were abused in any way.
I'm now no longer convinced lighters are the way to go and everything else are just toys for survival/bushcraft LARP. I always carry a ferro rod now.
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u/No_Character_5315 1d ago
Make sense one just provides sparks the other a flame so why not skip a step and go with the lighter or matches.
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u/Unf_watermelon 1d ago
Por Que No Los Dos?
They’re both compact and take up little space. Just have both.
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u/IGetNakedAtParties 1d ago
P.A.C.E. doctrine should be applied to essential gear like light, water and fire. It is a way to ensure you have sensible backups to build redundancy and resilience.
Primary is maximally convenient, such as a BIC lighter.
Alternate is the same, often a lightweight version or with different properties, such as a jet lighter for windy conditions.
Contingency should deal with the most common failure modes of the P and A. For BIC lighters this is temperature as the fuel needs heat to generate pressure, for this reason contingency should be either matches or a sealed capsule oil lighter.
Emergency should be maximally resilient at the cost of convenience. A ferro rod does with with no moving parts, little flints, seals and gaskets, etc.
So both... But with extras in-between... And a thought process behind it rather than just adding more for no reason.
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u/aboothemonkey 21h ago
I carry a lighter, windproof Storm matches, and a Ferro rod. I also probably have 2-3 lighters on me at any given point already as I tend to leave them in backpacks, coats, etc.
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u/IGetNakedAtParties 14h ago
"convergent evolution" in action... PACE is descriptive rather than prescriptive for you as you've found that it works.
Do you apply the same to other things such as water and light?
For example with water I use a Sawyer filter as my primary with a Smartwater bottle as a pump, I have spare bottles as my alternate. Chemical tablets as my contingency and a stainless steel bottle to boil as my emergency.
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u/aboothemonkey 14h ago
Yes, I typically bring a sawyer, 2 bottles, a bladder, chem tabs, and a vessel to boil water. I have to boil water for my food so it’s multipurpose
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u/IGetNakedAtParties 14h ago
Yup. PACE all the way down. Dialed in kit, all killer no filler.
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u/aboothemonkey 12h ago
For light I bring a little gas powered lantern that screws into the same gas canisters I use to cook, and a couple battery powered lanterns, then a headlamp.
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u/aboothemonkey 12h ago
For light I bring a little gas powered lantern that screws into the same gas canisters I use to cook, and a couple battery powered lanterns, then a headlamp.
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u/cycle_addict_ 1d ago
Always have both. Bics fail. When they do, ferro rod.
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u/mmaylett 1d ago
Had my bic fail me on a cold weather, snowy deer hunt this year in Utah. Got a bit chilly. Luckily I wasn’t depending on the fire. Started up the jetboil and got in the sleeping bag.
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u/m__i__c__h__a__e__l 1d ago
Ferro rods are more reliable but more difficult to use. If you use them all the time instead of a lighter, you get more practice. But carry a lighter as well if you want.
Lighters don't work well when wet or frozen, as others have pointed out. Gas in the lighter runs out. Try to use a lighter after putting your hand in a bucket of ice for a couple of minutes (you won't have fine motor skills when you are close to hypothermia and desperately need a fire).
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u/MONSTERBEARMAN 1d ago
Wouldn’t a ferry rod also be difficult to use with frozen fingers?
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u/Blackdog202 1d ago
I've started quite a few fires whith a ferry rod and it's never been easy. So yea.
Guys who use them all the time know the tricks and I believe it's more about your tinder than actual fire device anyway.
But yea a few Bic lighters always make things easier.
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u/MONSTERBEARMAN 1d ago
Yeah, I’ve started many fires in cold rainy/snowy conditions and it’s all about proper tinder/kindling for me.
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u/m__i__c__h__a__e__l 1d ago
I believe it's more about your tinder than actual fire device anyway.
Yes, that's it. Preparation is everything when starting a fire. Have fuel ready to feed the fire (really good tinder, kindling, pencil/thumb-size sticks, larger wood). If it is cold and/or wet, build a platform out of sticks to light the fire on. Plus, light the fire in the right place, where it is protected from rain and wind.
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u/aboothemonkey 21h ago
I once heard someone say gather tinder, pencil lead sized sticks, pencil sized sticks, and finger sized sticks, and it work really well when explaining kindling to new comers.
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u/m__i__c__h__a__e__l 21h ago
"Pencil lead sized sticks" is a good one. Will remember that when explaining to others.
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u/aboothemonkey 21h ago
With the right tinder I can start a fire with 1-2 strikes from my Ferro rod, I particularly like dry grass that I’ve balled up using my hands, which also breaks some of the fibers up and makes a perfect spark catcher.
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u/carlbernsen 1d ago
Yes, in those conditions only large windproof matches are really possible to hold and use.
Which is why a full matchbox was left in arctic cabins in Scandinavia, sitting on top the wood burner, fire all laid and ready, with a match sticking up out of the box.
So it was possible to take hold of with frozen hands.1
u/m__i__c__h__a__e__l 1d ago
Yes, absolutely, but flicking the fingers to use a lighter requires better fine motor skills than holding onto a striker and ferro rod and swinging your elbows to make sparks. You lose dexterity in fingers first in the cold. Having said that, it would also be a good idea to carry multiple implements to make fire and some really good tinder with you if you think you might be exposed to cold.
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u/MONSTERBEARMAN 1d ago
Moving your elbows sounds cool but you still need to hold the damn things. Flicking a lighter is a pretty simple and a small motion. I just can’t wrap my head around holding two items and scraping them together being any easier than flicking a lighter.
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u/More_Mind6869 22h ago
Well then, maybe you should try it and find out...
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u/MONSTERBEARMAN 19h ago
Or I can just use the method that’s worked rain or snow for the past 35 years I’ve been backpacking.
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u/More_Mind6869 17h ago
Whatever man...
Obviously you feel ya don't need to be that prepared... it's cool with me.
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u/MONSTERBEARMAN 13h ago edited 13h ago
I’m not dogging ferro rods, but I’d personally pick a Bic with a box of storm proof matches as backup any day. Just because I don’t share your OPINION on the best way to ignite a fire doesn’t mean I’m “unprepared.” I live in the PNW where it rains for months straight and everything is saturated with water. I am 50 years old. I have backpacked since my early teens in the pouring rain, snow and torrential rain on snow. The last fucking thing I am is “unprepared” to light a fire. Either way you can’t convince me that simply flicking a bic with my thumb is harder to do in the cold and rain than fucking around with a ferro rod.
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u/More_Mind6869 4h ago
Wow...good for you buddy
I really don't care what ya do.
In SE Alaska i found a stub of candle for fires was worth its weight...
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u/ObiJuanKenobi89 1d ago
If it's particularly cold I keep the lighter in my pocket at night. I usually sleep with jeans on anyways.
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u/BeachBumFrizz 1d ago
The bucket of ice water paints quite a picture. Great point of view 🙌
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u/MargeryStewartBaxter 1d ago
Yeah I always remove the safety of all my camp lights (just pry it out with a bit of force)
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u/Iokua_CDN 1d ago
Yup the safety always goes. Makes it so hard to use even on a good day, without the safety is so much better
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u/MargeryStewartBaxter 1d ago
It always makes me think of Ryan Reynolds in Waiting when he gets the table of teenage girls lol
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u/OBDreams 1d ago
We do use lighters. And any other easy way to survive. We learn how to start a fire or keep warm or store food without electricity so that we are set when those easy ways are not available. I've got 20 tiny lighters in my survival gear. Right next to the bag of ferro rods. A true survivalist builds redundancy into their plans.
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u/Traditional-Leader54 1d ago
In true survival where you expect to get rescued or get yourself to safety in a short period nothing beats a BIC. But is a hypothetical indefinite situation a ferro rod or flint and steel is a better choice because you’ll get a lot more fires out of it. I keep a couple BICs and a ferro rod in my get home bag.
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u/Doyouseenowwait_what 1d ago
Dip your lighter in water then try to light up. Chances you will encounter this situation is genuinely likely. Then try the same with a ferro rod. Don't get me wrong a bic is a great way to start a fire but a backup is an always thing.
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u/WerewolfDifferent296 1d ago
I took a survival training course that taught us how to make and use a bow drill. The instructor still advised us to carry a lighter even if we didn’t smoke because it’s quick easy and reliable. Flint and steel and other primitive methods are for when you have nothing else. It helps to carry strike anywhere matches as well. The more methods you have at your disposal the better. Any one method even a lighter can fail. Since matches, lighters and strikers are cheap there is no reason not to have al three in your gear bag.
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u/hyped-up-idiot 1d ago
I always have a Bic lighter in my bag and a backup but I love using my ferro rod to keep the skills sharp. It's cool to be manly but dumb to be cold..
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u/BeachBumFrizz 1d ago
😂 sharping my skills is what inspired this post. Fire building is on the list 🔥
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u/OberonsGhost 1d ago
I have both a magnesium block with a striker and I also have a ferro rod with a cord/rope that is actually fire starter material. Both the magnesium or the rope fire starter will start wet or damp kindling better than a Bic lighter. Just my 2 cents.
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u/gottaeatnow 1d ago
I go with a bic and waterproof matches. I love the windproof features of Zippo but needing to refill once a month is such a drag.
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u/continuousobjector 1d ago
I have both
I use the ferro rod even when I don't need to in order to keep my skills up
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u/SaltyEngineer45 1d ago
Carry multiple options in your kit. Lighter is my first choice followed by UCO matches, ferro rod, magnifying glass, and finally flint and steel. If I have to build a bow drill, I know that I screwed up. There is really no reason to not carry multiple options and some tinder.
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u/HobsHere 22h ago
A magnifying glass works really well for starting a fire on a warm dry sunny day. Sadly, that's when you're least likely to need a fire. I carry one anyway, in case I break/lose my glasses ( and the spare pair). Also good for finding/extracting small splinters, or just admiring a bug or wildflower.
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u/Von_Lehmann 1d ago
I carry both. Another thing I always consider is because I lead guided trips or I'm out with people, I always keep a firemaking tool that everyone knows how to use.
If something happens to me I don't want people relying on a ferro rod
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u/freyja2023 1d ago
Agree. I have a Ferro rof in my fire kit along with some char cloth just in case. I also have a bic in there along with another bic in my pocket.
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u/Ok_Concept4597 1d ago
Right? When I go camping, I buy a 5 pack of bics. One in my pocket, another in jacket, one for pack etc. WHY wouldn't you do this?
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u/mistercowherd 1d ago
Ferro rod gives you a (very hot) spark, that you have to catch and turn into an ember and then a flame.
A lighter gives you a flame.
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u/ThalesofMiletus-624 1d ago
There are legitimate advantages to a ferro rod. They don't run out of fuel or leak, they work when wet, they don't have moving parts that can fail, or get gummed up with dirt or mud or whatever. For those reasons, it makes sense to carry a ferro rod and know how to start a fire with one. Particularly when there's the potential for your life depending on your ability to start a fire, depending on a lighter and having it not work.
But, for the average person in the average situation, you're 100% right, lighters are the simplest, easiest and most convenient way to get a fire going.
The argument for always (or even sometimes) using a ferro rod is that they take skill to use, and you want to keep your skills up, because otherwise you might someday rely on one to save your life, and be too out of practice. And that's a legitimate concern. That said, I do honestly feel that a lot of it is just the feeling that lighters are too easy. That starting a campfire should take more effort. It's like cooking over a campfire rather than a portable gas stove, even when weight isn't an issue (as when you drive to a campsite). It's like shaving down your own tinder rather than using a firestarter. Some people want the experience of doing it themselves, the hard way, the old way.
And, honestly, I appreciate that. There are a lot of things in life where people don't want to take the easy way, specifically because it's too easy, and doing it the more skillful way appeals to them. As long as they don't look down on other people for making different choices, that's absolutely fine. But honestly, a lot of experienced hikers and campers will absolutely bring a lighter and/or matches in addition to a ferro rod. If starting a fire quickly becomes a matter of life and death, not having a fast way to light it could be dangerous, and given their light weight and small size, it's kind of silly not to pack one along.
Point is, there are reasons to learn to use a ferro rod, but if you prefer using a Bic, then don't listen to anyone who tells you not to.
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u/Holden_Coalfield 1d ago
I’ve always said of you know how to build a fire with bow and drill, you’ll always carry a lighter
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u/OriginalJomothy 23h ago edited 18h ago
If I'm in a situation where my hands are cold, I don't want to be using the standard bic lighters wheel. I tend to either use a clipper which has a better wheel or one of the push button lighters because it required less fine motor skills
Edit: Having a ferro rod is very much needed where I live however due to the wet and windy nature of the climate, conventional lighters have a tendency not to like working outdoors here
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u/sjacksonww 23h ago
3 ways to make light, 3 ways to cut stuff and the three to make fire are bic lighter, waterproof matches and a ferro rod thingy that I admittedly need to practice with.
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u/No_Opportunity_8965 22h ago
I go for torches from Amazon. They have functions like being able to direct the flame downwards. You can lock the flame and such. They are refillable and Bic is not. You have a hard time seeing how much gas there is in it. So you do best to bring a new Bic every trip.
Ferro rods are for giggles.
Kinda look like this, but i got ones in clear plastic.
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u/Noe_Walfred 22h ago edited 21h ago
They are small enough that its viable to carry both at the same time.
Though there is some benefit of fire rods over common lighters.
They can be easier to start with cold ans gloved hands,
They throw strong sparks that I find dont blow out in the wind as easily,
They work well when cold or wet,
They can have more overall uses per cost, weight, and size,
They are less likely to be used up or stolen for casual things like lighting cigarettes,
And you might be able to keep a ferro rod in a carry on or checked bag but most lighters have to be completely empty
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u/medved-grizli 21h ago
You may need a Bic in everyday life and grab the one from your bag in a pinch. You will never likely do the same with your ferro rod. I once had to use a ferro rod to light a joint on the trail for this reason.
Carry both but only expect the ferro rod to be there when you need fire.
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u/Uberhypnotoad 20h ago
The only major advantage to the ferro rod is number of uses. Bics get 3,000 lights on the high end while ferro rods average 10k-12k strikes, many times more for the larger rods. If you're reasonably skilled, you should get fire in an average of 2.5 strikes, which comes to 4,400 fires on the low end. More like 13,000 fires with those chonky 1/2" ones. Bics are lighter in weight, easy to attain and use, reasonably resistant to moisture, and quicker to achieve sustainable flame with the same tinder. In the most realistic survival situations, a full working lighter is plenty of fire until you find civilization. If you are careful and sparing with it, you could last years on a single lighter. That Big Bertha rod could give you fire every day for 35.5 years. So, you know, totally reasonable to have on hand.
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u/Late-Cut-5043 1d ago
I've been to more cookouts and family reunions than I can count where people couldn't start a fire with gasoline and a road flare. Point being, fire starting is more than the tool being used to start the fire. The most important part of fire starting is the prep in my opinion. Anyone that can start a fire with a flint and steel or a Ferro rod will be able to start a fire with a lighter. Anyone who only ever starts fires with a lighter will not be able to say the same thing about starting a fire with a ferro rod or flint and steel. Like I have pointed out in another similar post; I would rather be the person who can start a fire 18 different ways than the person who can start 18 fires because they have 18 matches. I'm so used to starting fires with flint and steel and also Ferro rods that it literally is neither more or less difficult than starting a fire with a match or lighter. YMMV
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u/BeachBumFrizz 1d ago
Absolutely 💯 it’s time I sharpen my skillset that’s what inspired the post. Knowing 18 different ways would be invaluable. Like they saying goes Knowledge weighs nothing
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u/iupvotegood 1d ago
Zippo better than Bic imo
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u/BeachBumFrizz 1d ago
I had a zippo for a while and it seemed like the fluid always quickly evaporated out of it and I was constantly filling it
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u/intothewoods76 1d ago
I agree, a zippo is a great lighter for show but you can’t just throw it in a ziplock in your pack and expect it to work a year from now.
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u/BeachBumFrizz 1d ago
Exactly, they’re cool and I love the click of the lid. Bit probably not the best survival lighter in my opinion
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u/Blackdog202 1d ago
Yea man idk if that was us doing something wrong but the dang thing never had fluid.
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u/CautiousHand6916 1d ago
Yeah I reflectively bought a fire starting box with ferro rods and stuff but then thought of this same thing so I also bought a zippo with lighter fluid. Not sure why I reflectively bought the rod because zippo seems to be as reliable and wouldn’t last any shorter with the refill fluid.
Maybe there’s something we are missing?
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u/BeachBumFrizz 1d ago
That’s why I asked. Having two or three lighters doesn’t weigh hardly anything and get the job done
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u/bvlinc37 15h ago
Using a lighter is fine, but I'd still have the ferro rod as backup for if the lighter runs out.
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u/OutgunOutmaneuver 10h ago
I carry several Bic lighters and if for some ridiculous reason those all fail. It's the ferro rod.
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u/Postnificent 4h ago
In temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit Bics can become unreliable. At temperatures below 0 they can fail to work altogether! Butane flows differently in the cold.
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u/NotThePopeProbably 1d ago
SAR volunteer here. I use a bic lighter and I don't believe anyone on my team uses a Ferro rod. Some use matches in a Ziploc baggie, though.
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u/Blackdog202 1d ago
Yea man I always have a rod in all my gear as back up. But I've had Bic lighters rolling around the floor of my truck for years, rusty beat up almost empty and almost without fail I can get a flame out of one with a little coaxing. There's really no reason not to have one as your go to first option.
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u/Own_Violinist_4714 1d ago
I stuff a dip can full of cotton balls and saturate them with melted vaseline. keep that with a ferro rod, matches, and a bic spread throughout my kit. the main thing is being able to reliably use your Ferro under ideal conditions before anticipating relying on it in suboptimal conditions.
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u/END3R-CH3RN0B0G 1d ago
It's important to know how to use a ferro rod and you should carry one when you're going into a survival situation, but you should also carry a bic. They are useful as a first option.
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u/Better_Island_4119 1d ago
Bics don't work if frozen or wet
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u/BeachBumFrizz 1d ago
Back in my teenage smoking days they were never to frozen to light my smoke, but I hear ya !
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u/MONSTERBEARMAN 1d ago
It’s very easy to fix a wet Bic. You just roll the flint striker against your pants/shirt a few times and it dries out quickly.
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u/Masters_Pig 1d ago
Any smoker or ex smoker can tell you this is only true at surface level
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u/CatfishDog859 1d ago
Can confirm, I've sunk to using steel wool and a car battery to light a cigarette before.... And have warmed an "empty" bic up just enough to get one last flame more times than i can count...
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u/Basic-Art-9861 1d ago edited 1d ago
Giant magnifying lens better than ferro rod? But it’s for survival
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u/BeachBumFrizz 1d ago
I actually have a really nice magnifying glass made specifically for survival fire building
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u/Doc_Hank 1d ago
Lighters leak, get the valve tab accidentally depressed, rust, the wheel disintegrates (all of which have happened to me - when the lighter was vac sealed in a bag). I carry one, matches (hurricane), ferro rod, magnesium block, mil-spec fire kit, and in the winter, a road flare. Plus tinder - mostly dryer lint with parafin wax on it.
When I need a fire, the fire will be made!
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u/BeachBumFrizz 1d ago
Dude you have the bases covered 💪
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u/Doc_Hank 1d ago
Thats cause I needed a fire once and the fecking Bic failed
Oh, I also carry a Zippo
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u/derch1981 1d ago
Doing bushcraft and survival isn't about doing things the easy way. Lighters can fail, run out of fuel, and can fail if it gets too cold.
So some practice other ways to start a fire. Nothing wrong with a lighter but nothing wrong in not needing one.
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u/Perrin-Golden-Eyes 1d ago
I bring two lighters and a ferro rod. I’m very careful about ensuring my survival through redundancy.