bayite Pack of 3/5/10 Striker-Pro High Speed Steel Striker for Ferro Rod Fire Starter

The strikers that come with most ferro rods are too soft to make much of a spark. I’ve really good luck with half of a pair of scissors, if they are good quality. Had good luck with blades from a mini-lathe. These Bayite strikers are good tool steel and appear to work as well as the HSS mini-lathe blades. Don’t know about longevity, but these appear to be genuine HSS tool steel. I bought some from a site that starts with E and they looked the same but were some kind of softer steel. Yes, they would produce a spark, but not much and only had one sharp edge. I threw them away. These Bayite strikers are the real deal, and they have 6 striking edges (if you count the tip). Although people say there is a lot of difference in ferro rods, I’ve tried many different ones and in my experience, they are all pretty much the same. The magic is in the striker. And these are very good strikers. With six functional edges, even if you use it enough to wear down one edge, it’s still operable. Beware of lookalikes, they might or might not use the same steel – and the hard tool steel plus that sharp corner is what makes them work. There are other strikers that are as good, but I doubt you will find any that are better. Having been lost once while snowshoeing, and spending the night under a tree in subfreezing temperatures at 10,000 ft altitude, I will say that in a precarious situation, you want a fire starter that works. And these work. If you have any ferro rods that came with stamped strikers, throw away the strikers and replace them with one of these. Or two, for redundancy. Few people are ever in a lost hiker situation, but if you ever are, you want stuff that works. Trust me on this….