Sure, you can use matches. Yeah, you can carry a lighter or two. (We do.) But at the end of the day, there’s nothing more reliable than a good ferrocerium rod for striking a fire. This ferro rod is the hands-down choice of the SARCRAFT Instructor Corps. At a brawny ½”x 6”, it puts those cheap, puny camp-store ferro rods to shame. Good for starting up to 12,000 fires, it throws a 5,500-degree (3,000 celsius) shower of sparks onto your tinder regardless of conditions - unlike other fire-starting methods, this ferro rod is unaffected by rain, wind, or cold. With its easy-to-spot bright orange 18” FireCord 550 lanyard and heavy-duty adhesive tape handle, it’s really a full fire kit in itself – the tape can be shredded up for use as a flash tinder, burned whole as a fire extender, or just used for anything that needs tape. And the core stand of the FireCord can be removed, processed, and used as flash tinder as well, in addition to giving you an extra 18” of spare cordage. Even if you already have fire starting methods in your kit, you’ll want to make room for this one.