Last Updated on April 14, 2023 by Lisa Vargas
One of the best survival skills you can learn is how to build a fire quickly and efficiently without using to much energy. There’s a quick, easy, and reliable way to do that using firestarters. But you might wonder how long these firestarters will last once used after a certain period of time.
This post is going to look at this question and dive a little deeper into the details around the longevity of this great little piece of survival gear.
How Long Do Firestarters Last?
On average, normal flint and magnesium firestarters will last about 3,000 strikes but you can find more expensive types that will last up to 10,000 strikes. This will all depend on what type of firestarter you choose and the quality of the firestarter.
Below I’ll tell you more about what is considered a normal or more “common” firestarter versus the higher quality, sometimes more expensive types. So let’s get started!
What Is Considered A Firestarter?
Before we get into more detail about firestarters I want to clear up any ambiguity that you may have about what the term firestarter is referring to in this article.
Typically, in the survival and prepping community firestarters refer to the ones you find on Amazon that include a ferro rod with a tool-grade HSS steel striker. Technically anything that starts a fire could be considered a firestarter right?
With that said, you can also go to Amazon and type in “firestarter” in the search bar, and find images of fatwood, firestarter cubes, firestarter kits, and even tinder for starting a fire.
Technically these are all firestarters, but for the purpose of this post, we are talking about the actual steel striker device that comes into contact with the ferrocerium rod.
Firestarter Examples
Below is a chart of some of the most common firestarters that you’ll find on the marketplace. I’ve included other types of firestarters besides strikers so you can get a better idea of just how vast this subject matter can be.
| Common Types Of Firestarters | Common Longevity Of Tool | Recommended Firestarter |
| Flint and Steel (ferro-rod strikers) | 3,000 strikes | Light My Fire Swedish FireSteel 2.0 |
| Fire Pistons | 10,000 + strikes | PSKOOK Metal Fire Piston |
| Magnesium Firestarter | 3,000 strikes | AOFAR AF-374 Magnesium Fire Starter (2-Pack) |
| Fatwood sticks | 1 20 lb box can last over 1 year (using 2-3 sticks/day) | 120 Eco-Stix Fatwood Starter Kindling |
| Firestarter Cubes | Each cube can burn up to 8 minutes | Zip 16-Pack 1.09-lb Firestarter Cubes |
| Plasma Lighter | The charge will last about 2 weeks if you’re using it about 3 times per day for 3 seconds each time. | lcfun Waterproof USB Rechargeable-Flameless-Plasma Lighter |
Flint and Steel: What They Are And How They Work
Flint and steel strikers are some of the most common firestarters you’ll see. At the same time, they can be a little difficult to work with if you aren’t familiar with how to use them therefore practicing the art of making fire with this firestarter is essential. You need to make sure that your flint rock has razor-sharp edges or else it will be difficult to ignite a spark using this method.
You’ll notice that many flint and steel firestarters come in a kit. If you get one of those kits, you’ll notice it comes with a variety of different things such as a piece of flint rock, steel striker, emergency whistle, and char cloth. You can see in the picture below just what I’m referring to.
When using the flint and steel striker, you want to think of the flint as your knife and the steel striker as your piece of wood. You are going to be shaving metal off of the striker using the flint rock and that’s why you need a sharp edge on your piece of flint.
You will take your steel striker and hold it in your dominant hand, then you will use your other hand and hold the flint rock up at about a 45-degree angle up in the air, and essentially that helps to cut the material off from the metal striker. Be sure when you strike the steel against the rock that you aren’t coming straight down on top. You are just trying to skim the striker off of the sharp rock. You are essentially sliding it down across the rock.
Fire Pistons: What They Are And How They Work
Fire pistons are used for the same purpose but they work a little differently. The fire piston actually consists of two components. A cylinder component that has a hole drilled down in the center of it and then you have the actual piston that is forced into the hollow cylinder to ignite the spark.
The piston is a steel rod that has a notch, or chamber, at the end of it so that it can receive some sort of tinder to start the fire once the spark is produced. The piston has a little o-ring that creates a perfect air-tight seal so it fits into the cylinder.
To use the piston, you are going to take a piece of char cloth, for example, and fit it in the little chamber at the end of the piston. You may want to lubricate the o-ring with vaseline or chapstick a little bit so that it slides up and down nice and easy. Once you’re ready, you are going to grab the cylinder tightly and jam the piston in swiftly so that the compressed air produces a hot spark.
That movement will produce a temperature somewhere around 500 degrees, which should ignite the char cloth that you placed inside the piston chamber.
Once you got the char cloth ember going, you are going to transfer it with a small toothpick to your tinder pile of dried grass, leaves, or whatever you’ve gathered. You’ll need to gently blow on the tinder pile until a flame is ignited and then you can start building your fire from there.
Magnesium Firestarters: What They Are And How They Work
Magnesium firestarter blocks are another way that you can start fires if you don’t have a convenient Bic lighter. These little magnesium blocks come with a ferro rod or some type of scraping tool on the side. They may look simple enough, but they can be a pain to get a fire going unless you’ve practiced a bit.
The idea behind this tool is to scrape off enough magnesium shavings, about a pile the size of a dime will do, to ignite a fire. You will also want to get some dry tinder ready on the side. Once you’ve done that you are going to turn your magnesium block so the black ferro rod piece is facing you.
Make sure you scrape the black portion off of the rod before you start striking. The silver part is what will create the spark when you are striking it. Place the magnesium block on a hard surface and start striking the ferro rod. Your goal is to get some sparks to jump onto that dime-sized pile of shavings you created earlier.
This technique can be a bit tough at first, and if you are in windy or wet conditions it makes it a lot more difficult. So please practice this over and over again until you can actually get it to work.
Ferrocerium Rods: What They Are And How They Work
A modern ferrocerium firesteel rod is composed of an alloy of rare-earth metals called mischmetal (containing approximately 20.8% iron, 41.8% cerium, about 4.4% each of praseodymium, neodymium, and magnesium, plus 24.2% lanthanum.
You can see in the image below, that this is one of the common ones you’ll see in online stores.
But not all ferro rods are treated the same. Based on how much magnesium is used by the manufacturer, you will get a different spark and length of that spark. High magnesium content means that your rod will be softer making it more difficult to get a spark out of it, but the sparks will last longer and be hotter. The best ferro rods are made from high carbon steel
Fatwood Sticks: What They Are And How They Work
Fatwood sticks are popular when starting fires because the bark is very ignitable. When it comes to the longevity of the fatwood sticks last for 1 use, then you figure you need 2-3 to start a single fire a day and one box can last over 1 year.
Because of the flammability of terpene, fatwood is popular for use as kindling in starting fires. It lights quickly even when wet, is very wind-resistant, and burns hot enough to light larger pieces of wood.
You can buy these fatwood boxes at Amazon or any outdoor store.
Firestarter Cubes: What They Are How They Work
I love firestarter cubes! They are probably one of my favorite firestarters to use with a Bic lighter or matches. It’s great to have all of these cool survival gadgets, but in the end the good old-fashioned Bic lighter or a book of matches works wonders.
All you have to do with these cubes is light them on fire and voila! You don’t even have to take the wrapper off of the cube! I’ve used these several times and it’s for sure the easiest thing there is and you can easily throw them in you bugout bag and you’re all set.
Plasma Lighters: What They Are And How They Work
A Plasma Lighter is a small electronic rechargeable device that uses plasma rather than fuel to light things. It is a cool new type of lighter with a lot of benefits over the more traditional type such as being windproof, flameless, reuseable, and lights quicker than a normal flame.
These plasma lighters are getting more popular with the prepping community because of their durability and ruggedness. These plasma lighters are used similar to a regular one, they just use plasma instead of fuel. I encourage you to get on and try it out.
Related Questions About Fire Starters
What Is The Best Firestarter Tinder?
This is a great question because without proper tinder for your spark, you aren’t going to get very far in terms of building your fire. We wrote an article earlier titled Best Tinder For Starting A Fire, which will dive into greater detail on types of tinder. In my opinion, one of the best firestarter tinder is vaseline and cotton balls.
What Is The Difference Between Ferro Rods And Flints?
A ferro rod and a piece of flint are two completely separate objects. Flint (chert) refers to a type of quartz that is used to strike against a piece of steel to ignite a spark. A ferro rod is an actual piece of steel made from mischmetal which is used with a striker to ignite the spark.
With a the flint rock, you are striking the metal part of the steel down upon the sharp rock. With a ferro rod, you are striking a metal striker against the rod to produce a spark.
Are Ferro Rods Waterproof?
Essentially ferro rods are waterproof because if you drop your ferro rod in the creek or pond, you simply pick it up, dry it off with a towel, and use it immediately after. You don’t have to worry about water with these tools at all.
Is Magnesium A Good Firestarter?
Magnesium is an excellent firestarter that burns hot at 5,000 Fahrenheit. The only problem is that I would stay away from the magnesium fire blocks if you are an amateur at firecraft. It takes a lot of practice to make one of these work. You need to remember also that these are backup tools and you should always have a few Bic lighters with you in your bugout bag.
How Long Does A Ferrocerium Rod Last?
Ferro rods can last anywhere from 8,000 to 12,000 strikes, depending on a few different factors such as the level of magnesium in the rod, the number of times you use it, and the diameter of the rod. Essentially ferro rods can last forever if you’re not using them all of the time. If you think about it realistically, these are going to be a backup method, so you won’t be using them as much as you think you will.
Final Thoughts
As you can tell, there is a lot on the subject of firestarters and answering the simple question of how long do firestarters last can depend on exactly what type of firestarter you are refering to. This is why I wanted to make it clear to you the different types of firestarters and how they are used.
If you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to leave them below.