Fatwood 100% Natural Firestarter Sticks Hand Cut in The USA Ferro Rod Ferrocerium Flint Jute Fatwood Chips Striker Tin Container Survival Emergencies Camping Steve Kaeser Since 1989

I got this because the woods I frequent have very little pine trees, so finding fatwod is not easily done here. The kit has an ample supply of it, along with some pre made shavings, and one stick has waxed jute twine wrapped around it. The tin it comes in is slightly larger than an Altoid tin, and is held shut with a ranger band (a rubber band, made from a bicycle inner tube)which will also burn should you run out of fatwood. The ferro rod is fine but I suggest you either carry a knife with a 90 degree spine, or a better scraper. It will work, but these hacksaw blade scrapers aren't the best option.They are kind of awkward in hand. That being said, it is sufficient to get yourself a fire going as it is if you don't have anything else to use. Fatwood is one of, if not the best fire starters around, and the quality of the fatwood in this tin is great. I had no problem getting it to light with the ferro rod. I would highly recommend this to anyone building a fire kit for camping or emergencies. Top quality product at a very reasonable price. Everything in this kit lights easily with a spark off the ferro rod, and there is enough of it to start many fires. I would still recommend adding other means of fire starting if you are building a long term kit. At the very least, carry a Bic lighter in your bag. Fire is one of the absolute essentials for survival, so the more methods you have available to you, the better your chances of surviving, but if you are just a simple weekend warrior who doesn't go very deep into the wild, this kit will get you quite a few fires going very easily.

Let me start by saying, this is probably one of the most best things I've ever bought off Amazon. And especially at this price point. This is one of the best premade fire kits I've ever bought. Most of them have lighters, waterproof matches or just regular matches and some premade fire starters. But to me, this is better than all of those things. The smell of this fatwood once you open this tin, is amazing. It just hits you right in the face, in a good way. Hard to find words to describe it. This is my first experience with fat wood but I am aware of how popular it is among campers, survivalists or people who just love fire. The value is 5/5 easily. Alot of fat wood sticks, and the ferrocium rod works well. I tested it. It would be extremely easy to start a fire with just this kit alone. And you would be able to start plenty of fires if you ration the fat wood out and that waxed jute. If I had to put my life on one fire kit to keep me alive, this would probably be it. You'll be hearing from me again as I will be buying from this company in the near future!

If you are just staring out, or live in an area where finding raw materials is a challenge, this little kit is surprisingly good. Not a lot of fluff to it. The tin itself is decent, and you can add variety to it as you use it.It's all pretty basic in terms of materials. Fatwood is resin dense. Smells right. The ferro rod isn't anything special, but it works (can't say I've seen one that doesn't work). Fluff up the jute, and it'll take a spark well. The dust is kinda like icing... nice, but not necessary for results. Can use the tin to make char cloth with as well.Can you make the same thing with an Altoids tin? Sure can. I like the two piece tin this kit comes in. There are additions that can be made to it to make it more rounded, with more combustion options...but it's fairly turn key as it is. Chuck it in your pack, and go have fun.

I can say from experience that almost everything in this kit is perfect. From the match striker on the back to the saw blade provided. But the ONLY thing that gave me a problem was the ferro rod. I have four total ferrocerium rods in my kit. One of them being a huge six inch rod, second being a three inch rod that came with my Mora Bushcraft Black knife, and even an inch and a half last resort ferro rod in my tackle box. But for some reason the one that came with this kit gives me trouble. I've used my Mora, a Cold Steel knife with a 90 degree spine, and even a piece of flint on all of my other rods without complications. But when it comes to this rod...It's a real hit and miss. Setting aside my frustration maybe not all ferro rods are made equal. Possibly an imbalance of iron and cerium percentage??... I really don't know. I'm just saying it's the first time I've ever came across a problem with a ferro rod (trust me, it's not the knives or the flint's fault. They work fine on every other rod I use). Regardless I would recommend this to anyone because I myself would still gladly stake my life on this kit in a 72 hour survival scenario. May need some elbow grease on the ferro rod, but it will work. Besides, good quality or not, having a ferro rod is better than no ferro rod at all in my humble opinion.

What a great little kit. I'm a sucker for inexpensive and useful items, and this meets both of those requirements. Steve's fatwood is second to none in my opinion, I've bought it before. This handy little pocket sized tin is jam-packed full of his fatwood, fatwood dust which is just golden for catching a spark, a nice sized quality ferro rod, a saw blade striker which works just fine, and some twine which can be fluffed as another kindling source.I'll never hesitate to buy or recommend Steve Kaeser products.

scrape some fatwood and fluff up a little jute. Strike the rod and you have fire. I use my own Ferro rod but the one it comes with is an ok backup. There's enough stuff to make scores of fires and if you run out its cheap to resupply; You can get 5lb of fatwood for $5 just about anywhere that sells firewood, camp or BBQ supplies - you'd have to cut it down to small sticks that will fit in the box. You get a roll of jute for a $1 almost anywhere even Target or Walmart. That's all you really need so this kit is easy to maintain. I think it's pretty fool proof. I recommend it.