Mega Ferro Rods, they have a place

Im sure that we have all seen those huge 6in long by 1/2 ferro rods that all the "masters" of bushcraft have been using for a little over a year now. These rods are huge and contain God knows how many strikes or "fires" as many of the large companies say on their packaging (that is a subject for another post, most fires take more than one strike to get them going). Now if you are looking for a short answer about whether or not these rods are all they are pumped up to be I can offer that now. Yes, they are pretty decent and they have a place in ALMOST everyone's kit. Now with that being said, they may not be for everyone every single time you go into the woods. The reason being, that these huge rods are just that, huge. Which means that they weight a lot. Also these rods come in two totally different forms in my opinion.

WHO ARE THEY FOR?
I will go ahead and say that everyone who spends time in the wilderness should own one of these if for nothing else they work well for starting alcohol stoves and the BBQ. Also anyone who reads this probably knows what a ferro rod is so of course you can practice your little heart out in your back yard with all sorts of materials. Now who would honestly carry one of these? If you day hike and play in the woods while doing it or if you go pout for bushcraft studies then this is perfect for you. If you also enjoy using a conveyance while in the woods such as a 4X4 or a canoe then even better  you don't have to carry the weight. Now that is about how  I spend 50 percent of my time in the woods, the other fifty is spent hiking for distance, lightweight as possible, For those instances I would not carry this rod, I do however ALWAYS have a rod on me but using this instance as an example I would carry a 5/16 or 3/8in rod. That would be around 3in in length for the 5/16 and 4in for the 3/8 depending on how much I plan to use it. The rest of the time I more than likely have the big 1/2 on me.

NOT ALL HUGE RODS ARE THE SAME:

They are not the same in price,makeup, or availability.
Im sure that we have all seen the super soft rods that most instructors preach to their students for the newer students because they are easier to use, Now that is great for teaching someone to use a ferro rod and they do throw huge amounts of sparks that burn for a good long time. However most of them are close to $40 a piece(YIKES). Now if you are learning I would say that spending that much is worth it, However with that being said for myself I personally prefer the harder rods, because they last SO MUCH longer, If you use a rod as much as I do and I think you should so you are proficient with it in case your life depends on it. The hard rods really come in helpful because you get about double the strikes out of one of them compared to the soft rods, A hard rod can be had on ebay for $15, yes $15!! I also prefer the way the hard rods work in colder weather with colder materials, the sparks are finer and seem to work better at covering the material in sparks

HUGE FERRO RODS ARE KING;

So yes you need one of these if you take being outside serious and enjoy fire as much as I do. When I first got this rod I used it a couple of times to make sire that ie worked then I put it in my everything kit that has a multi tool, pen, paper. and compass along with the rest of those things. I let it sit there for a few months while I burned through my 3/8 in rods. Then it hit me if this rod is so cost effective then why not carry it with me the whole time?  So now its almost always with me and IF I had to get a fire started with my rod I would take this one and my MOD old hickory which has the sharpest spine of any knife I have ever used and I would bet I could get flame in almost any environment.