Get a good 1/2" quality ferrorod
There are hundreds of various strikers on the market. At least half are worthless. They all have the same ferrorod but the problem is the steel in the striker. It takes a good quality, hard steel to throw a spark and many are made with cheap soft steel. If yours won't throw sparks, try a knife or anything else around the house to see if you can find something harder and sharper. The best I've found is a StrikeForce. It throws an inferno of sparks. They also make a small version called the Sparkforce that fits nicely in the worthless column. If I use the steel from the Strikeforce on the Sparkforce, it works great.
If you have a striker that won't spark, Amazon sells these steel strikers that make any ferrorod into a good fire starter. I attached one to my SparkForce to make it a good one.
BAYITE STEELAlso, don't buy a bunch of fire starter stuff and just toss it in your pack. Using it takes practice. Practice at home, preferably in lousy conditions, to learn the tricks before you really need it.
