Exotact Firerod XL

Guys when it comes to fire starting it is basic for survival and man has been depending on fire from the beginning and being able to create fire is never been easier. Take this Bic lighter. I mean this is actually my preferred choice because it's so convenient but there are a lot of problems with these lighters and many times when I need it the most it gives out. Whether it's out of fuel, whether this gets corroded at the top where the striker is, I mean there's just a lot of things that can happen with a Bic lighter and then you know matches, butane lighters, all those different fire starting methods. After a while without supply you know they give out and that's the reason why I'm a big fan of fire steels. Ferroceum rods are excellent. They last for a long time. A lot of strikes and of course here we have one of the Exotac fire rods and you know there's about 10,000 strikes out of this but when you go to the fire rod XL this is massive and there is a lot of surface to be able to strike a lot of fires and I highly recommend guys whatever you do is to get some kind of fire steel to put in your fire kit. So we're going to take a look at the Exotac fire rod XL. Now I have a good friend of mine over at Exotac and he sent this for this test and evaluation. This is brand new from Exotac but you also get a 20% discount on the Exotac website using SOOCH20 at checkout and I'll have a link down below in the description and that's on all the Exotac products. Well guys there's a lot of choices for fire and these are just a few. We have a torch lighter here. I like those but you know they're dependent on fuel. Of course the BIC lighter is definitely dependent and this little wheel sometimes gets really corroded and then we have just a standard butane lighter kind of like a BIC lighter. We have safety matches, light bulb matches are some of my favorite and then we have the old magnesium bar with the striker on it and these have been old standbys for a long time but one of the things about a fire rod is you can use it multiple times. This is the original fire rod here and it has 10,000 strikes. I mean that's a lot of strikes and it doesn't require any fuel. This is the fuel and then with the XL we have 20,000 strikes. That's a lot of potential to start fire. Now for me I like to have multiple ways. I have fire kits with different items in it and I think it's important to do that but I think the fire steel is a long-term fire starter but honestly out of all these except for the magnesium bar you know this is the easiest. This is the most difficult but again it's dependable. Now the and then of course we have the large which is six inches overall and it's three and a half inches for the fire steel but one of the big differences is the diameter. Here we have 5 16ths and then on the extra large we have a half inch. That's a lot of ferrocerium. I've been carrying the standard fire rod for a long time. I'm a big fan. I like the way these things handle. I love the handle itself because you can grab hold of it. It really gives you something to grab hold of and it's not a little short nub. It gives you something you can grip. Also the body is a hard anodized aluminum so it's really nice and then typically just like with the large we have tender tabs that are in this compartment. There are four that fit in here and this is a waterproof compartment and so in this original it's just one but still I mean it gives you a little bit of tender and that is just you really need tender. It also has an o-ring seal to it. One of the other benefits from the extra large is that it does have duct tape. It's 12 inches of duct tape. I mean this can be used to repair things. It can be used to repair holes in tents or clothes. It can be used as a bandage but it's also flammable so you can actually use this as your fire starter. It does come with a nice lanyard with a little lock on it. Sometimes I'll replace this with fire cord so I actually have another way to start fire and then with the ferroceum rod we can just pull this off. It's actually threaded and so once you use this up you can actually buy extras or you can purchase extras when you get this. Threads are very nice and thin. One thing they do recommend is putting a little bit of loctite on there if you're having problems with it coming loose but the one big thing about the extra large is it gives you a really solid grip. It gives you a lot of room to be able to strike. That's one thing about having these little small tiny fire rods. I mean they are tiny. Now this is actually pretty decent but when you start using this it's amazing the big difference between the two and the more surface you have the better. Now the Fire Rod XL comes in four different colors. It comes in this orange. It comes in an OD color. It comes in a gunmetal gray and a black and so you know you can kind of do that however you want to. Personally I like orange because I've ever dropped this. I can find it really easily. Weight on the Fire Rod 1.4 ounces. Weight on the Fire Rod XL 4 ounces. It's definitely heavier but when it comes to fire I'm willing to go a little heavy. Now one of the first things you'll do is remove this black coating and this actually protects the ferroceum rod and so when you get it scraped off and you just scrape it with your knife. I mean this thing puts out a massive amount of spark so that's going to give you an advantage in itself. Plus you've got a really good grip on it. It's not really small. You're not barely holding on. You've got a knife or a striker so this really allows you to get this very well. The first thing we're going to do is to try out our Vaseline and Cotton Balls. This is an old standard for me. Just mix Vaseline and Cotton Balls. Really simple. Really easy to do. Now a lot of people will strike down. That can knock your tender. A lot of people pull out and so we're gonna go ahead and do the pull out method. All right there we go. So pretty simple to get this Vaseline and Cotton Balls going and it goes for a long time. So this is a big favorite of mine and again it's super cheap. Next we're gonna go with the tender tabs. This is what the U.S. military uses and these small little tablets peels. They just kind of pull apart and it allows for those fibers to kind of come loose. Makes it really nice and again you've got tender tabs in the back of your Exotac fire rod and one in the small and then of course here we've got four. So this is a great addition and I'm going to show you why this is such a good starter. One hit you're going and this will go for a good few minutes which is excellent. Exotac does sell these as well but you can get them online different places. Next we have the Fierce Fire. This is from Engle Creek Outdoors. I don't think he makes this anymore. He's a good friend of mine but he supplied me with these. This is impregnated with some kind of oil or something to make this light very easily and so we're going to go ahead and we're going to try it out. There it goes. Being wood and being able to catch on fire pretty quickly is impressive in itself and this is going to really allow you to get a fire going. Now another way you can do it is again you can pull out. You can push in. That seems to aim it a little better but one thing that I've found is if you take your fire steel and you just that's a great way to get a fire started. Also you can take the edge of your spine and you can do it slowly. You can actually take small shavings of the ferroceum rod and add to the fire and so that way if you're using just standard wood it's a great way to do it but this really does well. Again you're going to be somewhat limited when you're using a fire steel because it really needs to have something very thin to be able to catch on fire but if you know how to process it it's not that big of a deal. Now I'm big on having a fire kit and having specific items in one location whether I have it in my pack or wherever I can find it everything is right here including fire starting tools, tender, you know all the different things that I need to start a fire. While we did some video earlier on the exotac fire roll this is really a cool system and whatever you use is fine. You know I mean it works good just make sure you have something you can keep everything in but I do want to just show this again because this is actually one of my favorites. I actually have bought another one since then and then it just kind of velcros in so it's really secure. What I love though is is and you guys know I'm a big fan of tool rolls it just rolls out everything is right here in front of you you can see what you need plus it has this little area with these little pockets and then in the back you have other pockets and so this gives you a lot of advantages. It's funny because I've taken some things out just to show on this video but exotac makes a lot of different things and so they make the nano striker they make you know of the fire rod they make the rip spool which is a repair kit and a lot of other things you can go to the exotac website. These are really high quality pieces that they make and but I just really like this little tool roll so if you're looking for a fire kit you want something really specific this is a great one and it just velcros together and then it just attaches this way and you can get quite a bit in this thing. Now the price on the fire rod XL is $59.95 and again you get a 20% discount using suits 20 plus you can get the extra ferro rods for $21.95 they're threaded they go in and they're just huge. Then your standard fire rod is $29.95 and again you can get a 20% discount and this also comes off and you can change those out so it really makes a difference in what size pack you want to have. I mean this is a very large piece but it gives you a lot of capability this is a smaller one and yet it's still large enough to be able to use without any trouble and I've been using these things for years I'm just a big fan and these are made in the USA down in winder Georgia and all their parts everything on their catalog so check out exotac.com. So guys if you want to go to the extreme with your fire rod being able to create fire is important and this is going to give you a lot of possibilities with a lot of fire also add in the tender tabs in the top the duct tape around the side I mean this is just a great little survival tool and I highly recommend you having some kind of fire kit not just a fire rod but your lighter possibly matches different things and also tender to be able to create fire because again it's one of the basic rules of survival and again I want to thank exotac for sending the fire excel and you do get a 20 discount using suits 20 with the link down below in the description and we really appreciate them offering that be strong be of good courage god bless america long live the republic and it's dangerous to move around and it's dangerous to move around down that can knock your tender a lot of people pull out and so we're gonna go ahead and do the pull out method that's what she said