See VIDEO The Ferro Arcturus: An Introduction

The origins and history of ferrocerium are detailed in the book Fire From Ferrocerium.  This alloy has a fascinating story and has been molded into incredibly useful items for fire building.  The ubiquity of “ferro rods” offers us bushcrafters many choices.  But where these choices end is with the scraper.  It is true that any item, steel, glass, rock, etc., that is harder than the relatively soft ferrocerium and with a sharp edge may liberate extremely hot material from the ferro rod.  This is all well and good in theory.  I have tried numerous of the above items and found their potential deficient and the sparks at best meager. 
 

So what about commercially available scraping tools?  I have tried them as well.  I’m not proud to say I actually spent money on them, but do keep them around for when I need a good guffaw.  In short, my opinion of their effectiveness and construction was not favorable. Of those with some sparking ability and built with some semblance of thought, the carbide used was so stubby that I actually felt offended. Once I was using a miniature piece of carbide molded into a thin piece of plastic. It snapped off in the cold, yielding stubby on stubby. 

Like with several other things, I wanted to build my own.  One that actually worked, and worked extremely well.  One with a design, durability and effectiveness that seasoned veterans would prefer, and absolute beginners including children could readily emit molten globule goodness thus increasing the probability of an enduring flame. And creating flame and fire is the BEST way to help anyone, especially young people, relish the outdoors. Which is exactly what DeEvolution is trying to do. 

Way down the road with a large metal-working company I went, with such promise.  And numerous times did I put my face in my hands.  Completely altering one’s expectations and direction is one of the harder things to do. But it was either that or see this tool die.  Eventually it all came together. Carbide of the highest quality was found.  It was adroitly ground in John Deere country.  I then pressed each one individually into a simple, ergonomic, high visibility handle of Acetal plastic, CNC lathed by terrific and talented machinists at Vortech Manufacturing in Kalispell, Montana. Bob and Todd, it's a pleasure working with you. 

The handle is designed to perfectly accommodate and house a high quality ferro rod.  What results is a unique, extremely effective tool, available in two sizes, that at this time is patent pending. 

Thank you to my older son Highland, who during a brainstorming session over breakfast after a workout together, researched different suns. Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation of Boötes, and the brightest in the Northern celestial hemisphere. The “guardian of the bear” is huge and very hot. Perfect for this original and ultimate fire starting tool.

Dimensions:

• Small - 2.5 oz.  5"5" long.  Comes with 2 ferro rods (each rod is 8mm diameter x 80mm length).

• Large - 3.5 oz.  6" long.  Comes with 2 ferro rods (each rod is 10mm diameter x100mm length).