Everyday Carry

Firefly Fire Starter

Authored by:
Jonathan Tayag
Firefly Fire Starter

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When's the last time you used the toothpick on your Swiss Army Knife? If the answer is “never,” we hear you. Maybe you've used it to clean out debris from your knife or something, but its intended function seems a bit out of place on such a venerable EDC tool. And in an emergency situation, you're going to wish it could do more than keep your teeth clean. Enter the Firefly from Tortoise Gear: a firestarter rod that's designed to replace the toothpick on your Swiss Army Knife.

For something small enough to fit in the toothpick slot of your SAK's scales, the Firefly can generate an impressive amount of sparks. By scraping the Firefly with a blade or saw on your knife, you'll get enough sparks flying to start a fire in a pinch. It'll even work on the scissors of the TSA-friendly travel models of the SAK. Plus, Tortoise Gear specially designed their custom firesteel to be twice as strong and last longer than similar standalone ferrocerrium rods.

The Firefly comes in two different sizes, for both small and large models. If you carry a non-traditional SAK, that's fine too. As long as it has a toothpick, it will fit. That includes compatibility with even the SwissCard multi-tool. Hot swapping in the Firefly would be a step in consolidating your outdoors carry for a more minimal setup, or it can add redundancy as a backup to your main fire starter. Last but not least, its bright green head provides higher visibility during the day, glow-in-the-dark visibility at night, and makes retrieving the Firefly itself easy thanks to an injected molded thumb notch.

The SAK is an effective part of your everyday carry, but with the Firefly it's made even better. It's an easy and low-profile option for EDCing this crucial piece of preparedness gear. Secure this handy EDC accessory for yourself at the fully-funded Kickstarter link below.

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Jonathan Tayag

Senior Contributor


About the Author
Jonathan Tayag is secretly an information technology and corporate security expert who prefers to moonlight as a creative event and commercial photographer whenever possible. His varied experience and substantial travels have led him to seek, without even thinking about it at first, the best gear for the best use at the best price available. Before the concept of EDC (everyday carry) firmly took hold, Jonathan already spent untold amounts of time optimizing for the best-in-slot pieces of gear, from cameras and lenses to pocket knives, pens, and bags and packs. In November 2015, Jonathan joined EverydayCarry.com and has since written numerous articles and guides to help impart his knowledge to the community as a whole.

Jonathan's photographic works have appeared on numerous online websites, print, video, and television outlets for over a decade. Jonathan's previous clients include Blizzard Entertainment, Red Bull, ESL, Razer, and several other endemic and non-endemic esports sponsors and brands. His work also features heavily in online competitive gaming communities, especially those of the StarCraft and Fighting Game genres. You've likely seen his work if you've spent time in a stream or in-game chat over the years.

Discussion (8 total)

Charles P ·
Awesome looking product and you're correct: I hardly if ever use the toothpick that comes with my SAK, but boy would I love to be able to have this thing if I needed it! Just pledged on Kickstarter; it's almost 200% funded. Thanks for making me aware of this product, and it will now be part of my EDC.
Britt ·
I use my toothpick daily, but with a small amount of work one can mod ones SAK to accept this fire starter. One can either buy one of the sets of scales which have spots for both the long and short tweezers, then use one for this, with the short tweezers in the other, or you can carefully whittle way a bit of the edge of your scales to create a place to slide this in.
White Knight ·
Great idea and I can see that material being used in 'normal' rods. Can't see it replacing my tweezers, though but. And, sadly, shipping doubles the price.
If anyone really believes that they lit that tinder with a single strike of this thing like in the promo video they're smoking something. If you can't be honest with your marketing...
NUNQUAM NON PARATUS ·
Very neat idea, but I really do question the usefulness as they claim, in actual practice. I second Ben's comment about the promo video being faked (or edited to cut out the hundreds of prior attempts). Using a full-size ferro rod is a very difficult & tedious skill that typically takes a lot of practice and patience. I can only imagine the frustration is amplified exponentially while trying to grasp a SAK-toothpick-sized ferro rod.

But if you are stuck in a survival situation, than I suppose this is better than nothing. It would at least be something you could try, vs nothing. For that purpose, I commend their ingenuity in creating this product. I think they have a neat little product, but they need to be more realistic about what this can, and can not, do.

I hope that by offering this critique it helps their business case to succeed
The toothpick is one of the main reasons I'm carrying an SAK every day. I got a big one for work as a backup for my leatherman and a smaller one to carry when I'm not at work. In both cases I wouldn't want to replace the toothpick with anything else.
I would consider putting in the Firefly instead of the tweezers, maybe when going on a hike for a couple of days, but in that case I'd rely on a bigger ferro rod, it'd be easier to hold than the tiny firefly. Also when going on a hike I wouldn't want to miss the tweezers, be it for removing splinters or ticks
Lukasz Slazak ·
IT IS A SCAM - AVOID.
Ordered two months ago, still waiting. No communication from vendor, no replies. No communication.
Eric ·
Actually it is not a scam and you haven't ordered from us, at least not under that name. Please contact us and let us know who you are and we'll get things sorted out. We have lots of happy customers!