nanoSPARK™

The nanoSPARK is the compact fire tool for everyday carry in a pocket, a pack, or on a keychain. Where a ferrocerium rod is scraped with a separate striker, the nanoSPARK uses a flint wheel, the same mechanism as a classic lighter but engineered for hard use, with larger and deeper teeth that throw a ferocious spark. That design makes it genuinely usable with one hand, which matters if the other hand is injured.

It was built to work with quickLIGHT tabs, and those tabs store inside the waterproof body. An o-ring in the flint retaining screw and another in the tinder capsule keep everything dry and ready. To use it, pull a tab, fluff the end to expose fibers, hold it against the wheel, and spark: with prepared tinder it is close to instant.

The flint is replaceable. Remove the brass screw inside the tinder capsule to swap it, and up to five spare flints store in that same capsule, so the tool keeps working long after a sealed lighter would be done. Each flint is good for roughly 5,000 sparks. The body is CNC- machined in-house in the USA from high-grade 6061 aluminum and anodized in Black, Gunmetal, Blaze Orange, or Olive Drab, with a lanyard slot for a FIRECORD tether or a tinderZIP.

Compared with the nanoSTRIKER XL, the nanoSPARK trades the raw spark volume of a scraped ferro rod for one-handed speed and a self-contained tinder system. It makes an excellent primary fire starter for a minimalist kit and an excellent backup for a larger fireROD. It is covered by Exotac's lifetime warranty and the 011225 refill kit restocks the flints and o-rings. In practice most people carry the nanoSPARK loaded with three or four quickLIGHT tabs, which is a complete fire kit weighing barely half an ounce that will still work after a fall in a creek. That combination of tiny, sealed, and one-handed is what makes it a favorite backup.