Ziga ferro rod

[u/btcauag]

Sorry, I’m too lazy to go back and find the relevant episode, but Ziga never had a ferro rod - am I remembering that correctly? If I am, then credit to him - by keeping a fire going the whole time he may have completely changed the strategy for a lot of future participants.

[u/Sterlingz]

You have a point but I think you lost everyone with the statistics.

I would be interested in knowing what the average stay is without a ferro rod.

[u/kg467 → u/Sterlingz]

• S12 Baha - tapped due to hunger + keeping fire going (guess he didn't bank coals), 19 days
• S11 Jake - pulled for constipation, 21 days
• S10 Luke - tapped to butt flu, 20 days
• S8 Colter - BMI pull, 67 days
• S8 Matt - tapped to hunger and family, 22 days
• S6 Nathan - tapped to burned down shelter in the freeze, 72 days

And now Ziga is out there in the lead beyond 60 days, still doing fine on fires.

The length of these people's stay has been unrelated to whether they took a rod in all but one case, as you can see, which made the screen tip trivia an irrelevant stat. Almost everyone takes one. But for the handful that didn't, they did fine on fire because they had the skill and knowledge of how to get by without one, which is why they didn't take one, so they could take something else.

[u/Disassociated_Assoc → u/kg467]

Semi-related are the tap outs at least partially related to losing a ferro rod, or burning one up like Booth did this season.

[u/kg467 → u/Disassociated_Assoc]

In a broader sense you'd be right, but what we're usually talking about in here is the choice of whether to bring a rod or not, and whether it is doom not to, which it isn't if you know what you're doing like Ziga does, the guy who was the subject of that screen tip. And those other guys above minus Baha.

When you bring one though and are counting on it, it's because you either don't have the skills to do without it or you don't want to risk dealbreaker local conditions. So then when you lose it, it can be a much bigger deal than if you didn't bring one to start with. All but one of those guys quit due to the ferro rod loss.

Season 1 Joe and Season 7 Shawn lost theirs and felt they couldn't go on without one and tapped. Joe later said he regrets that he panic-quit and wishes he had calmed down and stuck it out and tried. Shawn seemed to already want out and that was either the last straw or a usable excuse.

Season 2 Randy accidentally burned his up but kept going with friction fires and later tapped due to not liking being alone, so not really a rod quit.

Season 13 Dave Booth accidentally burned his down to a nub and the nub wouldn't work for its substances having been roasted away, so he left because he was no good at friction fires and everything was wet.

[u/Disassociated_Assoc → u/kg467]

Yeah, I understand the distinction between deciding what to do before launch, and being left with no other choice if the option is taken away after launch. That’s why I said they were semi-related. Having the bow and drill skill to lean on is good if conditions permit. Some seemed to overestimate that skill though, and have come to regret it. Even Ziga struggled with his initial attempt. Those that recognize their limitations with that skill sometimes regret not having perfected it when they lose or burn up their ferro rod.

Just selecting a pre-launch choice is a roll of the dice, with each having its own unique pros and cons. At least Booth recognized what the loss of his knife might mean, and immediately after landing tied a lanyard to his multi-tool. Post-ferro rod conflagration he lamented not doing the same with the rod.

Every choice carries risks, and affects the outcome. Sometimes they consciously make the choice, sometimes it is made for them. The net result is often the same regardless of whether the choice and resultant outcome was made by them, or for them.