NEWS – These specially designed shoelaces/bootlaces are an easy way to carry fire-starting materials with you without adding extra bulk to your backpack or pockets. Each tip of the bootlace (called an aglet) is made from ferrocerium. When you strike the lace tip against the included steel plate, it will generate a spark that will help you start a fire. Use these laces as a backup fire starter if you lose your matches or lighter when you’re in the wilderness. You can find them in a variety of colors on Amazon for $11.99.
That’s pretty cool, but it begs the question: why aren’t they sold separately from the laces? Seems like they could easily go on existing shoelaces. I don’t exactly relish throwing away my existing ones – which may be higher quality than these – just to add this useful capability. Personalised Aglets
i use shoelaces for lanyards and such. some one on a forum had done this hack, so i had to try it
buy some “micro” rods, super glue and heat shrink tubing (just replace the aglets, if you retain them the assembly just hinges). not much work but without the plastic bumper the result is a bit noisy, so i assume the metal ferrules are as well
in my limited experience, the “micro” rods are harder to start fires with
Have they tested how fast you can run before you spontaneously combust?
Sparks at 88 mph? Great Scott!
Preventing that is likely the point of the rubber covers for the tips.
You sure do get some unusual/fun thing to evaluate.
John051, we didn’t actually get any samples of these laces to review. This was just a news post 🙂
I’m already picturing in my mind the tale in the media of how someone inadvertently caused a disaster at the local gas station whilst using these laces.
“….Somehow, the rubber covers from the tips of the laces were missing….”
You could fill in the rest yourselves. This is a definite contender for “most useless gadget of the year”.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Don't subscribe All Replies to my comments Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.
Hoodie Gold Aglet Copyright © 2023 The Gadgeteer LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited.