SiC nanorods sheathed in amorphous SiO2 were synthesized in mass by an arc-discharging approach, using a SiC rod containing iron impurity as the anode, and were characterized by SEM, TEM, EDX and XRD. The prepared nanorods possess a beta -SiC crystal core with a uniform diameter of 5-20 nm and an amorphous SiO2 wrapping layer tens of nanometers in thickness, and their lengths range from hundreds of nanometers to several micrometers. A possible growth mechanism is discussed.