View Full Version : magnesium fire starters
I see that fire starters are common......being incorporated in some knife sheaths.
Are magnesium starters popular?...they seem a lot more efficient to me than just a plain fire starter as they have their own (magnesium ) tinder.
Thanks.
I see that fire starters are common......being incorporated in some knife sheaths.
Are magnesium starters popular?...they seem a lot more efficient to me than just a plain fire starter as they have their own (magnesium ) tinder.
Thanks.
Not as popular as they used to be. A few years ago they were the superior starter. In the right conditions they are ok. You still need to prepare your tinder and the rest of the fire properly. Some think that scraping bits of Magnesium off is a pain. Which it is :D I know a couple of people that carry grated magnesium in film containers. I understand this a bit more.
On a base level they do provide a sort of tinder, but it is short and intense. If you know what you are looking for tinder can easily be collected in most places. That becomes a skill issue. I have to say though that scraping a bit of birch bark is no more effort than scraping a bit of magnesium and gets the fire going just as well, if not better.
Umm...did I end up answering the question :rolleyes:
they do seem popular. but it did make a mess of the back of my knife. so ill stick with the scraper that comes with them.
stonehard
11-01-04, 02:19 PM
been using one for years and have no problems. However I believe you learn the most basic skill first then go hi-tech
bit like electronic guitar tuners brills untill the battery goes flat
I use them more for the wow factor than anything else! :p
I have a small one in my survival kit for that "last ditch" fire where I would probably grind half the block, hack the rest, make a massive pile and hope for the best! :D :D
I prolly die from the flash fire!
PS_Bond
12-01-04, 03:37 PM
In the right conditions they are ok.
The right conditions? Like not actually blowing a hoolie, which seemed to be the only times I tried to use them for real...
Shaved magnesium is very light, and you need something to catch it in. I found a paper tissue worked well, although if you have a paper tissue, you already have tinder. :rolleyes:
Unless the tissue is damp :D
I found a paper tissue worked well, although if you have a paper tissue, you already have tinder. :rolleyes:
PS_Bond
12-01-04, 04:23 PM
Ewww...
:D
I;ve found you can do the same with a ferro rod itself and a hacksaw blade. Carefully saw the rod and collect the powerder and once you have a good pile hot it with a spark and off it goes! :approve:
Care is needed tho - the sawing can set it off prematurely :yikes:
i have found this too but it does wear your rod away at a fast rate.
Oh yes, the rod wears away a LOT faster!
:yikes: :D
But it's fun!!! :D :D :D
i have found this too but it does wear your rod away at a fast rate.
megalift
28-01-04, 11:23 PM
Call me a heathen, but I find those little plastic fag-lighters that weigh absolutley nothing and cost about a fiver for a dozen or so absolutey great. Just a thought....... ;o)
Call me a heathen, but I find those little plastic fag-lighters that weigh absolutley nothing and cost about a fiver for a dozen or so absolutey great. Just a thought....... ;o)
lol :D
Maybe it's me and the way I prefer simple, hard to break stuff, but i find they pack up easily and that given a tenner's worth of cheapo gas lighters and a tenner firesteel, the firesteel are much more reliable for me (until I lose it :banghead: ).
But that's probably just my destructive side coming out :D :biggthump
Call me a heathen, but I find those little plastic fag-lighters that weigh absolutley nothing and cost about a fiver for a dozen or so absolutey great. Just a thought....... ;o)
Call me a heathen, but I find those little plastic fag-lighters that weigh absolutley nothing and cost about a fiver for a dozen or so absolutey great. Just a thought....... ;o)
I carry both :biggthump
i use the lighters when i can but have trouble with them in the wind so used my mates strike a light, these also look much better when your in a school as it doesn't make you look like a smoker though it doesshow what your into. (also on my keys are a SAK classic and mag solitaire)
my little brothers going on a camping trip so im getting him a swedish firestriker thingy. im making him take a disposable lighter and some lighter fluid too though. wish i still had my zippo but i quit smoking so there wasnt much use for it.
megalift
01-02-04, 11:23 PM
.....And they do come in a bewildering array of pleasing pseudo-pastel colours......
;o)
Big Mac
05-02-04, 03:51 PM
Over here Coleman have pretty well got the day camper market but LMF are starting to get common amongst us 'outdoor' guys. The Coleman striker does work well though.
muchttp://www.campmor.com/webapp/commerce/command/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=1024&prmenbr=226h got the market for the
Sharpshooter
10-02-04, 08:32 PM
After dropping a disposable lighter in a snow pile, I discovered, first hand, the failing it has as a reliable fire starting tool. When quite cold, the butane remains a liquid and requires heat to vaporize; meaning that before I can have a fire to warm me, I must warm my lighter. Clearing the flint of snow and water takes valuable time in a survival situation that I prefer not to waste.
:twak:
That's why I have relegated "Flicking my Bic" to summertime cookouts. For woods time I much prefer the Doan Firestarter to the Swedish Fire Steel. Although I don't generally shave magnesium to start a fire, I prefer to have it and not not need it to needing it and not having it. My Doan tool has a piece of auto inner tube glued to the side which can be peeled off and cut into strips for use with the magnesium shavings. The rubber burns hot for quite a while allowing me to add kindling in the wettest of conditions. :biggthump
There is a cheap copy of the Doan tool sold by Coughlin's which is not up to Doan standards. The fero tends to fall out if the tool is dropped, so every Coughlin's tool I get is used to make magnesium shavings which are sprinkled on top of egg carton firestarters, the ferro's added to mini survival kits since they are certainly better than nothing.
I guess my first post here finds me going a bit against the grain, but I can only speak from personal experience. I'm certain I'll learn much from all of you.
Reid
Cool, I have just read a review of it by Old Jimbo and he praises it so it must be up to the job :biggthump I will get hold of some for a reveiw. Sharpshooter, we're all learning all the time, thank goodness :240: Cheers for pointing out that there are some good ones out there
What do you guys use to get your pile of Mg shavings? Surely not the edge of your knife?
Sharpshooter
11-02-04, 06:54 AM
I absolutely use the edge of the blade to scrape the magnesium as it is a VERY soft metal.
The only time I have seen a Doan Tool hurt a blade is when some knucklehead decided to strike the ferro rod with the edge rather than drawing it across the spine.
Reid
Scraping at a mag block with a kife doesn't seem to harm it at all ... but it is slow work and I find an old scrap of hacksaw blade better.
What do you guys use to get your pile of Mg shavings? Surely not the edge of your knife?
My teeth :rolmao: Well I never use them but in the past it was indeed the edge of a knife :yikes:
i use the thumbhole of my spyderco to strike the rod. it makes an almight shower of burning magnesium
SgtMike88Ret
17-02-04, 10:47 PM
After Sharpshooter finally convinced me that there really was a difference in quality between and Doan Tool and it's clones, I've been carrying the Doan Tool daily.
Last night, my Doan Tool spent the night in the snow in the back of my truck with my Bark River Fieldsman. Temps reached -1 degree Farenheit by 0630 hrs EST. At 0700 hrs, I tested cold weather performance of the knife by batoning it "tip-in" to a few pieces of frozen red elm, making some tinder and kindling. Immediately after that, came the Doan Tool test. I dropped it from heights of 2' to 8' onto my driveway, no damage incurred to the tool. On entering the nice warm house through the side door, I again dropped the Doan from the top of the staircase to the basement's cement floor, no damage incurred in that test either. The Doan Tool is definitely a cut above it's imposters.
As far as striking the Doan, I use either a sharp knife blade spine or the back edge of a piece of hacksaw blade to scrape off the magnesium shavings and to strike the spark. Magnesium shavings are held together by a cotton ball from my wallet. I do not use the saw edge of a hacksaw blade to strike the ferrocerium, as it causes far too much unnecessary damage to the rod. Lastly, I've predrilled a divot into the magnesium bar for use with a spindle and hearthboard. Should I lose the ferro rod, I already have a head start on makings for fire by friction ...
Mike
Colin KC
17-02-04, 10:56 PM
I've predrilled a divot into the magnesium bar for use with a spindle and hearthboard. Should I lose the ferro rod, I already have a head start on makings for fire by friction ...
Mike, forgive me, I know about knives, not bushcraft, BUT, isn't it a bit daft, trusting that an aknowledged igniteable element like Magnesium wont burst into a very hot lump of cascading firey hot stuff if too much friction is applied? Or am I being the daft one here? (again:rolleyes::confused:;))
SgtMike88Ret
17-02-04, 11:38 PM
Colin,
The vision of fire bursting from bow/drill or other methods of friction fire is myth or fiction. What is created by the friction is a small ember which must be transferred to tinder and gently blown upon to induce fire.
Mike
I;ve found you can do the same with a ferro rod itself and a hacksaw blade. Carefully saw the rod and collect the powerder and once you have a good pile hot it with a spark and off it goes! :approve:
Care is needed tho - the sawing can set it off prematurely :yikes:
Wierd, I just dug up this thread to post exactly the same thing. I was playing around with my ferro rod, and scraped the spine, I wasn't quick enough and it didn't fire, the next strike threw showers everywhere and I wondered if some of the ferro was clinging to my knife. So I very gently scraped the ferro rod with the spine of my knife to get a small pile of ferro shavings on a piece of paper. Then I threw a spark into it and the whole lot went up with an intense, fizzling flame. Just as good as Mg shavings I would think. The only worry is prematurely setting it off, by inavertantly creating a spark as you're scraping the ferro rod - could be nasty.
Sharpshooter
25-02-04, 03:57 PM
A question comes to mind...
Why would you scrape the ferro rather than using a magnesium block? The Magnesium is FAR less likely to ignite prematurely, hense safer and will burn for a few seconds longer.
Reid
MagiKelly
25-02-04, 05:01 PM
A question comes to mind...
Why would you scrape the ferro rather than using a magnesium block? The Magnesium is FAR less likely to ignite prematurely, hense safer and will burn for a few seconds longer.
Reid
I think Martyn's suggestion is if you only have a ferro rod and want to get the same effect as having a magnesium block
John
I think Martyn's suggestion is if you only have a ferro rod and want to get the same effect as having a magnesium block
John
It was exactly that John.
...and welcome to the forums. :)
MagiKelly
25-02-04, 05:30 PM
...and welcome to the forums. :)[/QUOTE]
Thanks. I feal as if I have been here for a while. Only just found my voice.
John
Gurthang
27-04-04, 10:21 AM
I used to use a magnesium flint and steel but could never get the magnesium to light I stick to using a ferro rod now. not realy suprised that I could never get the magnesium to light though as it takes a while for it to ignite even holding a small piece in the floame of a gas stove.
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