FireSteel Magnesium Fire Starters

Lynn

Expedition Leader
Here's a source for the Boy Scout one. $3.00.


Where do you get a scraper? Well...

I had a couple of 'grooming' sets that had been given to me. Along with the useful (nail clippers) came with the useless: a stupid little folding knife-like thing. It works great for scraping the magnesium or the striker, and even has a hold in the handle so that it can be attached to the magnesium firestarter with a little bit of cord.

WRT the comments above r.e. cotton balls and vaseline, in my tests the cotton lights easier if you don't get too carried away with the vaseline. My emergency kit contains an old medicine bottle with several heavily coated cotton balls in the bottom, and a lightly coated one on top.

Personally, on using the hand sanitizer, I'd be afraid of using up all the sanitizer, then getting in a situation where I needed an emergency fire! I like the idea of my emergency fire staters being dedicated.
 
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rusty_tlc

Explorer
I have had one or more of those 'metal matches' since I was a Boy Scout, a million years ago.

They also work great for lighting your coleman stove, but not so hot for the lantern. :)

TIP: Once you have your nice little 'birds nest' of tender, it's real easy to slide the knife off the end of the metal match and send your tender flying. It takes a little practice, but it works really well to hold the knife steady and draw the striker back towards you. That way the motion is away from the tender pile, and not as likely to destroy it.
Thanks that's a great suggestion.
 

5x5

Observer
One hand operation is key if your injured. The fire steel, spark light and blast match can be used one handed. The blast match, however, needs a solid surface to push down against. It's really easy to flip your tinder all over. The spark light works well, but it requires fine motor skills that you may not posess if cold.

The swedish fire steel may be used one handed or two and is all but indestructible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0bU0F0hKdI

When using with a knife, make sure it's carbon steel. Stainless won't give a good spark. A piece of hack saw blade works well, also.

The fasted and surest way to get your fire started NOW is using a road flare. They even make little 5min. ones that are light enough to carry.
 

CSG

Explorer
Based on some tests posted in another forum, Coughlin's Fire Paste is also a 100% way to start a fire with a sparker under any circumstances. It could be the most foolproof solution yet.
 
Regarding the fire paste:

Online Product Review said:
While easy to apply to my kindling, the flame would burn out before the wood would catch. I must admit that the paste is highly flammable, but be prepared to go through almost half a tube if you are dealing with any wet or hard to catch woods.
 

SEREvince

Adventurer
I've used everything under the sun in field conditions, here's my professional opinion of what to carry below (My Job). Of course I strongly suggest practicing under field conditions with whatever you decide on before your life depends on it.

1. A lighter or strike anywhere matches in a waterproof container. The drawbacks to the lighter are performance can suffer in extreme cold and higher altitudes. You can overcome the first problem by carrying it in a inner pocket.

2. Light My Fire Swedish Fire Steel scout or mini size. Simple, everything you need is there, and you don't mess up you knife blade. It works great for lighting camp/pack stoves.

3. Ultimate Survival Wetfire Tinder(2-3 cubes). Lights easily, burns long enough to ignite damp fuel, compact and light. Slight drawback is that it needs to be protected or it will be crushed into dust (still works) BUT the package will tear. Leaking the dust everywhere aka tinder ruined. To light with above fire steel, crush one corner into flakes and then direct sparks into flakes.

As for the rest:

Blast Match- skip it, as mentioned it requires a hard surface and generally results in you dumping or crushing your carefully prepared tinder. Also the tiny striker is just glued in and sometimes goes AWOL. It'll still work with your knife, but the Swedish fire steel does the same job better, with less weight and hassle. As far as one handed operation; I can easily light a lighter or match with one hand;)

Magnesium Bar- SKIP IT, it fails as a tinder (flash tinder! no endurance for damp materials). And it's difficult to use effectively with gloves or cold hands.

Fire Paste- it excels at ONE thing. Find a rock near a stream bed, coat with Fire paste and replace rock(it will even work if submerged briefly!). Lure unsuspecting greenhorn into area and exclaim "OMG, It's a FIRE ROCK! These are incredibly rare!" Proceed to light said rock and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Other than that the tube is easily pierced creating a flamable mess. It weighs more and burns faster than the Wetfire or even vaseline and cotton balls.:Wow1: HINT: Practice a few times to get a nice even thin coating that will be hard to spot.

Fire Piston- If you are already profecient with primitive fire making such as flint and steel or friction fires then the fire piston can be a great TOY.
 
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kletzenklueffer

Adventurer
I've use the light my fire firesteel for over a year now. It's easy enough my 10 year old can light a fire 95% of the time with one strike.

I use dryer lint for tinder (spark catcher). I make a pile of tinder and kindling and have a few thin pieces ready, get out a piece of dryer lint from a ziplock, spark it and start getting the wood lit. The dryer lint weighs nothing, compresses to nothing and lights easy. It needs to be lint from cotton. I tried some from a rayon blanket and it burnt, but not hot enough to light a stick.

A tip on the lint. It comes out of the dryer in a sheet. Peel the sheet apart so that it's fuzzy when you spark it and the fuzz catches the sparks better. It doesn't take much practice to light the lint near 100% of the time with one strike.

I even use it to light fires in the fireplace and hhome because it's so easy.
 

kletzenklueffer

Adventurer
One thing the magnesium bars are good for is throwing in the hot coals after you have a fire lit. Burning at 3-4000 degrees, they seem to melt the rocks and make ablinding white purple flame. Not worth $5, but neat all the same.
 

7wt

Expedition Leader
As others have said, the Light My Fire Firesteel works very well. I bought one on a whim and it turned into one of my favorite things. I keep it in the truck at all times along with some dryer lint stored in zip lock bags. I also have their Myan Dust stuff that works pretty well and smells good but I prefer the dryer lint. I use it to make all of my fires.
 

mwigant

Observer
The mag bar shavings will get blown away by the slightest breeze and you must have strength and dexterity in BOTH hands to make a usable amount. My preferences are a lighter and a sparklite kit (used bythe US military). If matches are your thing, REI has some stormproof ones that come with a waterproof striker.

Mike
 

BlueBomber

Adventurer
i use my mag-bar every-so-often. i find a file shaves faster than a blade (even the ones on finger nail clippers). i have also used a saw on a cheapo multi-tool.
 

Stouttrout

Adventurer
I keep some pieces of a Magnesium run flat from an H1 Hummer in my Hurricane box and Mag Striker. I have used them before and they work great. I have also used steel wool on 9 and 12 volts and they work awsome as well.
 

swanyo

Observer
You can always light Cheetos or Doritos they burn for several minutes and can easily get your fire to a good start.
 

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