Ive never really had much luck starting a fire with a steel; Ive found bow drills to be easier and more reliable. A few years ago, in a sort of desperation, I fell for the hype and bought one of the steel/magnesium block types. From the above it turns out I wasnt using enough of the magnesium, which I placed on top of conventional tinder; the tinder always caught before the magnesium powder (just how do you aim a spark from a steel at a small area?). Having read the above posts I tried it again and having made a quite a large pile of magnesium powder it worked a treat, thanks for the info Andyre and others. But it took time and was a lot of effort.
Thing is, I really wanted a reliable method of fire starting if Im out and about and things go pear shaped. Whatever I carry for this purpose needs to work reliably even in the wind and rain. The main reason I was attracted to the magnesium block solution was that the advertisement stated it would work in damp conditions. Having seen what youve got to do to get it to work its not going to be a lot of good if theres a bit of a draft as well as rain, hence Ive decided to leave it out of my pack in future. At some point Ill practice how to use a standard fire steel to back up lighter and matches.
Thanks to Bushwhacker for raising the subject and again for the info, kits a bit lighter for the moment.