Magnesium Firestarter

[Ruckus]

Hope you all had a wonderful christmas!

in my stocking i got one of these Magnesium Firestarters, not quite the same as a swedish firesteel but i was happy to get it!

So once i had my breakfast i went outside with a peice of lint from the dryer and managed to produce a flame within a couple of minutes, i've never used anything like this, nor a firesteel, before so i was very impressed.

cheap as chips, lightweight and fun, not that i'd expect any of you guys to switch your trusty firesteels for it, its still well worth $7

 

[Longstrider]

Ruckus, those magnesium blocks can be damned handy. A little pile of the magnesium shavings will burn at a very high temperature, even if only for a very short time. I have a old one that has served as my emergency fire starter in my shooting bag for years. I replaced the fiddly little piece of hacksaw blade that came with it, with a slightly longer piece of the same to make holding it firmly an easier job.
One disadvantage that they have is that the shavings can disappear all too quickly on a windy day. I solve this by shaving the block into a folded dock leaf or similar before transfering them to a small hole cut into a dead log before striking the sparks onto them. A small heap of tider and kindling can then be dropped over the lit magnesium as soon as it lights.

 

[Ruckus]

i was wondering what ideas would work in windy conditions, thanks for the tip!

i wasnt sure how much magnesium to scrape off and i'm sure when i got a flame i ended up lighting the lint with just the sparks, i just kept working sparks towards the lint really, like i said i was very happy with my first little fire without matches.

mine didnt come with a striker so i just used the back of my knife, it did leave residue on the blade but it wiped off with a wet rag easily.

 

[Longstrider]

You will find that a section of hacksaw blade is far more efficient at removing shavings from the mag block than the back of your knife. Break off about 3" from the end of a hacksaw blade and keep it with your mag block by threading the little chain through the eye on the end. Using the teeth of the blade as a scraper down the length of the mag block on the opposite side to the ferro flint will quickly produce plenty of fine shavings to start your fire with.
I find that once the shavings have been put in place, it's best with these fire starters to place the block end down with the flint directly above the pile of shavings. Then, using the hacksaw blade again one or two firm strokes down the flint will almost invariably light the magnesium. You just have to take care not to scatter the shavings with your scraper blade at the end of the stroke. If you have any difficulty lighting the shavings, try using the toothed side of the scraper blade on the flint, the shower of sparks you'll get from that needs to be seen to be believed.
You dont need tinder as fine as lint to get a fire going with magnesium. A handful of dried grass or even very fine twigs will soon catch light if placed onto the burning shavings.

 

[nameless]

You can shve bits off your firesteel as weel if needs be,

Cheers
Scott

 

[Jeff Wagner]

i was wondering what ideas would work in windy conditions,

Why...a fire piston of course...

 

[Graham_S]

i had one of these, i found that a heaped pile the size of a quarter did the job very well. if you use too little a pile it can go out before it gets the tinder started.
the handy thing about the magnesium is that it burns at such a high temperature. it will ignite tinders that other methods struggle with. unfortunatly the flint striker is a little thin for my liking. mine wore out long before the magnesium did.

 

[Nemisis]

I'm curious anyone know if you can still buy magnesium powder like they used to use for flash pans in early photography? seems a pre powdered form might be a better option.
Dave.

 

[Longstrider]

Nemsis, I don't know about magnesium powder, but if you knew where to shop you can get magnesium filings. We used to have them in plastic bottles in the science lab at school for experimenting with. OK, so school was more than a year or two ago for me, but I'll bet they still use them...

If you really wanted to carry a pot of filings instead of shaving them off in the outdoors, you could always just set about a magnesium block with a really coarse file at home and gather up the filings into something like a film canister for use later.

 

[MattV]

Ruckus,

The magnesium starter is great and will produce a nice little fire. One of the easiest ways to carve up the magnesium is to get a broken down hack-saw or saw-zall blade. Bi-metal about 18-24 teeth per inch. It will really eat through the magnesium and save your knife blade from damage. Both the hack-saw and saw-zall blades have a hole that the "chain" will fit through.

On a side note, be careful with the one you ahve though. That brand often loose the striker rod. If you ever pick up another one, get a Doan's magnesium starter. Quite a bit better in quality.

 

[Hoodoo]

You can gently pry off the old ferro rod and then glue it back on with some epoxy.

 

[TimB]

Ruckas,

I have exactly the same one, got it from Outdoor world in Orlando

I decided that after reading your thread I should give it a try. I used one of the other halfs cotton wool pads, broke it in two and folded some paper around to act as a sheild.
A few srapings of Magnesium on there and and the 1st sparks got it all going.

 

[Alchemist]

I have pried off the rod. I have scraped out a bigger trough with a crappy kitchen knife and glued in a Ranger Ferro rod. It is bigger and has a lanyard hole to keep it in place. I would put a picture up but I am trying to work out how

 

[oetzi]

I carry a Magnesium starter and half a paraffine/sawdust-egg as bailout-firegear with me (something Fruitbat should have done when he was in the wilderness and had his eyes on the girl instead of the wood )

 

[Ralph]

Nemsis, I don't know about magnesium powder, but if you knew where to shop you can get magnesium filings. We used to have them in plastic bottles in the science lab at school for experimenting with. OK, so school was more than a year or two ago for me, but I'll bet they still use them...

At school I think they use coils of magnesium ribbon now. I did a search for teaching supplies and found a website that sells magnesium ribbon and powder. Try http://webcat.theconsortium.co.uk/Consortiummainlive/Templates/Consortium/mainscreen.asp

 

[RovingArcher]

To avoid losing the shavings to wind as I made them, I half filled a film canister with shavings while watching TV. Well..........that was a couple years ago and I still havn't use them. Seems that they store safely enough.