A quick firesteel review

Gaurdian_A1

Gaurdian_A1

Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Messages
850
So everyone has had one of those magnesium/firesteel firestarters at one point in thier life. Some have good things to say, others do not. I personally loved the firesteel that came with it, i am damn sure its a misch metal, it is a soft metal and it produces the molten globs of hot metal we all love.

So when i saw that Coghlans came out with a full size firesteel i was excited to try it out. Fit and finish is what you would expect out of a mass produced product, it is OK at best.

But in a head to head test with my going gear firesteel it performed just as good or better at a fraction of the cost. I bought the coghlans unit for 5 bucks Canadian. The Going gear unit cost me 32 dollars ( shipping price included) and i waited 3 weeks for it to get here. The firesteel wasnt even cenetered in the OK piece of birds eye maple i ordered it with, neither was the lanyard hole in the handle, also noticeably off center.

some pictures to see the size difference.

firesteels.jpg


firesteels2.jpg


Now this isnt a bashing session for the goign gear steels, but lets face it, for the price the coghlans unit has been every bit as good and better in some cases that going gear steel and LMF steels. It is a definately a misch metal, its soft and removes quite a bit of metal per strike..The package claims it will last for 4000 strikes, which is probably an average number or just plain BS.

Either way i highly reccomend the Coghlan firesteel for all of you firesteel fanatics. Its cheap and it performs really really well. And at 5$ a piece, what could hurt to try it out?

-G1:thumbup:
 
Nice....I saw those, and wondered about them being misch.

I wont buy em now...lol. :D I am waay more skilled with a LMF, and can get a super hot spark off it. Never needed molten globs.

Probably not the reaction you were hopin for, but I still say thanks for the review. :thumbup:

Probably a bit unfair to ding a US company for taking that long to get it to ya, and the price. Thats not goinggears fault. Shipping up to you guys is not cheap, and it takes a bit.
 
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I am glad your happy with th coglans steel. But the majority of the money you paid went to the hand carved birds eye maple. Plus the going gear rod looks to be longer and wider than the coglans.

You can get a 5/16 diameter x 4" long going gear rod (looks to be about the same size as the coglans) with no handle for under $5 bucks, however I prefer the 3/8ths x 4" blank for $7.50.

I don't mean to knock the Coglans, I just wanted to give a fairer comparison to the going gear Firesteel.
 
tonym said:
I am glad your happy with th coglans steel. But the majority of the money you paid went to the hand carved birds eye maple. Plus the going gear rod looks to be longer and wider than the coglans.

You can get a 5/16 diameter x 4" long going gear rod (looks to be about the same size as the coglans) with no handle for under $5 bucks, however I prefer the 3/8ths x 4" blank for $7.50.

I don't mean to knock the Coglans, I just wanted to give a fairer comparison to the going gear Firesteel.
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Yeah for sure! I saw those when i ordered the firesteel from going gear, but the point i was hoping to make was more about getting the best value of a product. For me, a LMF ARMY firesteel ( my previous fav) costs me 25 bucks, plus tax. I wanted the going gear steel because i heard so many people rant and rave about how good it was, so i had to try it. Then i bought this el cheapo coghlans unit and it rocks! For 1/5th the price ( for me).

No one can really bash a LMF or Going gear firesteel, they are great pieces and do thier job. but when you look at the price and performance of the coghlans, LMF and going gear, for me, coghlans wins every time. IMHO.
 
DealXtreme also has some LMF "clone" firesteels. and their prices include shipping.

i've got a few of them here on my desk, but need to rind my LMFs in the garage to do a side by side comparison.
 
I may get one, but as it stands now, I love the 3/8 x 5" (I think) I have from GG. It will last me a long, long time as I don't strike the whole rod when I use it, only about an inch or so and get a fire on every strike, almost.

Thanks for the review, though :thumbup:
 
I've had different results with different types, but need to get then all together for one big review. One thing a fellow forumite taught me was to always strike along the same "path", so that until you reach the halfway point, it will still fit your holder.
 
zozo said:
Where does one find one of the Coghlan's fire steels?
Click to expand...

One source is Rescue Esentials. Their price is $5.99.

I use several Coghlans products. Some are quite innovative and they are the only maker of them that I am aware of (though they seem to private brand a few for large merchants). Food tubes and Mag Blocks are two of those products I use, just off the top of my head.

2vifeq9.jpg


A lot of their lineup is somewhat "junky" and meant for the car-camping crowd.

I've not tried their camper's toilet paper. For years I have used the coreless rolls sold at Walmart under their Ozark Trails branding, or under the Coleman branding.
 
I got a Coghlans firesteel for $5 or so from and works good for me. on the back of the card it said to remove the paint off of it before using. Maybe if you are having troubles you could wipe it down with some type of paint remover, let dry and then strike it.
 
I know this is a week old but I just bought one at my local Wholesale Sports outlet for $2.99. The LMF fire steels were $8.99. When I get a chance I'm going to compare it against my LMF and ESEE steels and see how it works comparred to the more expensive versions.
 
Then again...

I have heard less than favorable reports.

I just had a guy that I know, who spent some time up in the Yukon teaching a class, tell me that he was ditching the Coghlan's Ferro Rods, in favor of the 'real' ones...

Maybe they are inconsistent in quality?

Best,
Marion
 
I have used the Coghlans firesteels with success:thumbup:

They were so cheap, I bought one for the car, one to throw in with my fishing gear and to throw in my hiking bag.

The only advantage these have over the rods, are the handles. Makes it easier to use on those wet days, when it takes forever to light a fire.
 
Can't speak for their steels but I have tried their fire paste and it worked great and burned a long time. :thumbup:
 
Firesteels are kind of like that. I have a bunch of knock-offs as well as LMF and goinggear ones. I like GG and LMF just as well, but would probably lean towards LMFs a little more because of my technique (even though I use a GG more often). The knockoffs work also. I have a few of those North49's from Canadian tire that cost about $7-8. They don't work as well and require a bit more effort in striking, but they aren't so bad as to make them useless. The only firesteel I ever threw out away in disgust was that one that comes with the cheesy plastic eagle claw handle. I could get a fire going with it, but it was distinctly worse than the others.

In some respects, I can identify with the OP. In the past we have made a big deal out of differences in firesteel performance and while I acknowledge those differences, if you know how to use a firesteel you can make just about any of them work. As another Canuck, I also sympathize with the shipping and wait times. Its not the retailer's fault, it just sucks that things sometimes take awhile to get here and that makes going to the local Canadian tire and picking up a knockoff that much more attractive.

Personally, I'd rather have 5 knock-offs that I've scraped and know works than 1 quality steel. One of the reasons I really like GG is your ability to get a firesteel in such a diversity of dimensions and as blanks. I've been working off of a blank and backup rod since Dec. or so. Next time I'll probably buy a pack of ten blanks in the Army size and be set for life.

I just epoxy a piece on my old bowdrill drills as the handles. Looks fugly, but works.
 
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