Are all magnesium blocks/kits created equal?

J

JFD

Joined
Nov 12, 2006
Messages
55
I am a n00b to these fire starting kits. I've used them several times just never owned one or know wether ther are differences.
Well I want to pick up a couple of kits and in the process of ordering I noticed a ton of different makers.

Anyway, I suppose I am looking for a small little kit to put in a survival pack that I will end up take packpacking as well. I would imagine that the biggest difference is the striker or object doing the shaving.

Any input/recomendations are appriciated.
Thanks
Jed
 
Suggestion: Go to your local Boy Scouts of America outlet (or find them online) and buy a couple of their under-$3 little sparking rods. Attach one to the lanyard ring on your SAK. Ask for the "Hot-Spark Fire Starter." Tip: They won't spark worth a damn until you scrape that preservative finish off of them! You have to furnish your own tender with these. No magnesium, that's no big deal.
 
If you are talking about this style:
magfirestart.jpg


Yes, they are all pretty much the same, Doan's makes them, you will see them packaged for Coughlan's and other companies.

I saw them at WalMart in the camping area, they were under $5.
Some places try to get $7 or $8 for them, but $5 and under is not bad.

They typically come with a small chain, so you can attach them to a key ring or other devices. I ditch the chain, and use paracord.

The most popular Mod people use is the piece of hacksaw blade.
Take a of hacksaw blade, break it into a smaller piece. Sharpen the broken end and you have a little bit of a blade. Attach it to the Magnesium/Flint block using the chain, or paracord through the factory hole in the hacksaw blade.
It can shave the magnesium for tinder, and makes a good sparker.

Good Luck.

...and welcome to this little part of the world.
 
SkunkWerX said:
They typically come with a small chain, so you can attach them to a key ring or other devices. I ditch the chain, and use paracord.

The most popular Mod people use is the piece of hacksaw blade.
Take a of hacksaw blade, break it into a smaller piece. Sharpen the broken end and you have a little bit of a blade. Attach it to the Magnesium/Flint block using the chain, or paracord through the factory hole in the hacksaw blade.
It can shave the magnesium for tinder, and makes a good sparker.
Click to expand...

Excellent suggestion. Thanks. I'm pretty sure I have a piece of old hacksaw in the toolbox (with a duct tape handle) so it won't even cost me a cent.
 
For what it's worth, I've heard that the Coghlan's magnesium-block fire-starter kits sometimes have the ferrocerium rod fall out. There is some other brand that is reputed not to have this problem. This has never happened to me, so my reaction to the news has been just to keep my mag-bar fire-starters wrapped or stored in such a way that if the rod falls out of the bar, I can still find and use it.

My personal preference: though I like the Boy Scout "Hot Spark" fire-starter for its compactness and low cost, I really like having the magnesium around as it can really make starting a fire easier if conditions are wet and cold and the tinder is bad. There is a company out there, whose name I forget, that makes a very compact magnesium-bar fire-starter. The bar, in this case, is a cylinder maybe two inches long and half an inch in diameter, with the ferro rod set into the side. I like this a lot for its compactness. I have no info about how prone that device is to losing the ferro rod from the magnesium bar.
 
i popped the ferro rod off of my square mag firestarter, because i never used it and when i tried i found that the magnesium was really just a waste of time for me. i am better off carrying a few peices of fatwood, and shaving off of those. much easier to use for me.

i will try to post pics of my setup later to give you some ideas maybe.
 
We all have our idiosyncracies and preferences, but these types are my absolute favorite:

http://www.sailgb.com/p/ultimate_survival_strike_force_fire_starter/

They are a bit bulky, but it aint a bad thing, especially when your hands are shaking, or your wearing gloves. I've got one that was made by Gerber that's been around since '95 and it's still working well. The hollow in the handle is also nice for tucking in a block of firestarter or what not.

These things make a serious spark, and don't even remotely compare to the Doans or Swedish Firestarters. (although those have there place too...I've got all three of them)

a bit bulky, and a bit expensive, but it's worked real well for me.
 
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